I guess some of you already noticed that I rarely reply to my blog comments or tweets, or messages… or… Let’s just say that I don’t reply much… However, for this post let’s just stick to my blog comments.
First I have to thank you all for commenting and not sending me to hell because I didn’t reply to your comment. Yes, I do appreciate comments, but replying to them… Not so much.
Second I’m writing this post to clear up things. Some people seem to be seriously bothered by people who don’t reply to comments, which I find absolutely ridiculous. I mean do you comment to get a reply, or do you comment to appreciate the post, share your experience/knowledge on the topic etc. Just because you don’t get a reply to your fabulous comment it doesn’t mean that the author doesn’t appreciate you. So chill, some people just don’t like to reply to the comments.
Let’s quit this babble and move on to the reasons, shall we?
1) I forgot or got distracted while replying
This is actually a legit problem and my best friend hates me for it… so she usually spams me until I reply to her texts… and I got off topic…
So I forget to reply to people, because I get distracted, mostly with checking their blog if they have one. Because for some reason I have to check the person’s blog BEFORE I reply… Don’t ask me why I don’t know. Or, I actually already wrote the reply, but something came up and I didn’t send it and so naturally I think that I replied while my reply just sits there.
2) I hate to give generic replies
I absolutely despise to write “Thank you for reading” or “Thank you for your comment”. It’s not because I wouldn’t be thankful or anything like that. I fully appreciate the effort of taking 10 seconds out of your life to tell me that you like my post. I just don’t like to give such reply because to me giving that kind of reply is so ugh. It’s the same feeling that people get once they receive a comment saying “Nice post.”. So instead of replying I just like your comment, to me that basically means “Yup, I saw your comment, have a like as a thank you”.
3) I don’t know what to reply….
I sometimes honestly don’t know what to reply because your comment makes no sense to me, or you’re trying to connect and you mention a similar thing that happened to you. And I’m just like “Okay, cool…. Now what?”
4) Your comments seems to provoke
I almost never reply to provoking comments, because I don’t feel like dealing with the consequences of my reply. And I’m the kind of person who will write a novel in order to explain/prove why I’m right and how I’m right if I think I’m right. So yeah, I only reply to provoking comments when I’m bored and want to argue or something.
5) I just can’t be bothered
Yup, you read it right, I’m that kind of a meanie. I sometimes can’t be bothered to reply to the comment, because I’m too tired to think. And later on, of course I forget to actually go back and reply. And so we get to the first reason again.
So there you have it, my 5 reasons why I don’t reply to comments on my blog. However, I do try my best to reply I’m just really bad at it.
Do you have reasons why you don’t reply to comments? Or do you always reply?
Annie's Perception 
Almost the first thing that do too when I get a comment is to check out the person’s blog… And the others – so fricking true!
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I don’t reply to all comments either but I tried. I agree with you that sometimes, I just don’t know what to say and how to reply to a comment. I always a reply to question comments because that person probably wants to hear an answer. But at the end of the day, you do you. There’s not right or wrong answer
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Take a look at the time stamp on the post I was responding to. Looks like you’re the one who engages in time travel. I’m je8!#usl&oa230; Er, I just looked at the time stamp on my own post. Looks like it’s four hours out of whack. I’ll have to see if I can fix that.
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Love your writing style, very honest, a bit sarcastic, and overall quite cool. And with respect to comments, no worries I’m quite similar. If I am asked a question I generally always reply. I also answer if I feel that the blog posts kind of ‘deserves’ a reply and also when I just want to answer because I feel like chatting 🙂
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Glad you love my writing style! 😀
I wish people would ask me questions because in that case I’d actually have something to reply XD
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We love to talk, but only if the situation demands it. Conversation has to flow naturally, yes, even online. It’s ok if you don’t reply to comments. Engagement is important, but you want to be genuine about it. We will probably give a generic reply “thanks for the comment” if we are being snarky in response to someone’s generic “i agree” comment.
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I hate to only write “thanks for the comment” cause it’s so generic, I’d rather just not reply at all ha.
I also love to talk (ocassionaly) but I can’t force it, and small talk it’s an absolute no no for me
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I generally try to always reply when I have the opportunity to engage with a reader, whomever that reader may be. but it’s because I genuinely like to do it. It does take a lot time and I do miss some every now and again. As long as it is a process that I enjoy I am sure I will keep doing it and I definitely don’t judge anyone who doesn’t always respond.
