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6/04/2010

About the way this works

As most of you ... well ... many of you ... well ... some of you know, I usually answer comments just before the next post - and I do so by generating a comment of my own on a post that references all of the comments that exist at the time of my comment.

I know. If you read it two or three times it actually makes sense.

Anyway.

I am going to do some searching and see if I can't find way to handle comments so that I respond to each individual comment and commentor via email. I have seen sites with things like Disqus, for example, and the site owner has responded to my comments individually. Via email. And I find I like that methodology.

I get all my comments, as most of you do, in email. I would REALLY like to be able to respond to each email, but most of the comments come from "no-reply" - and that's frustrating. If you have been thoughtful enough to comment, I would like to acknowledge that comment, and I can't do that to a "no-reply". And I don't have any way to guarantee that a commentor knows that he/she should come back to find my reply to a comment.

So I'm going to find a way to respond to each and every comment via email - and my ability to respond to your comment should NOT depend on how you've signed up for your blog and configured your stuff.

Know what I mean?

Ndinombethe.

13 comments:

Audrey at Barking Mad! said...

You're so much more together than I am when it comes to responding to comments. On about 15% of my posts I reply to the comments with comments of my own, in the actual comments section...but didn't I just say that? Oiy! Too much Benadryl last night.

But seriously...I am thinking of getting something like Disgus on my own blog because I like the flow of being able to reply underneath the actual comment itself, and because some of my posts actually do challenge my readers to have an actual discussion...and the way the comments are now, well, there's no flow. And if there's one thing I hate, it's no flow.

Or something like that.

I think I need to go back to sleep.

But not before I find out of Disgus (that's probably spelled incorrectly), will even work on a TypePad blog. I'm part of their beta team (Typepad that is) but the new comment beta they have, which is similar to Disgus, won't work on my blog because it's hanging up on my BlogHer ads. Just another reason for me to drop those ads and work on finding my own...but I'm lazy like that.

Melisa Wells said...

I totally know what you mean. I used to respond to comments on the blog itself but it became very time-consuming for me. I really prefer answering via e-mail; once I even put a call out for people to consider changing their setting in their Blogger profile so it would show their e-mail address. Some of my regular readers, I have their e-mails and will substitute that for the "no reply" business.

It's frustrating, for sure!

Jientje said...

I always come back the next day to see what you replied to my comment.

Hockeymandad said...

If you used Wordpress, I could help you out with some plugins. For blogspot though, I'm not sure...

Myst_72 said...

I get you :)

Yes, I've wondered how people do that actually....hmm...

G
xx

Big Mark 243 said...

When I start back in AOL journals, I would make occasional entries based on select comments. I haven't done anything like that in a while but I have thought about it.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

I occasionally respond to comments, but prefer to just read their blog and comment there, instead. Though I adore the conversations via email, I know that a lot of people like to get their comment numbers up. And I'm ok with that.

I do so hate the no-replies when I really WANT to respond, though. Very irksome.

Gretchen said...

Yes, hate the "no-reply" thing.

Disqus would work I guess. I looked into it to avoid the anonymous snarks. But, if a person wants to enter a bogus email address, they can do that, so it's not a guarantee.

But at least you'd be able to reply to more folks!

moneythoughts said...

Yes, I check back too if I don't forget.

Nan Sheppard said...

I love to reply in person... but I don't always have time!

Joyce-Anne said...

I usually check back for your response. It's been a bit busy here lately so I've been reading but not always leaving comments.

Unknown said...

Audrey: I don't know if Disqus will work with TypePad or not - but I'll find out.

Melisa: Yes it is - and I WILL find a way.

Jientje: I know YOU do - but there are many who don't, I think. And it's NOT ABOUT STATS - it's about conversation.

Hockeymandad: I'm sure there are suitable answers for blogspot. I'll find one.

Myst_72; YES, GINA - I KNOW YOU GET ME.

Big Mark 243: I haven't done that, either. Perhaps I should.

Tracey: No - it's not the numbers - it's the human connection with people.

Texan Mama: That's JUST what I want to be able to do.

Moneythoughts: I know you do, Fred. But most don't, I'm afraid.

Nan: I don't either, really. But I do anyway.

Joyce-Anne: Noted.

CaraBee said...

I rarely respond in comments because I assume that few (if any?) click the "email follow up" or come back to see my response. As a rule, if I have something to say, I will email them if I can, or visit their blog to respond in a comment there.

I tried Disqus and didn't like it. I can't remember exactly what it was that bugged me so much (sorry!) but it was bad enough that I took it down after just a couple of days.