1. For some, their blog is like an art gallery: things that are shown are expected to be either accepted as a whole, with everything they contain, or not accepted at all, even if they contain something a visitor doesn’t agree with or approve of. But it’s not even quite like the traditional type of art gallery. The main idea is, you let a piece of the author’s mind inside yours. You don’t interpret it. You don’t adjust it to yourself. You don’t process it in any way that could alter it. Needless to say, any side thoughts don’t do much help in this case.
2. Often, a post is intended as a finished thought, and thus any comment can be an insult, since it accuses the author of not fulfilling the main objective: the very fact means someone still has something to add to it.
3. I have very specific views on some subjects, so explaining them in response to one or another post may get the author even further from understanding whether I’m in agreement with him/her or not.
4. Finally, in 99% of cases I’ve got nothing worthy of saying to say. I believe that communication must be meaningful, though some may beg to differ. At least I believe that such belief keeps you disciplined when it comes to communication and makes you strive to get better and better at it.
Im not sure about the last bit. It doesnt have to be a “worthy” comment, i think just expressing your thoughts at a given topic is what writers here are longing for. No?
Hi,
thanks for the feedback!
The thing is, what I’m not comfortable with doing is not necessarily what I’m not comfortable with others doing. I’m always striving to exceed expectations, though I never expect much from other people. For me, it’s quite OK to see any reaction at all – I mean, I see those “uh, whatever” type comments and think – who knows what was on his mind when he was writing it, but it would be interesting to figure that out. But it’s just not the way I expect people to think about what I say, that’s why I don’t apply such logic to myself and always think twice before commenting.
Interesting perspective. Made me wonder why I comment. Thought provoking. I like to be tangible in my comments, specifically pointing out where someone touched me or made me think. Like here. Nice work! “Often, a post is intended as a finished thought, and thus any comment can be an insult, since it accuses the author of not fulfilling the main objective: the very fact means someone still has something to add to it.”
Hi,
thanks for the response!
The thing is, I often catch myself thinking – is my comment definite enough so that the author can easily tell whether I approve of what he/she wrote or not?
Quite provocative post. I tend to comment about 30% of the time, and usually it is words of encouragement. I love when readers comment on my posts, because it lets me know that someone is actually reading them! But I definitely understand your thought processes regarding comments.
I never see a comment as an insult to my finished thought…mainly because my thoughts are never finished (which is why my posts tend to be longer than most). I think as long as someone is respectful, they don’t have to agree with me.
However, all that is *me* and doesn’t necessarily apply to others.
Hi,
thanks for the thoughtful comment!
Yes, it’s meant to be provocative, because unfortunately, no one would care otherwise.
I also think of my posts as thoughts that are never finished, that’s why I often hesitate about writing them at all. However, I have a feeling that other people may have a different way of reasoning things, so usually I try to be careful enough not to make an author think his or her writing is in any way inferior, since I’m in no position to judge unless I really really have to. I think that encourages people to express themselves and to speak their mind, because people are afraid of getting responses that can make them feel stupid or embarrassed.