9.2.11

Three Six Five


Two weeks in one day - I've managed to get myself organised and still taking pictures after last week's little hiccup.  Also, thank you to everyone for the breakfast suggestions the other day - seems that yogurt and fruit are the way to go.  Also thank-you Kristina for suggesting this gorgeous blog for breakfast inspiration. It's gone straight into my reader.

Oh, and I would like to apologise for being slightly behind on replying to blog comments lately.  I think I'm going to have to come up with a new solution.  As much as I love Blogger for it's simplicity, I don't like that it can be hard/impossible to reply to people - especially if they don't have a blog or don't want to provide their email address.  I'm contemplating just replying in the comments box, or switching to Disqus.  I've tried Disqus before but wasn't much of a fan because of the long loading time on some computers.  What are your thoughts?

Another thing I'm struggling with is whether it is necessary to reply to every comment.  While I love the idea in principle, replying to "Lovely photos" or "Great idea" is difficult.  Sometimes I leave comments like this on other people's blogs - often it's all I want to say and I think its fine,  it's a nice acknowledgment that you've read or seen the post and felt "something", but when I leave comments like this I don't necessarily expect to receive a reply back.  I also have the loafty goal of trying to visit everyone's blogs but replying, visiting, and commenting everyday is beginning to feel like hard work and that's not really what this blog is supposed to be about.

There's been a lot of talk about blog commenting etiquette flying around recently.  Mostly I've found the discussion interesting, but not all that helpful.  Mostly it's been about the actual process of commenting and not what the etiquette is about replying to blog comments.  There seems to be some idea bandied about that once you become 'popular enough' as a blog you aren't required to respond to comments anymore.  Frankly I think this smacks of a superiority that I find distasteful, and ignores that fact that replying to comments takes time regardless of how many people read your blog and it is often time that would otherwise be spent doing and creating the things that you love.  That's not to say that I don't love replying to comments either.  I have had some lovely email discussions with people that I know only through their blogs, often prompted by a blog comment.  This has turned into a rather long winded schpeel about blog commenting and it's probably enough to say that the whole thing has me a little confused. If you've got to the end of this I'd be interested to hear what you think.  Disqus - yes or no? And what's your take on the etiquette of replying to blog comments? 

18 comments:

ELK said...

hello . lovely series of daily life !! comments debate is nothing new.. I rarely answer comments on my blog .. for me it is too time consuming. I would rather reciprocate a comment left in my space by commenting on their blog, so that is what i do.

Kristina said...

Just love this picture of the forest in Vienna! Looks like a fairy tale!

Concerning the comments discussion. I would also love to have a feature to directly answer to comments on blogger, but I have not checked out Disqus yet, let me know what you think.
I normally only answer to comments if a question is included and then I try to find out the personal Email and reply directly. I think no one really goes back the the comments of a specific post to check if the blog owner has answered... weird system at blogger anyway.
I also try to reply to comments by visiting the blog of the persons blog and return the kindness...

Liebe Gruesse, Kristina

Barbara said...

lovely series! i wish i could help about disquis but i have never used it!!
have a great day! XOX

Tara said...

For me personally when I leave comments on peoples blogs I don't really expect them to comment back, unless it is a question. I think it is nice! But I don't think you should put yourself through all that work to reply to everyone! And of course I love when you visit my blog! but defnitely make sure blogging is fun for you!

Justine said...

I have only been blogging for six months so happily go back to everyone's blog. I never understand why people assume you would go back to a post to see if the author had replied! what about dashboard? that is good for replying too.

Anonymous said...

These are lovely Clare. Those tulips are so pretty - a beautiful reminder that spring is on the way. Regarding comments, I haven't used Disqus but from what I've read it seems like it makes the process of replying to comments easier. It might be worth trying again and keeping an eye on the load times. In the ideal world there would be enough time to reply to every comment but if you get a lot of comments that might not feasible. Commenting on the other person's blog seems like a reasonable alternative.

Eva @ Four Leaf Clover said...

I'm fine with whatever type of comment system as long as I can leave my name and link so that you know who I am, ha! : ) I, too, am in a loss when it comes to comment etiquette. I try to reply to every comment, but when I get a lot of the same kind of comment I tend to just thank everyone in that post as a whole.. making sure to answer individual questions and such. I love receiving replies to my comments so I do my best to do the same for others. It assures me that it was a good idea to leave a comment... because it may have made someone's day just a little bit better and that post feel more worthwhile. Ah, okay... I think I've gone and written too much myself, ha! I do love your comments on my blog, though, and I enjoy reading your posts and leaving comments as well.

Simon said...

Hey Clare-
I'm enjoying your photos as always. Partial to that glove on the bench and the snow scene on the opposite end of the row.
As for comments....they are so lovely to receive and I enjoy stopping by others blogs and commenting on their posts. I don't usually respond but just plan another visit to the commenters blog soon. Sort of a conversation that goes slowly back and forth.
I find the replies that come back to me and just say "thanks" kind of silly and unnecessary, although if someone wants to....you know. As for Disquis...don't know it.
Your blog has always been one I most enjoy. I found it early on in my blogging experience and you feel sort of like a distant friend across the sea.
Hope all is well.

