This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you have a pet peeve about when someone posts a comment on your blog? For example, no link back to their blog.
Aww, I don’t have any pet peeves about commenters. I love comments! Well, if they’re from real people—I do get annoyed by spam comments that sneak past the spam filter, especially the ones that look almost like real comments and are only given away by their general vagueness and poor grammar. That’s my only comment pet peeve.
So I thought I’d flip this around and mention a couple of favorite things about comments. I love it when commenters…
- …talk to each other. Replies to other people’s comments are so much fun, especially when someone answers another reader’s question (often with better information than I have!)
- …tell me something interesting about the book or author I didn’t know. All the better if it’s an insight that addresses something I mentioned in the review as bothering me.
- …write virtual blog posts in response. I’m pretty sure there’s no length-limit to comments, and there really shouldn’t be!
- …give me a new book suggestion, or tell me they’re going to read something on my suggestion.
- …agree with me about a book—or argue with me! As long as it stays friendly and respectful all around, of course.
Bloggers out there, do you have pet peeves—or favorite things—about comments? Feel free to write a blog post, answer each other’s questions, or volunteer a book suggestion, but spammers are not welcome. 🙂
I’m waiting for the day that artificial intelligence improves to the point that spambots meaningfully contribute to the conversation. 😛
Ooh…wouldn’t that be brilliant!
I didn’t have a pet peeve either – but I’d like to thank you for introducing me to this hop – especially with next week’s question!
Jemima
My pleasure! I’m always excited when I find a new meme to have fun with too.
Valid topic, Cheryl! I haven’t launched yet, but I follow enough blogs to be able to comment 🙂 I’ve often written “virtual blog post comments,” though time constraints have helped me curb my long-windedness (yes, I know that’s not a word lol). I like good discussion, period, and sometimes the topics or the fellow commenters and blog owner make that happen 🙂
If long-windedness isn’t a word, it should be. It’s so…appropriately long!
Coincidentally I’ve scheduled a post about a pet peeve of mine: bloggers who “follow” me when they’ve neither read nor “liked” nor commented on any of my posts. I do followers and likers the courtesy of checking out their blog and replying whenever appropriate, but I don’t sense a real sense of connection with all self-designated followers. Suspect my post will be a bit of a rant…
Anyway, I did enjoy this post!
Calmgrove, I must ask: is there a way to tell if a follower has or hasn’t read your post? Of course we can see the “likes” or a comment itself, but the reads? I’m still learning and have lots more to learn before I’m into all the stats. Thanks!
If there is, I haven’t worked it out yet! It’s possible to see where traffic comes from — WP Reader, via another WP blog or a search engine using specific key words — but not individuals, unless one is a dedicated internet sleuth!
(By the way, apologies for tardy reply, I’ve been quite busy for anything but the most pressing business the last few days.)
Oh, no need to apologize! We all put stuff out there that often takes a while to thread on and its often forgotten ’til there’s a response, especially when we’re busy! At least you responded 🙂 That’s one thing I love about Cheryl’s blog here–she interacts when there are comments (many do not and I eventually stop following), and I appreciate when people truly have conversation or at least have the courtesy to answer questions, even if it’s not immediately 🙂 So thank you! I, myself, am ridiculously busy working on my blogs (FINALLY!!!). I ended up doing custom artwork to have icons for all my pages. I don’t want to worry about copyright by using images from other sources unless it’s warranted. Anyway, it pulled me away from finishing all the descriptive content, etc., but getting there!
Thanks again for your response, and thank YOU, Cheryl, for being such a wonderful blog host 😀
Aww, and thank YOU for joining the conversation! It’s much easier to be a good host with an engaged group of party-goers!
In the defense of non-commenters, I have been known to “lurk” on some blogs. Usually ones that aren’t on books but interest me in some way, and I enjoy reading even though I don’t have anything I want to add to the discussion.
Although, in principle, I do agree that sometimes followers seem very random and it’s hard to tell if they’re engaged or not!
I confess to being a non-commenter (and also a reluctant ‘liker’) on a handful of blogs I follow, but they’re generally within the ambit of stuff I’m interested in, such as literary stuff.
It’s followers who want to sell something, or illiterate posters, or those who simply go around hoovering up blogs in the hopes that some fish may bite, they’re the ones that I get irritated at — because I am curious and do check out all such bloggers to find out what connection if any there might be — the irritation coming from time wasted. Luckily the timewasters are easily and quickly spotted. Usually.
Oh, I agree — comments are (nearly) always wonderful! 😉 Those spam ones are tricky sometimes, and only occasionally have I had a rude comment. Generally, if someone is responding to what I’m writing, I love it — like you mention, when they have more info or a similar reading recommendation to leave, or even just to say that the book you’ve been talking about sounds good! Always nice to have a conversation and to feel as if you’re not simply sending your words out lonely into a great void…… 😉
Yes! I think all (most?) bloggers start out shouting into the void, until they start to build up readers–so it makes those comments feel even more special once they come.
I like how you turned that around. Great idea.
I love comments too…especially ones that give a book suggestion or give a terrific answer to the week’s question or to anything on a post.
THANKS for sharing all those wonderful thoughts.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Book Beginnings
Any really thoughtful contribution to the discussion makes a great comment.
I’m not sure I know what a virtual blog post is – is that where a commenter writes a comment that turns out to be the length of a blog post? Clever, if it’s an interesting one. Some people do drone on . . . I find that comments can sometimes provide useful added information that the blogger didn’t know on a topic, which is fun for a reader to find out.
Right, that’s exactly what I meant! There’s an advice column-style blog I enjoy where sometimes the best insights come from the (very engaged!) commenter community.