- Image via Wikipedia
I can’t be the only one.
Maybe you don’t know what I am talking about. I am talking about when you leave a comment on a blog. Usually when you leave a comment the blogger will respond to your comment in the comment section. If they have Disqus or some other threaded commenting plugin you will get an email with the reply to your comment. Often the blogger will then visit your blog and leave a comment on your recent post. That is the way it has worked for as long as I have been blogging. It’s organized and courteous.
Not anymore.
Lately when I have left a comment I get an email from the blogger thanking me for my comment. That’s it. Just a “thank you for leaving a comment on my site”. No acknowledgment that they read the comment, agreed or disagreed with the comment, just that they got it and they are appreciative.
That’s all fine and dandy, I am glad you appreciate it but you know what? I don’t need more email. You don’t need to thank me for leaving a comment. That’s what we do, we leave comments.
However, we leave comments because we have something to add to your post and would like some response to our well thought out comment.
(If you need to learn how to leave a comment, or really how not to leave a comment, you can read the rules here)
I understand that a lot of bloggers don’t return comments. I don’t really understand it, why the hell are you blogging if you don’t return comments? I’ve also seen notes on blogs stating they only reply to comments on their own blog. I don’t get that either. If you aren’t willing to visit people what is the point? But this is different. This is refusing to reply to the comment and filling the commenters email up with more junk. That’s worse than spam.
I’m sure these emails were supposed to be helpful. Polite even. But they aren’t. They are annoying. Don’t send me an email about my comment unless you have something to say about the comment I left. A thank you is nice but if it means more email for me to wade through I would rather not have it.
Who has time to even write those stupid replies?
I don’t mind it when people don’t respond to my comments, but please don’t thank me. Like you, my inbox is full enough.
they are auto responders so the blogger just loads up the one time “thank
you’ and then they never have to worry about it again.
Ugh, so it’s not even a sincere Thank You, but a form letter thanks? That’s kind of tacky. If they were going to do that, they should just post a comment on their blog with a “Thanks for commenting everyone!” or something. That way they kind of respond personally, even if they don’t have anything interactive to say about your response. Oh well.
Thank you for leaving a comment on my site.
If you left one.
Pretty sure you did.
I don’t think this counts.
I too want to thank you for all the comments you leave on my blog. It’s most appreciated.
I can so relate. I’m terrible at recognizing my commenters on my own blog, but I comment on other peoples blogs all over the place.
Leaves blog with head hung low. 🙁
Oh, don’t thank me, I don’t leave nearly as many comments as you do.
(hanging head very low and hoping the dog doesn’t start licking my ears)
You do it better than anyone. Don’t go changing.
Yes, I completely agree! I have only recently come across these automated messages, when I commented on a blog and then, to my surprise, found a thank you note in my inbox. I first I was naive enough to believe that the blogger had taken the time to thank me personally, but I soon realised that this was an email in line with spam.
They are annoying, you’re right. And I don’t see the point in them, I don’t think they’ll catch on…
Nope, I don’t see the point either, except to piss people like me off.
You bring up a great point. It’s the reciprocity that puts the blog into blogging. Receiving an impersonal auto responder thank you email is insulting. It’s saying, “I’m too lazy to respond to your comments or to visit your blog.” There are so many bloggers who work 9-5, and still they go the extra keypad click to comment or visit when they have time.
Shame on you, commenting automatons. You should hang out with vending machines or ATM terminals.
You tell ’em!
I try to personalize every “thank you”. I usually keep it brief and maybe a little humorous…I try anyway 🙂
Rene
As long as you are personalizing them that is okay. I don’t thank my readers, maybe I should, I just reply and keep the conversation going. I am grateful for their comments but it seems strange to thank them. I think the thank you is implied. Isn’t it?
I just read, on another blog, a post about comments – where is this topic all coming from? I am of two minds about comments – they are nice because you know people are reading but OTOH sometimes I can think of no response to a comment on my blog, so I’ll just say “Thanks” and then there are blogs of people I truly like but most of the time I have nothing constructive to say about what they write, so I’ll leave a goofy comment just to let them know I was there…Automated responses? Never came across that so I really don’t have an opinion on it (Me without an opinion? what has the world come to…)
I have decided that if you don’t have anything to say you shouldn’t force it. You are officially off the hook. If you visit a site and you aren’t inspired to say anything in a comment then you can leave with your head held high. Or you could just say “nice post”.
I couldn’t agree more Jen!
Of course you couldn’t because you know I am right. We are great minds Linda, we think a like and we are always right. (I hope Jayne isn’t listening)
I hope she isn’t either because she’s little but damn! She’s mighty! But of course I know you are right because we do think alike and we right leaning Republican women have to stick together in this love fest of liberals.
Amen!!! An auto email means nothing, reading responses on the sight is way too time consuming to do. Just comment…or not. ‘Nuff said……
Ya’ll have a beautiful day filled with sweet blessings and ‘real’ comments!!!
I have not gotten one of these yet so I guess I have been too busy eating weeds…
Well let’s hope I have stomped out this horrible practice and you never get any. There are better things to do than read empty emails.
