I have this problem with responding to comments on this blog. I always feel like I need to say something to thank the commenter for taking the time to leave a comment. I want to positively reinforce that behavior, after all, because it means people are reading the blog.
The question is: How do you say it to someone without seeming odd? I mean, to just say: “Thanks for your comment” and nothing else, seems a bit dry and almost auto-response like. If I gush too much, it’ll come off as creepy.
Ideally, of course, a response to a comment should in some way add to what the commenter said, and I find I often have nothing to say beyond a rather dull “that’s interesting” or “I agree”.
I could just not respond, but I don’t want people to think I don’t care, because I really like it when people comment. Maybe in the future I’ll just post a link to this post to let people know what the problem is before I respond, and to let them know that their comment is appreciated.
(And yes, feel free to comment on this post as much as you like.)
If you notice, I tend to make lots of comments, not just here, but, on most of the bloggers posts that I follow, which, for the record, I don't think is too many. I've seen both sides, where some bloggers never, ever respond. I respond to comments, because that's me. I actually just stopped following someone, not because he never responded, but, because he usually made condescending remarks to my comments.If you have nothing to say, don't fake it. You already made your point with your post.
I don't generally expect a response comment unless I've asked a question. On the other hand, I always feel rejected when I don't get a response (even though I know this is an unreasonable feeling), which is one reason I comment anonymously. But like thingy said, don't fake it. Giving a perfunctory "thank you" to everyone who comments is a bit like the insurance company sending Christmas cards to its customers: the mass nature of it makes it seem insincere such that it would have been better not to do it at all.One thing you could do is there is a way to type a message that appears to everyone leaving a comment. I'm not sure how to do this, but I knew at one point. Then you could say something like: "I appreciate comments, but I generally don't respond unless I have something substantive to say."
Although I fear I may have accidentally cheapened it, as Anonymous wisely points out, I'd like to sincerely thank you both for your suggestions here.
@ Anonymous:I was able to set up the message as you suggested. If you're interested, I did it by going to "Design -> Settings -> Comments" from the front page of the blog.Thanks again.