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I am the same way 😊 I get distracted easily plus I work full time and I’m not always able to go back and reply to all my comments. But if I find some that just call to me I will reply! It’s also hard to reply to comments such as “great post” or “thanks for sharing”. What do you say to that? Haha
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Exactly, I reply to those that give me something to reply, but for most time I don’t know what to reply..
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I believe that the readers deserve a reply when they leave comments. However, I agree that not all should be replied to. I also choose which I reply to. Don’t worry, you’re doing fine 😀
http://pengandpaper.com/
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I always try to reply everything, but to have time is the hardest part when you work on many projects. I know how you feel. 🙂 thank you for your beautiful post 🙂
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I love my non-blogger readers and some of the bloggers too. I respond to most of my comments by answering their questions (I get a lot), adding additional information or directing them to another blog post I think they may be interested in. Unless, its obvious they didn’t really read my post (bloggers), I don’t understand or its purpose is to provoke in an un-constructive way. I do respond to provocative/negative comments because I love confrontation and maybe they have a point… ie. perfectly good article with a typo. Sure you could have said it nicely, but its fixed now, so I’m happy. And to date I’ve never deleted a comment either, the engagement is why I blog.
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even i dont always reply to the comments. i do only if they have any questions about my blog
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That’s great, I don’t think I ever got a question lol
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I generally think it depends. There are comments that need replies especially if they’re questions about your post or if they need more information and then there are comments that are also generic. It’s up to your judgement, really.
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I don’t think I ever got a question or a person wanting information as a comment… Because I’d remember that. I’m all in for answering questions or helping out someone…
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I don’t think it’s a big deal. We can reply if we want to and we can just choose not to as well. It’s your blog anyway, replying is not mandatory.
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The great thing about blogs is that they’re so personal. You’re right not to reply, If its not in your heart. Save your energy for making your blog even more awesome.
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At the beginning I didn’t use to reply to comments but now after reading on the topic of responding to comments, I saw suggestions that you should respond to comments. So now I do respond to them. There are only a few in between that are too vague or I am not sure how to answer. In that case I wont respond. But I totally get you if you wish not to respond to them. They can be time consuming. I often wonder if people actually check back on my responses though.
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I mostly don’t reply because I don’t know what to reply, or honestly forget to do it. Also I hate to be vague so there’s that.
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I’m terrible for doing this with emails and texts myself! I do try to reply to comments on my blog whilst I can as I appreciate the fact that they took the time to comment, but it can be hard to know what to say without a question to reply to. A bit like this comment.
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Sometimes it is a pain to find the time to respond. I think it is really important to carry on the conversations though. I hope you change your mind on this matter and keep engaging with your audience.
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I imagine there will come a time when I’m too busy to respond to all of my blog comments. I’m trying actively to grow it into something big, something that will help support my family and my writing. So while I still CAN manage to reply to comments (albeit sometimes days later), I feel like I should. I never know when someone is checking back (and I suspect they usually don’t) – but I like knowing that future commenters on my blog will be able to see that I am willing to interact.
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You make a good point, but I like responding to comments because the person took the time to comment on my post!
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It’s great that you like responding to comments. I would like it too, if most of the comments I get wouldn’t be something that I have no response to XD
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I don’t always do it either. If someone has a question, I will, or if someone leaves a really kind comment, I’ll say thank you. But most people have noreply e-mails so I can’t reply, and if I do it on my blog under the comment I never know if they’ll come back to see it or not. I know I rarely check back to see if the blogger has commented back when I leave a comment unless I do have a question.
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OMG, first comment. try commenting back to that one my sarcastic sister. LOL. I HATE when people write that. I usually always try to respond back, but that’s because I don’t really have much of a life. I also hardly ever comment on peoples blogs, because most times there’s nothing I want to say aside from, “your post sucked”. Ha Ha. You do what’s best for you my sister!
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Now I feel really happy that I never got that comment. Cause my response would most likely be “so f*ing what?!”. Seriously I can’t figure out why would people comment that on anything XD
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Because they’re fucking morons.
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You do YOU! If you don’t feel the need to reply to comments thats 110% okay, your not a horrible person or anything honestly Lol
And I get what you mean, sometimes I just don’t know what to say and being so generic makes me seem ungrateful in a way, it really makes me feel bad sometimes when the comment is long and I am still not feeling like replying 😅.
Regardless, many others like myself support you so keep up your great work!
Nikki O
herdaringthoughts.blogspot.com
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Ha! I’m glad I’m not alone on this. It got a bit annoying when people kept nagging about how you have to interact and reply to the comments etc.
Also thanks for the comment, you actually made me feel better about the whole situation.
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