Comment auto-response is so bland, boring and cold. You would expect that from your bank, but not from a blog.
If only my bank loved me that way.
I’m with you Jen. It’s a form of blogger etiquette, isn’t it. I mean if you’re talking to somebody on the phone for example what would you do if they never spoke? It’d be a pretty one-sided conversation. Bloggers go to a lot work with their posts to entice comments. Once they get them it’s only fair to acknowledge them with an “engaging” response. Same with leaving a comment on another’s blog. Hey, it took me a minute or two to think of that comment. Don’t ignore it. Would you like it if I ignored your blog.
Gee, Jen, now you’ve got me getting my mad on. But I agree.
I’ve gotten that a couple times from one blogger. The first time I checked back several times to see if there was an actual written response, and no there wasn’t. It’s like an impersonal form letter with no real answer. I don’t remember if I got a return visit or not, but probably not.
I’m with you about extra unnecessary e-mail. I get an e-mail alert when I get comments so I don’t miss any. I do get back to everyone in a day or so. I don’t always know if they check back, but I can pick out my regulars on the stats.
That’s what I did, I went and checked over and over again in case I was missing something. I love getting the emails that give me the response from other bloggers. It’s right there so I can respond right away. It’s helpful, as long as there is information in it.
Good point and good post. Since I started my own site, I endeavour to respond to each comment, whether or not I have something to say. That I am not acknowledged in other blogs doesn’t bother me either since I’ve seen some sites that get upwards of fifty or so comments – hell, that takes a lot of responding. To have an autobot spam me like that is totally unacceptable and, like lauresal said, “insulting”.
Good for you for responding. A lot of bloggers don’t and I don’t understand why. It’s the reason I go back to blogs, I want to see what they said about my comment.
I knew there was a reason that I read your blog! Ok…so all you can string me up here and now. I’m big enough, literally, to admit that I had auto-responders turned on. Back when I was a newbie blogger someone said that I needed to turn on auto responders so I did and frankly I’ve forgotten that I did. It’s turned off now. We’ve all made mistakes as bloggers and this was one of mine. But that’s why I come here so I can read what really annoys Jen and then go look and see if it’s happening on my blog and I can turn it off! Thanks Jen for opening my eyes! I guess I can move away from the vending machines and ATM terminals now!
Shhhh!!!!! I wasn’t going to out you, I don’t know why you outed yourself. You are not the only one I get these from, by a long shot. You get a big round of applause for owning this (even though you didn’t have to, I would have never outed anyone). Now, hopefully you have shut that damn thing off.
Never outed anyone? Never outed anyone? Think back Jen, Darling, to the “I hate awards” post! Seems it had old Linda Medrano all over it!
So well said…but Im laughing too hard at the way you said it…You go girl…!
Yeah when I get fired up anything can happen! Watch out other bloggers who do things I hate, whatever those things might be. Or something like that.
I have an admission. I never return comments. I get like 50-100 comments a post and I was spending ALL my time returning comments. I had no time to actually READ other’s blogs. So, the choice was actually read other’s blogs and comment or just respond to comments. I figure most people would rather I actually read their blog than get a reply comment.
While that is not the most polite way to handle comments there are some bloggers who get too many and if they only singled out a few they might be considered snooty for not getting back to all of them, or something like that. God, I wish I had that problem. No, this is different, this is sending me an email without a real response. It’s making work for me but with no payout.
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I get that too. It is annoying.
I’ve not received one of those auto-responders yet. If I ever do get one, that will be the last visit I pay to that particular blog. That’s just freakin’ rude.
You have bigger balls than I do. I will keep going back because I have self esteem issues.
Agreed and noted.
Fortunately I haven’t had this one happen to me yet. The last worst new thing to hit me was the bots that scrape existing comments from your site and repost them, but using their spammy contact information. The first time that happened to me I had this weird deja vu moment. Then I noticed the contact info and died a little inside. They’re relentless. 🙁
I read my comments but don’t respond to them. Then again the people that read my blog know that and don’t get all bent out of shape because I haven’t personally said “Thanks” or “Great point” – I may thank them in a post after the fact but I don’t feel the need to acknowledge all of the comments that I receive. Seems like a weird thing to get bent about.
Also I have never had a problem with the auto “Thank you” never received one of those. Perhaps blogger is different, but simply mark them as spam and you won’t receive another one. Again seems like small potatoes to me. You made a comment and it was acknowledge, albeit automatically, but at least it was sent.
Bigger fish to fry my friend.
I agree with you, there is nothing to be bent about but it is just a point made: those auto responses are plain useless and when you already receive plenty of emails, you dont want to see more junk added to it.
I don’t respond to comment either or i do but rarely, not that I don’t want to but people are generally sharing their thoughts about what I have written and most of the time I don’t feel there is anything more from me to add unless they are starting a debate or asking me questions or clarifications. I have seen it on some blogs where the owner replies to every single comments with just “thank you” or “I agree”… Because you will read it in all marketing campaigns: comments are important so make sure you answer them. I just don’t feel it is necessary to do that.
LOL@ Lauren!