Lisa Gordon said...

Clare - I really enjoyed reading this, and could not agree with you more on what you've written. I do not know anything about Disqus, but am going to check on it.

Li + Belle said...

I love this photo series. The pictures give a nice look back and have a memory.

If I write that I liked the photos, then I would not expect any response to my comment. That says everything I feel right now. If I have a question, it's nice to get a reply. Sometimes it becomes a dialogue that is fun and interesting.
And so I do it on my blog, I will answer questions - preferably in person by email, if I find an address - and tell this and that, if I think that may be of interest. Sometimes I just say thank you, and sometimes nothing. That's okay, I think.

k said...

Hmm, commenting etiquette is tricky. so I don't reply in my own comments because I don't think people will come back to check, that's too time consuming for them. I always visit back the blog of a commenter...or try to! if they say something short like 'nice pic' i don't feel the need to reply directly to them. i also don't expect a reply back to me if i wrote something simple also...it's daunting when a blogger emails me back every single time with 'thanks' or something like that...it gets to be so superficial at a point. but anyway..i say just do whatever feels right to you!

HRANDICA said...

This was interesting reading and thinking about it. I reply on my comments sometimes, sometimes I live a comment on persone's blog and defenitely go check out the person who left the comment. I don't see why should be nessesery to reply on comments while you are "unknown" and later not. This tells what kind of person you are and visitors feel that.
Uf, I hope you understand what I ment :)
Hugs♥

amanda {the habit of being} said...

i enjoyed reading all the comments to your thoughts on comment etiquette! i'm on the fence. i do try and answer most of the comments i receive - sometimes it isn't so much an answer as a thank you. i never go back to blog posts and read follow-up comments after i've commented - too much to do already! there are days when real life gets in the way and i'll let the simple comments slide, replying some comments but not all. i do always try to visit the blogs of commenters, but it is time consuming and i find myself feeling obligated to comment on a post rather than being inspired to comment. i guess that would be commenting for commenting's sake and that is the downside of blogging (in my opinion).

Kat Sloma said...

I'm behind on my blog reading by several days, but I enjoyed reading through your post and the comments left here about this whole topic of commenting and replying. I love getting comments, and replying and visiting, but there is no way with the demands of life I could ever reply to all of them. I do like to reply via email, because I think most people don't check back on a blog. I'm always disappointed when I wanted to say something back to someone and I don't have their email, I find I like the personal touch of email a bit more than answering a comment on a blog - either mine or theirs. That was long winded! Sorry. :)

Katyha said...

I also struggle with commenting and sometimes end up commenting on my blog, their blog or email :/ I really don't want them to feel bad so I try to make an effort to reply or visit them, but sometimes there is not much to say except 'thanks for visiting'. I tried disquis but unless they visit your blog again (I sometimes do a lot of browsing and don't bookmark & forget where I commented or where I've visited) they wouldn't know if you replied. Blogspot has a terrible commenting system, I prefer LJ's commenting system.

Stella said...

I'm terrible at remembering to reply to comments, very hit or miss, as you may have noticed! It all has to do with how much I have going on in my head, which is often quite a lot... I think that you shouldn't worry about rules, but reply when the moment seizes you! I never expect replies to comments I leave, they are, as you say, mostly just an acknowledgement that I've visited and so on... I'm happy to leave it at that, and as often as not, those bloggers will eventually leave a comment for me to read, which is sometimes even nicer than a reply! Okay wow, super long response...

emma said...

you bring up really good points. it's tricky huh?

but i'm with stella - comment when you feel compelled to. i think then you know you're genuine. i personally wouldn't be offended if you didn't address my "nice photo" comment or something similar.

i noticed myself falling into a trap of commenting on blogs for the sake of it and being a little too over enthusiastic.
now i'm trying to step back and just comment when i feel like it, and say exactly how i feel about it rather than just waffling on with lots of exclamation marks (!!!). people will find my blog if they want to, my commenting on every entry of popular blogs isn't going to stand out amongst the other 500 people who think the same thing anyway.

and i too get the feeling that some of the more successful blogs definitely dial down on commenting or even checking out other blogs which is a little depressing. but some gems out there prove you wrong!

either way - do what you feel is best :)

Bells said...

i'm late to this discussion but the line I always take, which is a long held view, is that replying to every comment isn't necessary. I say this as a blogger who actually doesn't have time to reply to everything. I reply in certain instances as a matter of course - if a question is asked (and it's not always fitting to reply in a new blog post), if a particularly heartfelt or meaningful comment is made; if something is suggested in the comments that is totally false for me (ie someone has taken something I've written and made a false assumption) or if someone has commented for the first time.

Otherwise, I don't do it. I certainly don't expect a reply to every comment I leave but it does help to get that sense of dialogue going if there's some interaction.