Blog Discussions

1

Interesting question. Not that I've noticed. I'll often have 2 or 3 replies to comments from me. Perhaps you're just doing a good job of timing your replies???

2

I don't think so, Ben.

I don't bother waiting to reply in bulk (I reply as and when the comments come in to my inbox). I often have to go back a few hours later or a day later to reply to more comments on the same post.

I always get more comments after I reply.

I think it's just a case of you waiting until you can reply in bulk, which is usually the end of the conversation.

3

Here's my experience:
1. I reply in bulk, usually 10 comments at a time.
2. After the post has been up a day, less comments will come in, but I'll still reply in bulk (down to maybe 5 at a time).
3. Once it's been up 2 or more days, I'll reply to comments left almost as soon as they appear.
4. Eventually, I'm the last commenter.

Like your blog, which I found through Entrecard. Will be subscribing!

4

I thought that at first... mainly because sometimes I don't bother to add a comment if the author has done a bulk return comment.

I do come back though to see if the author has commented on my comment.

I think you just do what feels natural and right and go from there. If you were scared to comment in case you were worried others wouldn't comment, I think that would be a shame.

5

I generally find that I'm the last commenter as well, although I didn't really notice it till reading your post here.

6

Hey Ben,

Well, with me, when i comment on a post, like i am doing now, i try to put out all my arguments and points across, basically to cover all the bases.

I only comment when i feel i have something worthwhile to add to the conversation, whether i agree or not, and because i say all that i want to say, and it is in rare instances that i come back to re-reply.

Mainly it's because sometimes, as i have been aware on most blogs, is that arguments can turn sour! And i have found that most of the times when authors reply to each and every comment, the conversation gets out of touch with what was on the original post.

It's just a general feeling i have, that it's not necessary for authors to reply to each and every comment, and for every/all readers to comment on each and every post.

Short, Obakeng

7

This is really great question.

As website owner responding to you commenter comment doesn't mean ending up the conversation its all up to how you respond to the conversation, if you put a period in your respond then that leaves the reader no room for any comment anymore, but if you leave on air and make the conversation open even you respond then you still inviting more comment. (That's my own observation):D

When i comment i always want to know what the post author response for me it didn't mean it's always he's/her last word, it more of how the discussion goes. I only respond to the comment who needs my response, but if it's not i just don't.

Sometimes, it's a chance for the post author to start the conversation.

8

I have not thought about it, and of course I am the last to comment on my blog. Every time. My situation is different, I never get enough comments to bulk reply.

Sorry to say, although I enjoy your blog, I do not frequent it enough to know the patterns here. For the sake of discussion, I will suggest something.

If you feel compelled to reply to each and every commenter like this:
@blue: yeah right on
@green I thought so too
@pink thanks for your idea

that could possibly signal that you are bored with this particular post.

On the other hand, if you post something like:

This is getting a lot more attention than I expected. @purple, your ideas are especially intriguing, that blows the wind out of x in favor of y. What exactly can you tell me? Anybody agree with this?

That might be more likely to keep the conversation going.

IOW the general idea is not to acknowledge each and every commenter, but to keep the conversation going. As you well know, we are all here to learn.

9

Using the advice from anti, here is a "new and improved" reply from me.

It's interesting reading all of your comments on this topic. It might be a coincidence based on when I reply, but I still get the impression that I'm discouraging further comments by writing a "reply to everyone" comment followed by "thanks". It just sounds so final.

For me, replying in bulk works better than replying as soon as a comment comes in, but does every comment require a reply? Perhaps look at it this way - when replying to an email, do you respond to every single point individually or do you reply with a summary of your thoughts?

Jamie's comment made me think of something else. How does everyone feel about threaded comments? I think they cause a discussion to become disjointed, and unless you get a lot of comments, people don't seem to comment on other people's threads. I much prefer the "top to bottom" approach. I guess it's a matter of preference.

I don't plan to stop replying to comments, but I think I can make my replies more worthwhile by writing a comment in this style than answering each person individually. After all, this is a public discussion - I don't write replies to everyone individually.

anti, keeping the conversation going is a great point and that's exactly what I'd like to do in future! Thanks everyone for the comments - don't let my comment be the last! ;)

10

I found it hard when people are commenting things like "Thank you for the post" "Thanks for sharing", etc..

I can't just reply "you're welcome" "no problem" all the time, right? :( If I don't say anything though, it'll make it even weirder

11

I do reply to comments, and sometimes in bulk, but have rarely experienced my first reply being the last comment. No idea exactly why; here are a couple thoughts on that...

One thing is that I update Spontaneous Derivation once a week of late---so people have time to comment. (Skellie once noted somewhere, I forget where, that it seems to take about three days for a post to get around to most everybody.)

The other is that I try to add to the conversation even as I'm replying to everyone. I'm always a bit chatty even on my own blog comment threads :) and every reply I incorporate back into the weave of the original post, without being horribly obvious, and add more. Just a conversation.

But probably it's because the articles are up for a while.

12

Note: and yes, I do write extended replies to the comments of folks who just stop by and say something positive. Kind of like a chance to add "PS" after the fact in the comments.

Whether this is wrong or right or just gabby, I don't know. Here's an example.

Ack. I forgot to thank Mike.

Well, I'll be off adding what is probably the last comment in that thread.... :)

13

Michael, I think you're right. AJ, I can see how leaving posts up for longer can attract more comments.

Now that I've revamped my home page, I might try putting the discussion posts directly into the Blog Discussions section, as the newest posts in that area are now highlighted on the home page. That way I can keep my "normal" posts on the home page for longer. Of course it remains to be seen whether anyone will look at those posts... any ideas for making them more obvious? (other than blinking text!)

14

They seem pretty prominent. I was happy I could find this thread again easily, instead of scrolling down and maybe paging back through archives. You may or may not want to add a comment count to each one or some other indication that conversation is happening.

By the way, I read some more of your comment threads. Your massive block reply is truly massive, and while you addressed every comment with care, the whole comment did feel like a wall to further comment. I usually only block reply to two or maybe three comments at a time; any more than that is a bit much to do.

Perhaps comment more often and thus reduce block size and have more chances to keep the flow going; or as anti said, just keep the conversation going. You do it pretty well here. :)

15

Good idea AJ, I've added the comment count to the list of newest discussions.

The big replies take a long time to write, and if they discourage further comments there's not much point continuing with them. I think I'd rather reply in the style I've been using in this thread than reply to every comment and do it more frequently.

Here's hoping the next few discussions will get some extra replies, what with my new commenting style and the new links on the home page. :)

16

I've been paying more attention and I think it depends on the topic. A recent discussion I haven't added to the replies at all in has had 30 comments so far. I did expect it to be a fairly responsive post in terms of comments but I think my holding back might have made a difference too.

It's not something I'd considered before this discussion was raised. Quite an interesting one to contemplate and experiment with. Which I will keep doing.

17

This has been on my mind... yes, it seems that a reply to comments does seem to signal that the topic is closed, when that's far from the intention. I think anti has put a finger on it, and a terrific approach to solving the problem:

If you feel compelled to reply to each and every commenter like this:
@blue: yeah right on
@green I thought so too
@pink thanks for your idea

that could possibly signal that you are bored with this particular post.

On the other hand, if you post something like:

This is getting a lot more attention than I expected. @purple, your ideas are especially intriguing, that blows the wind out of x in favor of y. What exactly can you tell me? Anybody agree with this?

That might be more likely to keep the conversation going.