Commentary, musings, Photography

To Answer or Not to Answer …

40 Comments

… that is the blogging question. With apologies to Shakespeare, I’m referring to comments left on your blog. Do you make a point of answering all of them?

You can’t stop the ducks from making lots of comments!

Unless it’s spam, disrespectful or rude, I always answer comments, and if I should happen to miss one, I feel a bit upset when I spot it later on – I hope I haven’t missed any, but since I started this blog in 2012, I unfortunately probably have. It certainly hasn’t been intentional, however. Nevertheless, I make efforts to ensure that I answer anyone who takes the time to comment, even if the commenter has only left a generic “nice post” comment.

Comments about the Rocky Mountains? Definitely!

I sometimes find it mildly annoying when I leave a comment and there’s no response, especially if I’ve taken an inordinate amount of time to think carefully about what I want to say or if there have been responses to other comments but not mine. I give the benefit of the doubt – maybe my comment was simply missed – so this has never lead me to drop a follow.

Autumn colours are often comment-worthy.

How do you feel about unanswered comments? Do you have firm rules or are you rather laissez-faire? Do you feel it’s not necessary to answer all comments?

40 thoughts on “To Answer or Not to Answer …”

  1. I will answer every comment on my blog unless it is spam. And generic email of ‘nice post’ that I see the same person do on every blog where I see them comment I am not going to publish unless they say a little more.

    Likewise, if I leave a comment on someone else’s blog, I hope there be some reply. Which most blogs I follow, do.

    But sometimes there have been comments left at mine that have slipped the net because I wasn’t notified. To my knowledge it has not happened on my current blog. But it has in the past and likewise when I left a reply on someone elses blog month’s ago, I didn’t know they had replied until I popped back months later. So until then, I thought I wasn’t going to get a response and I wasn’t notified on my WordPress dashboard that they left a comment.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Many thanks for your response, Liz.

      I always go back to the comments section on my own posts to ensure that I haven’t missed one, especially from regular commenters, although that doesn’t help if there’s a pending comment which you will only learn about through the notifications list or by going to the comments section in your dashboard.

      Checking there has helped me to keep track because sometimes a proper comment will be filtered out as spam by Askimet, too. Yes, WP drops the ball sometimes and there’s nothing much we can do about that if the comment never arrives on our dashboard.

      Sometimes people take a long time to reply but then I wonder if they just didn’t know because my comment inadvertently went into spam or they didn’t get my comment on their dashboard until much later.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I am aware in the past that my comment has ended up once or twice in a couple of people spam folders. They then apologise for it landing in there. But I said it’s not your fault I ended up there.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It does help to use the comment tracker, and I always answer comments. If people take the time to comment, the least I can do is acknowledge them. Some comments are more interesting than others, and I always enjoy reading yours, Lynette.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Thank you very much, Sue. 🙂 I agree that taking the time to respond is the least we can do. I find it troubling that there seems to be an issue with notifications, though. Like you, I use the tracker (and I also check through the dashboard) to try to do the best I can not to miss any. Cheers.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. I agree. I also find it rude, but then I wonder if the person just didn’t get the comment. I think that if you leave two or three others and those also go unanswered, you’re likely not dealing with a WP glitch!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I am a serial responder! Yes I always try and answer because we are very appreciative of people taking the time to comment. However I have discovered recently that not everybody then receives a notification that I have replied, which I think is a setting at their end rather than ours. It actually makes me a bit sad to think that people think I haven’t responded when in fact I have! But yes in answer to your question, we always try to respond.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. There seems to be an issue with the WP notifications that I wasn’t much aware of until I posted this piece as other commenters have noted this problem, too.
      I always check the notifications list and then the dashboard since sometimes a regular comment will inadvertently wind up in spam or one will be pending.
      I agree – it’s sad to think that you’ve responded but it hasn’t gone through, leaving the commenter feeling ignored.

      Liked by 2 people

  4. I try to respond to everyone, although it’s often a fairly generic “thanks for reading”. I feel bad about the latter – is it worse than no reply, because it looks as if I haven’t thought about it? But I don’t know what else to say.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t have a problem with that type of response but I think not replying at all would be worse. Sometimes there just isn’t much else to say, but politely thanking the commenter for making the effort is the right thing, I believe. Cheers.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. That’s a thoughtful piece. 🤔
    Yes, I’m in the habit of replying to genuine comments. On the other hand, my website is a mix of four different niche topics. Gardeners generally respond to my gardening articles etc so I never feel put out when they don’t respond to my cycling stuff. But once a comment comes in, I like to respond. Bit like getting to know folks a bit better. At times I like to take up to a week to reply as I prefer to do so during a quiet time rather than immediately after an article goes up.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you very much, Páraig. 😊
      I agree that the focus of each of your sections isn’t going to appeal to everyone, and you’ve divided them to make that distinction. (By the way I like that idea and need to do the same with my blog, too!)
      Some bloggers take a while to respond and I don’t have any problem with that. We all have busy lives and up until November I was working so I understand completely how difficult it can sometimes be to set aside the time for it.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Good post Lynette. I can only imagine how busy replying and commenting keeps you and I do appreciate your thoughts and efforts on the subject. I reply to all comments as well and make sure I click the reply button attached to the comment, not just at the bottom of the comments section. That way the commentor knows I have replied to their comment. Some people may not know this about WordPress and I used to be one of them until a blogger I follow pointed it out. If one of my comments is not replied too, I will sometimes go back and check for this, if it is a blogger that I follow and who comments on my site.

