Whenever I go to My Stats, it’s embarrassing for me to see myself as the first among the top commenter. For the record, all my comments are replies to audiences who cared to comment. So what I did is to transfer almost all my own comments by embedding each one of them inside the responses of my dear readers. I just got that trick from a few bloggers. Initially from 54, it’s now trimmed down to just 15 comments.
Familiarity breeds contempt
There’s a saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe that’s the reason why most of my blog audiences are strangers. But that’s okay since most of my friends started as strangers first before I came to know them better. But later on, maybe their interest of knowing you better is waning. My friends and colleagues might be too familiar with me now. Maybe I’m just thinking too much.
I think it only reflects that I never take all readers for granted. I don’t like the feeling of being ignored, that’s why I always make it a point that I give an immediate feedback to readers. I appreciate all kinds of comments excluding spam comments, though I bother to read them sometimes. Like the motto of the captain from The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I see to it that no one gets left behind. I love to read comments because it inspires me to write more whenever someone gives their opinion.
Spam Comments
A few hours after I posted this entry, I was shocked to see an overwhelming number 40 spam comments queuing in this post alone. Wow!
yes, i think you’re thinking too much. i’m sometimes amazed when i see certain blogs that have 40-50 comments on their posts. i barely get any comments, and that’s okay because – for me – it’s not about the comments. it’s about me getting my thoughts out, saying what i have to say, and practicing my use of language. i’m not trying to be a journalist – which is what blogging is kinda like. i’m want to write books. blogging allows me to practice. it allows me to get thoughts and issues out of my head, and it helps me keep in the habit of writing. i, and millions of others, think i have brilliants novels waiting to be written. but sometimes i have other ideas in the way, ideas about politics, social observations, kids, work, etc. and sometimes i can’t work on the book i want to write until these other bothersome thoughts are out of the way.
i would love all those followers that i see on other blogs. i see people with over 100 followers, and i wonder how the hell that happens. i would love the comments that others get because it would help me feel like i’m really connecting with people. but i also know that most of those other blogs have a very specific and limited theme or subject area. that’s not what i’m doing. i can’t focus on one thing, like photography or cooking. i have to write about whatever the hell comes up, and that’s not going to bring me a specific audience that will come back day after day.
so, write for you. not for them.
Whenever I write, I see to it that my writing voice is the same with the manner how I talk. So it ends up being conversational. I have a lot of unpublished posts here maybe because I’m just thinking too much just like you’ve said.
I see that you’re into writing books and self-publishing. That’s great.
So in writing for myself, I’ll consider it. Thanks!
I don’t think you should worry so much about that. It just means that you are diligent at replying to comments (which is a good thing). No one sees the stats but you.
Now I’ll continue replying to every comments and try to lessen being conscious of it.
Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
Well, Allen jambalaya, you know how I post, ahahaha ! Too conversational. And guess what, that’s my line of thought. Always. I’m topicless ! !
Just write ! And write for yourself !
Hahaha! That’s what you call randomness. 🙂
Okay, okay. I get it now. Its just that writing for myself sounds selfish but I’ll try it. I’ll write for the sake of writing itself.
Cheers!
Spam comments are my online pet peeve. Shocked me when an article about my love for grandma has apparently helped someone sell drugs like Viagra and the likes. But thank God for Akismet.
Thanks for subscribing back, Allen. And yeah, just write away!
The lesson here is to moderate comments. Even one or two comments sometimes slips from the spam detection. But nonetheless, Akismet always saves the day.
I don’t think there’s an issue with being the top commenter of your own blog. It’s your blog, after all. It’s not as if you’re chatting with yourself. it just means you’re replying to comments.
Also, when you reply to commenters by just adding your response to their original comment, they may not get to read it because the system doesn’t get a notification that a new comment is added.
Spam comments are annoying but some are funny as hell.
Spam comments are giving me a hard time now. Because of the spam comments, I’m not receiving notifications on my e-mail now whenever someone leaves a comment. My reply to one of the comments even landed on the spam section and it took me some time to notice it! But rarely, some are just random trolls and give comments just for the lols.
Thanks for dropping by. 🙂