I also happened on a thread on Ravelry which intrigued me. It has to do with blog etiquette. The gist of it is that when someone leaves a comment on your blog, you should leave a comment on their blog. I understand the rationale behind this - to increase traffic to one's blog. But the principle of it bothers me. It is a self-escalating because where do you draw the line? I leave a comment on your blog, you leave a comment on my blog and then I leave a comment on your blog, etc. Where does it end? It is like gift-giving at Christmas where I give you a token gift and then you feel obliged to give me something. Next year, I buy you something a bit more expensive but this time you are prepared and you buy me something. This is how Christmas became commercial - in my humble opinion. However, I am wondering if I have committed a social gaffe in not reciprocating to those of you who have left comments here. Speak up and tell me (in an email if you don't want to leave a comment) if I didn't follow through on something you expected. I promise that I will at least leave a comment after this one instance. What is the proper etiquette in this case?
Lastly, here's a photo of my completed Peacock socks.
8 comments:
I suppose it would be 'polite' to comment on commentors' blogs; but, I commented on blogs long before I had one. I comment because I have a reaction to what has been said, not to create a mutual admiration society. Having not read that Ravelry thread, I'm unsure of all the arguments, but I believe in truth and sincerity rather than a Barbie and Ken world.
That's an interesting question. I don't always comment on other people's blogs after they've left me a comment, but I do try to drop them a comment once in a while, especially if they are regular readers. On the other hand, I don't necessarily expect everyone whose blog I comment on to leave me a comment, but I think some people do expect that.
Well,it depends. I try to respond to comments privately,via email. Not always -- some comments don't really call for a reply. I have always commented from time to time on blogs I enjoy, including long before I started to blog myself. One or two bloggers with large readerships have never once replied and I admit that feels a tad strange. I never leave a comment if there are already dozens there and would not expect an acknowledgement if I did. It is more a question of having an episodic (and presumably interesting) dialogue going than of etiquette. BTW Google isn't letting me post my URL so I can't/don't expect a comment.
Now I see some problems with this whole concept!
I was easily able to leave a comment on Nancy's blog since I know which one it is. I can't find one for emma since I get an error when I try and access her blogger profile (which should have her email id). And while I can access Laura's profile, I'm not sure the blogs that are listed are solely hers.
So how does one go about doing this?
Sign me
Ignorant
I have a Blogger account but my own Blog is Typepad, so I can only sign in under a different name and URL on Blogspot blogs that give me a choice. I suppose this has to do with how an individual blogger sets up their preferences. Now that's a definite wrinkle in the etiquette debate, isn't it? my URL at any case is http://scarletknitterDOTtypepadDOTcom
I don't always comment on other people's blog after they'e left a comment on mine. I do try to acknowledge their comments in the comment thread when appropriate. But like Laura said, not all comments need a reply. I would certainly never comment on someone's blog just for the sake of commenting. Just like I don't belive in reciprocal links either.
If somebody that's not a "regular" to my blog comments, I'll stop by their blog to find out who they are. If I see something interesting, I comment.
Most comment acknowledgments that I do are by personal email. I'm supposed to get an email whenever I get a comment (works MOST of the time), and I'll usually acknowledge the comment in a reply. But most people don't do that, IME.
I almost never go back to a comment thread to see if the blog author has acknowledged my comment.
I usually will comment on a blog post if I feel as if I have something to contribute to the conversation. I will also follow links (when provided, see Laura's comment) to commenters' blogs to see what they have to say, and again, will comment if it's germane to the conversation. I will also reply to comments by email if I can--Blogger is kind of hit-or-miss in providing email addresses for commenters, so if I don't already know it, or can't find it, then no response from me.
It kind of sounds to me like one of those "we'll make up rules of etiquette for you" things rather than a sensible process.
Aren't you glad you asked??
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