I was waiting at the bus stop today and it came to me:
the word reciprocity.
When I wrote that post about comments a couple days ago, I couldn't sum up in one word what I want out of blog comments, but that's it.
Really simple, but I struggled to get clear about it.
And now I am.
Ah, so satisfying to find the right word. And it's a good word. Reciprocity. Everybody needs it on some level.
ReplyDelete(O)
ReplyDelete:D
Thanks, friends!
ReplyDeleteHmm. There's an extremely cranky blogger of my acquaintance who rarely responds to comments or leaves them, but I ususally comment on his - yes, a male person, because he feels like family, and also because I respond to the photo or text - I'm more comfortable doing this than attempting to comment when I don't have a response to something.
ReplyDeleteARTS: Yes, this is all highly personal---and, for me, highly variable, as I too feel comfortable commenting on some people's blogs whose only "reciprocity" is that they keep on posting posts!
ReplyDeleteAnd that is good enough for me, in those cases.
But in general, I'm a chatty type of bat who likes to get *some* bounce-back to her sonar. : )
I love what you are say about being "comfortable commenting on some people's blogs whose only "reciprocity" is that they keep on posting posts" - I wholeheartedly agree! I always hope that visitors understand that I cannot possibly reciprocate each of their visits because of time limits it comes down to either blogging myself or commenting on their blogs! Most of the time it is only my blog that I can give freely, no time left for surfing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about all these questions regarding reciprocity. Helped me to clarify my own thoughts about it.
Please excuse the mistakes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing, Merisi!
ReplyDeleteIt helps me to understand why people may not respond.
As for mistakes--I am terrible at proofreading my own comments, so no worries! : )