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.)