Today's post is going to be short and sweet, but I'm putting it here because I know it would just get lost in the faceless noise of Facebook, Twitter or any other social media if it was just a shout out there. One of my new goals to bring back the real person-to person connection in craft blogs and I'm challenging you to join me - and you don't need to have a blog to do it!
Starting this week I'm going to start making a conscious effort to comment on blog posts I click on or projects I bookmark with a Pinterest pin. Less of the 2 second "click, skim & leave" or the even briefer "click, pin & forget", I'm going to take a few extra seconds to let someone know I saw what they made and say a little something about it. Not spend added hours seeking stuff out, but a few seconds when I'm already looking at something. A genuine comment, not a quick, generic "That's so cute!". Just to let them know their effort and creativity is appreciated and noticed.
I've really missed the direct person-to-person blog interactions since crafting went viral & social - both as a reader and with my own readers. Clearly I'm not the only one, given all the comments echoing that feeling on my Quitting the Craft Blog Rat Race post from a couple weeks ago. So why not do a little something to bring back a few personal connections? It doesn't take much effort and it doesn't mean spending ages. Let's all try to take an extra moment when we see something to let that person know what we liked about their work, ask a question or just share a feeling. You might even get an unsolicited comment yourself:)
I have about 200 blog posts to read in my feed because I always like to comment when I visit other people's blogs. Lately I check them while breastfeeding, so it's har to type... but I always go back later when I wanted to comment and couldn't. I also, always answer comments in my blog... and I find it rude when people don't. =(
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear you do that Magda and I agree on answering comments. If someone takes the time to write more than two words it is impolite not to answer - especially if they ask a question. It really feels like a lot of people have forgotten manners since texting & social media became the norm.
DeleteI comment when I can, and usually leave a complement or opinion, or answer the question from the post. I agree about the click and run, Pin and forget. I think Pinterest is slowing down, I don't have nearly as many pins in my feed new over the course of a week like I used to. A lot of Blogspot blogs will not allow me to comment, so sometimes I can't even though I would like to. It seems to happen more with embedded comments than those that have a page option. We will see if this will post to your comments. Carole @ From My Carolina Home
ReplyDeleteYipee, it worked this time!!
DeleteYay that it worked Carole! It would be great for the tide to turn a little - I think people have realized if you pin a million things you'll never be able to get back to them all, so why pin everything you see? Then it can be used as the handy bookmarking-style tool it started out being.
DeleteI usually end up really behind on the blogs I follow because I like to try to leave comments. It's always such a fantastic feeling when people do it for me, so I like to return the favor! This is a great idea for a challenge!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I feel Rebecca. I recently discovered a blogger I really enjoy and realized with her latest post that I hadn't really been commenting to let her know how much I like what she does. It was my first post-challenge comment and it felt as good giving it as it usually does getting them:)
DeleteI often don't comment because it's sometimes a multi-step process. For example, on this blog, if I am not already signed into my gmail account, I have to exit to another screen to sign in, come back to this blog, enter my comment and publish. Whoops. No good. Blogger (I think that's the platform you use) didn't update before I entered my comment. Have to re-type my comment and finally publish. It's too aggravating and that's why I rarely post comments although I read a lot of blogs.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know Tammy. I wish I knew how to make it easier to comment with Blogger - I will see if there's anything more I can do here. Personally I've gotten really confused with people using things like Disqus or other id things which involve a whole registration kind of process that doesn't seem to be useful for anything else like a gmail account or the social media log-ins. I doubly appreciate your comment knowing that it took some extra effort, so thank you!!
DeleteYou are right, and thank you for this post (I found your blog today just by accident). Reading blogs is pleasant, but commenting is direct interaction, and is even better. However, I would only want to comment if it adds something, and not to add another "lovely" to a long list of "lovely" and "cute". Also, bloggers don't always seem interested in receiving any comment, judging by how difficult they can make it (I don't want to comment if I have to decipher illegible letter/numbers first). And recently I have experienced what Tammy Randall mentions: Even when I am already logged in, at the first publishing try the text disappears into space. (I now always select and copy my text before trying to publish, so I can enter it again without too much pain). Lastly, I always reply to comments by email, and not back on the blog post, because I know myself I would not usually go back to a blog post again after commenting to see if the author has replied...I would not necessarily know again where it was...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found it Sandra and more good info on it. I do have Sew Can Do set to Registered User because I got a huge amount of spam comments every day when I had it open to anyone/anonymous.
DeleteI also agree with the captcha or hidden "click this box if you're a real person" a lot of blogs use being frustrating. I think that's considered the work around to registered users, but I find it more of a hassle as a reader than leaving myself logged in.I think a lot of the blogs that have that just don't know - these days you need to be some sort of programming wizard for a lot of blog features!
A lot of my commenters have no-reply which makes emailing them directly difficult and I like for others to see that I really do respond to comments. I also find it handy when someone asks a question so others can see the answer too. FYI - If you click on the "Notify Me" box before you hit publish on a comment, you'll get an email version of the reply so you don't have to chase it down or keep track:)
I have enjoyed your blog and do try to read your blog once a week. But I don't usually make many comments but I'll try in future. I don't have my own blog but I do get great ideas from yours and many others. I am a former homeschooler of 4. My youngest is 21 now. It is by far the hardest job I've ever done and I appreciate your blog because you comment on your journey with homeschooling. Cathy Katzer
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Cathy and love hearing that you read it regularly. Also happy to meet another homeschooling mom too - this year is our first with all 3 kids fully homeschooling, so I may look to you and some other experienced readers for tips! It is a tough job, but means a lot too!
DeleteOpps! Somehow I posted with my husbands email. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteCathy K.
I comment all the time! And I always respond to comments on my blog. If others took the time why wouldn't I? I have made some virtual friends like this... :-)
ReplyDeleteYou've got the right idea Patricia & I've made a lot of wonderful long-distance friends that way myself. Let's keep it going:)
DeleteThis is a great challenge! Even though I comment regularly on blogs I like, I do forget to comment if I'm visiting a new one from Pinterest. I'm going to make an effort to to tell the writer what I liked about the post when I'd normally click through. =)
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear Charity! I've made a conscious effort this week and it's felt great and have had some great conversations as a result. Definitely worth the extra few seconds!
DeleteAlso! I noticed a few people who have had comments disappear when they hit publish... that happens to me too, if the page I'm looking at has been open for a while. I just refresh it quickly before commenting and have no problems.
ReplyDeleteGood tip too thanks:)
DeleteWhat a lovely thought - I was just thinking along similar lines today after finding some old letters from childhood friends and how we don't take the time anymore to forge connections with individuals. Nowadays the obsession is the number of likes or page views that we get from each post. It's so easy to click "Like" or +1 a post that it doesn't really mean much - did that liker really like my entire post or did they just like/pin/share to read later/never?
ReplyDeleteI think you're on to a great idea - let's bring communication and connections back to basics and make it about quality, not quantity!
I think that's very true. Despite being so "connected" we really do interact less these days. In just the past week I've felt a difference just taking those few extra moments to write something and many of them have replied back. I recently got a Pinterest email showing my most popular pins and saw how one particular project post I did was repinned hundreds of times from one person's pin of it. I was really surprised because there wasn't that much direct contact on my original post. I'd much rather see that 5 people actually read it than 500 people just liked the concept from glancing at a single picture and then forgot all about it.
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