One of the things about blogging that I have yet to figure out is the etiquette of commenting, or more specifically, responding to comments.  This goes for comments people make on my blog entries, as well as comments that I make on other people’s blogs.

It is really important, in my mind, to pay attention to, and encourage, comments in the blogosphere.  As I have noted before, the fact that someone comments at all is a big deal because it isn’t necessarily easy or straightforward to do it.  In many cases, for someone to take the time and effort to comment on something on a blog is an indication of a strong interest or opinion.

However, as a blog author, I am often uncertain as to whether to respond to a comment.  For instance, although I want to show regard and thankfulness for every comment, should I always add a comment to someone else’s?  Is it ok or necessary to do this if/when the only thing I might have to say is “Thanks”?

There are many times where a blog author hardly ever acknowledges or responds to comments, even if the comment is posing a direct question to the blog author, or the comment adds a lot to the discussion or provides a thoughtful viewpoint.  If I’m the commenter and I’ve put in a lot of thought and/or effort into a comment on someone else’s blog in an attempt to add something significant to the idea, concept, or subject of the post in question, and I receive no response whatsoever, I am pretty discouraged.  When that happens, especially when it happens over and over again, I’m not going to bother commenting any more.  In some cases that is probably a good thing or doesn’t matter much.  In other cases, I think it’s a shame.  Sometimes it is downright disrespectful.

I realize that there are all kinds of reasons why comments may or may not be answered by the blog author or by someone else.  We all have a hard time keeping up with email let alone acknowledging or responding to comments on blogs (our own or someone else’s).  We may not have any opinion or reaction and therefore choose not to respond for that reason.  We may simply overlook the fact that someone has made a comment.  We may in fact want to discourage comments by a certain person with an axe to grind or who is being disruptive in some way.  (Personally, I’ve never faced this situation, but then, this blog has a pretty small readership, which is fine with me.)

So I am often left to wonder and puzzle over this issue.  Comment?  Or no comment?  And what does that mean?  Or does it mean anything at all?  I wish I had more solid answers.