    I have also been getting a lot of serial “cut and paste” comments, or comments from somebody selling something, which go into the spam folder. They claim to enjoy my blog, but either can’t find the follow button or want a click and a follow in return. Often they include links to some commercial website. I tend not to give them air, especially if they have not taken the time to read and like one of my posts. The same goes for bully followers. When I got my first one of these, I went to “moderate” for all comments.

    Thanks to you for always being a thoughtful reader and commenting and replying, Lynette. Have a great Friday.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you very much, Allan. It does keep me busy but you must be just as busy with yours. When someone doesn’t respond I will do the same – go back to check.

      Reading through the comments here has been interesting; I didn’t know that notifications are an issue for some bloggers. I always look at the notifications list but then I periodically check the dashboard as well, since some comments wind up inadvertently in spam or there will be pending comments as well. I’m now wondering if I’ve had notifications issues but haven’t realised it.

      I’ve gotten a lot of comments from “anonymous” which later turn out to be from real bloggers and then like you, I get the ones selling stuff. I don’t give those air, either. The anonymous ones are a bit troubling because it seems these are AI or spammers trying to assume the identity of actual bloggers who regularly stop by. It seems that WP has to do a lot to try to deal with all this.

      I had one bully follower years ago but I used to edit out most of what he stated and he soon stopped commenting. I did know of one blogger who had his entire blog highjacked by a spammer, though.

      The same to you, Allan. I always appreciate your thoughtful comments (and replies, too!) and always look forward to your posts. Have a good weekend.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Like you and all of the other comments I do try to respond to every comment. Sometimes my response is short, to a nice post type of comment. I know I miss some, a couple of them I don’t get notifications so don’t find them until later or maybe miss them. Lately though I have a lot less to go through in the spam folder which is nice. I don’t approve or respond to any of those. Maggie

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I always check the spam folder since I regular commenters will sometimes inadvertently wind up in there, but I don’t respond to or approve the spam comments, either.

      I think the best we can do is our checks but not much otherwise if they don’t appear on our notifications list or the dashboard.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I agree, Belinda. Most commenters put thought and effort into their feedback and they deserve a response. I love how the ducks have lots to say, especially about how much food you’re bringing along. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  9. I try assisiduosly to respond to all comments. Although sometimes a few slip through without my awareness. Interacting with friends like you is what blogging is all about for me. Beautiful photos.

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    1. Thank you very much for your very kind words, Cindy. 😊 I think that unfortunately there will always be a few that slip through – and I was surprised to find today that I had missed an entire post from someone that I’ve followed for a long time now. We’re not perfect and shouldn’t expect it. Cheers.

      Like

  10. Hi Lynette. I agree with all you say in this post. As you, I answer always any comment, at least thanking when it’s a “nice photo” or something like that. And for me is annoying too when I write a comment in other blog and there is not answer, in that cases I review it again and again to be sure there is no response. These are a minority though, I must say, most people, at least here in WordPress, answer the comments in some way; and that is one of the things I like in WordPress.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for commenting, Samuel. I agree that the WP community is a good one. I’ve been here since 2012 and really haven’t experienced much in the way of bad actors or even rudeness. There’s been a bit here and there and I did experience one that I would characterise as a bully.

      Occasionally I don’t get a response to a comment and I’ll check back as well. I think that most of the time it’s likely a simple oversight or a notification issue.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, it’s odd how someone who has been following you for a long time will suddenly end up in the spam folder. I check there regularly, as well. I’ll make return visits, too. Have a good weekend. Cheers.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Normally. I try to respond to all comment with an individualized reply, but I’m not in the mood at this time because my wife is in the hospital..Thanks for understanding.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I often answer, and try always to answer a comment that is more than what you describe as a generic “nice!” — and at the bare minimum, I try always to acknowledge with the ‘like’ symbol — as you say, it’s rude to ignore anyone who has taken time to to engage with a post

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Penny, yes, ignoring a comment (when you know it’s there as opposed to some kind of glitch) is rude. As a couple of these comments above indicate, people are not always getting the notifications though which is a problem.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. I try to answer on time, but I admit I have not been reading or blogging more frequently these days due to work demands. I really need to build the practice once again.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t think there’s much you can do when you have a busy life. I was a CEO; I retired at the end of October. My job was extremely busy and demanding. I limited my number of follows and simplified my posts so that blogging would be a great break from a busy job and also completely disconnected from and unrelated to work. Blog when you can but don’t forget to look after yourself, too. 😊 Thanks for commenting. Cheers.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. My thoughts exactly, Lynette. If someone has taken the time to comment, I feel it’s only polite to thank them for their thoughts. And I hope they reply to my comments on their posts as well. Like you, I hope I haven’t missed any.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Tricia. I think that the WP community is generally polite and I think most people don’t knowingly behave rudely. I’m aware of some issues here and there; one blogger I knew had his entire blog basically stolen by a hacker. But for the most part, this is a great place to blog, considering how huge it is.

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