One of the best things about blogging for me is getting to talk to people about books. I'm pretty sure my family and friends in the non-internet world are relieved that I've got some other outlet for my book obsession, really. It just isn't their thing (at least, not to the extent that it is mine).
That said, I don't have boundless social energy, either online or off. Talking to people online generally saps less of my energy than full-blown meetings with actual physical people in the actual physical world, but... I can only socialise so much in a day before I need to curl up with a book and recharge. I am, overall, not a people person. I can be terribly picky about whom I enjoy spending time with- it isn't really something that I can help.
One of my things for blogging is that I pretty much always reply to comments I get on this blog. This blog is small enough that I can generally stay on top of comments pretty easily, and I really love hearing what other book nerds think! I will just about always reply to you on this blog. BUT. There is one thing you can do that will completely turn me off of visiting your blog.
That thing is linked to why I started blogging about books to begin with- which is to talk about books. That thing is that you have to seem genuinely engaged in what I've posted about. Seriously, if you aren't interested in what I'm posting, then you really don't need to comment. I won't say I can always tell when someone is just commenting so that I'll visit their blog, but at least be subtle about it!
I'm not even saying don't link yourself. If you've got a post you're really proud of, or that you think I'll love based on what you've seen of me, including a link in your comment! That doesn't bother me in the slightest (I actually kind of really like it).
What I'm saying at least pretend that you've read the blog post you're commenting on. I don't like feeling like someone is commenting on my blog solely so that I will visit theirs, At least mention something about the content of the blog post where you're leaving your comment. I talk about things that interest me on this blog. You talk about things that interest you on your blog. If the things that interest me don't interest you, chances are that I'm not going to be interested in your blog either, and then neither of us get anything positive out of the exchange.
Because I am a person with such low social energy, I'm more likely to visit and interact with the blog of someone whose comment on my blog has caught my interest for some reason than someone who has left a generic comment. (Tip: My interest is not that hard to catch. Squirrels and sparrows and once paint drying have managed to catch my interest in the past.)
Basically, I love hearing from people, but I really love hearing from people who value hearing from me the same way.
It certainly does get annoying when people are obviously commenting on your blog posts specifically in hopes that theyʻll get more page views or whatever! Especially when youʻre taking the time to write a well thought out post and they say nothing about it! It definitely makes me not want to leave a comment or visit their blog at all.
ReplyDeleteI very rarely get comments like that, but it does happen! I wouldn't call it a pet peeve or anything, but it does feel kind of... counter-intuitive to be doing, I suppose? If someone isn't interested in my content (which is basically my interests), then chances are I won't be interested in theirs, and then neither of us get anything out of it! It just doesn't seem like a fun way to do things for anyone involved.
DeleteThis makes me so on the fence about the whole blog hop/comment hop thing that's gone around a couple of times. I've had people comment on my blog, but it's definitely something that's on the surface rather than something that's engaging :c I like the intention, but it doesn't feel 100% genuine.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good in principle... at it's best, blog hops and whatnot really do promote a community sort of feel, and can help you discover new blogs... but sometimes it doesn't quite reach that. The closest I've come to participating is the Love-a-thon this year, which was a really positive experience for me! (I wish I'd participated more, but school was eating my time...)
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