I think it has to depend on the blog. Take ProBlogger. Darren runs an excellent blog, but it’s not uncommon for him to get over 100 comments on a post. I would never hold it against him for not replying to everyone.

You have to weigh how much you get from reading the blog with how much you get from getting a reply to your comment.

If you enjoy reading then I would keep reading. You can always stop commenting.

I try to reply to every comment but when the proverbial hits the fan it can be a couple of days before I get to them. Then of course there are completely brilliant blogs that have comments switched off like Seth Godins. Personally I prefer a blog with comments, but I am by no means in the majority – after all, a good percentage of web users couldn’t define what a blog is

Take value where you find it, I think

Let’s not forget our social media maven Linda who does one better than me at the Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog – she replies to comments AND leaves a MyBlogLog message to all visitors.

Steven – I totally agree! It’s difficult when the number of commentators is 100+!
Chris – A blog with comments is really important in my opinion. I like to read what other people have to say about the topic.
Jason – So does Linda respond to comments on the blogs you’ve posted?

Ayat,

You ask some really great questions. I think we need to seperate from a professional blogger to a professional who blogs. The professional blogger’s job is their blog. The professional who blogs has another job to tend to first.

I try to respond to as many comments as possible. However, the daily job often gets in the way. I’ll add a comment back if I think it adds value to the conversation. In our case I often get comments from older posts as well as our latest so the volume occasionally gets out of hand. Some of my staff are better than others with follow up comments – depending on their work load.

The question if you should drop it or not really depends on if you are getting value from the content first and second even if the blogger doesn’t respond doesn’t mean he doesn’t value your contribution to the discussion.

You raise some great points Bryan. I did not make the distinction between bloggers and professionals. It’s true, professionals have other responsibilities besides blogging and responding to comments. However, many subscribers comment on a blog expecting some response and the silence on the other end may discourage that reader to make future comments. If comments are of value to a blog, responding is important.

drop some other blogs and get with ours!

It all depends on the blog. But there is def can be an over comment issue. Maybe this is when you start to transfer comments into a forum type format.

Crenk – is a surplus in comments an “issue”?

Yeh sometimes it can be.. information overload. It is a little like the concept of web2.0, it gives everyone the ability to express their own opinion, but sometimes u have to wade through a lot of crap to get to the expert speak in the corner. If you know what i mean

Ayat:

I read a lot of blogs without leaving any comments at all because the blog just doesn’t “hit” me in a way that I feel a need to say anything back to the author. I also may just glance at a blog and really read the comments in depth just to see what people are saying about the subject.

Do I expect an author to respond back to a comment that I have left? Not necessarily, particularly if the comment that I have left is mundane. I don’t expect a comment back if the comment that I have left is “Thanks for the great information,” for example. However, if I have put a lot of thought into the comment and I have not jumped on the bandwagon after a gazillion other people have, I hope that the author, or even some of the other people who are commenting, will respond.

Laura, it’s difficult to respond to a blog if it hasn’t impacted you or provoked some ideas or thoughts that you can share with others. And I hate leaving comments that merely state “great post!” or something along those lines. If I have nothing meaningful to add I generally refrain from commenting. Additionally, the entire discussion about commenting became relevant to me after I started blogging and responding to commentators on my blogs.

Ayat, no and no,
I feed my reader with content. Sometimes the bloggers do not have time or do not need to answer my comments fo any given reason.
Actually the way I see, comments are an idicative way about the successful subject.
Lack of comment can either:
- indicate that you post is not interesting
- be so complete that your users do not feel they need to comment.

Particularly I don’t feel like answering all my comments. I do it though as a matter of respect for those who had a moment dedicated to write me.
See Ya
Lucio

I agree completely Lucio. My blog wasn’t targeted at commentators, because like you said, if the topic and content is of interest, visitors will feel compelled to comment. And yes, if I feel that someone has dedicated the time to make a thoughtful comment on my blog, I feel obliged to respond.