July 10, 2012

Did You Know? Blogger Comments and Replies

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Houston, we have a problem.

Did you know that even though Blogger added the ability to reply to readers' comments (comment thread) that the commenter you're replying to may not know you did?

!@#$^&!

I recently discovered this little paradox when I checked to make sure I'm not a no-reply blogger. I am all set up to display my email address when I comment, yet I do not receive notification that a reply has been made on one of my comments using the Blogger comment thread.

Which means.... those who comment on MY posts are not being notified when I reply to them.

*^%$&((W#%$$*(!

ALL bloggers love getting comments, and we all know that REPLYING to them is good networking etiquette, not to mention good manners.

Because no one likes to say something only to hear crickets.

Here's the thing: if you're on the Blogger platform using Blogger's comment thread, your readers will only know that you've replied to their comment if....

  • They come back to the post and see it, or
  • You reply to them via email, instead of on the post.

Furthermore, it would seem that replying to comments via the comment thread is really only beneficial for adding something more to the post. Like, say, if someone asked a question in their comment and you anticipate others may wonder the same thing, hence you answer it under the comment for everyone to see.

So I uninstalled Disqus when Blogger gave us the comment thread months ago, and have been assuming the replies I leave are being sent to the reader. ALL. THIS. TIME.


And speaking of those who ARE no-reply, that makes it even harder to let you know I saw, read and appreciated your comment, because neither can I respond to the comment email I get, nor can I rely on the comment thread to let you know.

Which means.... I have to let it go or try to hunt you down on Twitter or something. Because what if you said something really great that totally deserves a response?? And what if when you don't get anything back you think I'm some kind of snob?

I am so NOT a snob!

So, if you leave comments on Blogger blogs with your Blogger profile, please go check to see if you have your email address set to be displayed. HERE is where I found out how to check. It's super easy.


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9 comments:

  1. MORE EMAILS? Gahhhh! lol

    I've reply to people that have a return email addy. Depending on the content, I'll sometimes post it on my ghetto comment roll too ;p

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  2. I tend to comment on the blog when the people are no-reply folks! Otherwise, I love to email my response . . . cause that is just how I roll. :D
    Jenn

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  3. Yeah, I had the same problem... Very frustrating.

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  4. I am a really new blogger (just over one month) and have A LOT to learn. Starting with this whole comment business! I respond to every single one of the comments made on my blog (I use WordPress) because I am so damn honored that folks stop by. I also try to frequent other blogs and comment on them. The only way I've been able to see any responses to my comments is if I click that "Notify me of comments..." button but then I get EVERY COMMENT MADE (not just response to mine). Try clicking that option on THE BLOGGESS and see what happens! :) Anyway, if I comment on a fellow WP site, I do get a notification about any future action on THOSE comments, but not everyone is on the same platform so what are us bloggers to do?

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  5. I didn't know about the no-reply thing for a long time when I was on blogger. A lot of people didn't have their status set up so I could reply via email even. It is annoying. I shouldn't complain though b/c lately I've been horrible about replying to comments on my blog. Gah. Need to work on that. :)

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  6. I'm on wordpress but still had to install a plug-in for people to select if they wanted to "subscribe" to the responses. Maybe that's similar to what you had before. I think it's nice to answer too!

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  7. Another annoying thing with Blogger's system? I *totally* want to reply to some of your commenters above but I know they won't get the notifications. :)

    So, I'll put it here instead: To those talking about Wordpress, there is an awesome plugin you can install on your site that will let people automatically be notified of just the replies to their comment. That means they don't have to subscribe to the entire comment feed just to see if someone replied. It is called "Comment Reply Notification". A GREAT plugin to have!

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  8. thanks for sharing ... I didn't realize that my email wasn't showing up .. I thought it was ...stupid blogger.

    though I hate when I automatically get subscribed to reply threads because then I get 94850349587 emails saying "someone replied" ... which is nice, but annoying at the same time.

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  9. I created a folder in my bookmarks with the title "CHECK ME!!!!!". Anytime I leave a comment on someone else's blog, I bookmark it in there and check it daily for a response. I delete it after I get a response (unless I respond again) or after a few days with no response. It's certainly not practical, but it's about all I can do.

    It's really stupid that even have to do this, because blogger used to have a button you could click that would email you any responses. Why they took that out is beyond me.

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