I’ve just recently started getting some of those automated comments and at first I was like…wow, how did they figure out how to do this?…then when I realized they weren’t just away on vacation and this was how they were talking to me from now on….well, at least the bill collectors call me in person…
I thought vacation too at first.
I can see how those were useful way back in the stone ages of blogging but now? Not so much. If it’s going to come to my pad it should be really personalized, more than Dear Author or alternately Dear Cardiogirl.
However, if I’m getting email, as you mentioned, I’d rather have it cut to the chase — as in I’d like to see the blogger’s response to my comment. No more, no less. I’ve gotten a few but they seem to be falling to the wayside, which is a good thing.
And it seems to me it prevents people from revisiting the site so they can see the comments. I always go back to the scene of the crime because I want to see what they say about my comment. The comments are usually better than the original post because readers pick up on things that I missed and make them classic.
Ew, it’s like leaving a comment with a bank or paying a credit card…
Why does everyone keep mentioning banks? I don’t get the connection. My banks don’t spam me, they just keep taking my money, they don’t even send me an email when they do it.
“Thank you for leaving a post on your site.”
And now I go straight to hell. I have not received any of these yet thankfully. Nice post Jen.
I only recently started having this happen, especially when I am visiting family/kid-friendly sites and commenting. Auto-response seems incredibly impersonal, and a lot of the impersonality of things lately has really been getting on my nerves. Maybe I’m too touchy, or something, but I do think it’s important to personally interact with the people who read my blogs. Sending an auto-response is sort like a lukewarm acknowledgment, rather than an actual thanks.
Half the fun of this blogging thing is reading all the comments! But only the good ones that are actually conversational… like all those things you and Linda were just saying about Jayne! Ha! I’m telling! Don’t be hatin’ on us bleeding heart liberals! But seriously, I really appreciate it when people take the time not only to read what I wrote but to comment, so I always try to respond. I had no idea there was actually an auto-responder function, though. That’s just cheating! And crass! And undignified. I’d much rather take the time to write something stupid myself than to let someone else do it for me.
Those email thank yous are SO flipping annoying. I agree. I hate them!
I also am not going to come back to an old post to see if you answered my comment. That is ridiculous!
Now, I used to try to visit every single commenter, but sometimes there are just SO many. I don’t know what to do. I really try to visit people at least once a week. I so appreciate each and every comment, but if I visited every person I wouldn’t be able to do any of my mommy jobs, or my real work or even blog… so I guess I will just thank my lucky stars that I can visit when I can : )
I must admit to receiving one of these recently. The worst part was that my comment was a question, that obviously didn’t get answered. I went back to the blog, but there was no response there.
Interaction with bloggers, is part of, no probably the main reason for me blogging. I have had very few people visit or comment on my blog lately, and I really miss the communication with people. It’s made me even more aware of the importance of people responding to comments. Auto response isn’t a response.
I’m the same way. Right now I think everyone is busy trying to get in the last few moments of summer. My blog has been dead and I have been so busy getting the kids ready to go back to school I haven’t had as much time to read other blogs. It’s always like this this time of year.
Yes, I must admit to spending a lot of time in the garden. It must be a real busy time for people with kids. I feel for you 🙂
You’re so right when you said, why are you blogging if you’re not going to reply to the comments. Im not a fan of blogs that don’t engage their readers. And yes, those auto-reply emails are totally annoying!
Me too, I really like the back and forth between bloggers. It’s what makes it all worth while for me. And now I have to start visiting blogs again, I have been a horrible blogger these last couple of weeks. The summer has kicked my butt. I can’t wait for the kids to go back to school so I have more time to read other blogs and give it my full attention. I have been leaving the lamest comments (if I manage to leave one) because I can’t focus for more than a few minutes at a time.
I’ve been a bad blogger all summer too. I’m playing catch up all day today.
Honestly, I’d just be grateful for any comment…… (but then I have only about 3 readers and I’m pretty sure they’re mostly family members)
Boxergirl, where is your blog? When you commented it didn’t pull in your URL so I can’t visit unless you give me the URL.
I know this summer I have been very remiss in leaving comments, especially to good friends who always try and leave a comment or two. You are so right about then why do we blog if we don’t return the favor. I personally can muster up enough time and energy to try and get a post up so my blog keeps relevant and not lost. It does take a lot of work and effort to get your blog up and going, so sometimes autopilot is needed. But as far as autoresponders I guess I have been lucky and never seen one, in regards to leaving a comment. The few comments I do leave are to blogs I think highly of and know there is an actual person manning the tower.
Hey Jen Long time–
I have been getting a few auto-responder ‘thank you’s’, I dunno what the hell, I just peek and delete. You however are at the top of the heap, you read, write, and have the chutzpa to respond to, lemme see, 63 comments on this post alone and counting. That’s bad-ass.
Good to read ya’ again!
PLU!
I hate comment auto responder to. most of the times, people who do that will never comment back. its for a lazy people.
I agree with you. I admit I don’t always reply to all comments. I like the way DISQUS makes this much easier. I do read all my comments. I think the “like” button on the DISQUS system to a good way to acknowledge a comment. The feedback is what blogging is all about.