Jane Declares This Week Commenter Appreciation Week!

More specifically?

My regular commenters.

My dear, sweet, intelligent, kind, feisty, patient, thoughtful, supportive, commenters. If you’ve commented here once, twice or many times more.

If you’ve been thought-provoking or just plain hilarious.

Irreverence (as long as it isn’t malicious and it makes me laugh) is welcome here. So is compassion and tact. I appreciate constructive comments – ones that make me pause, re-evaluate and encourage me to be a better person.

What I do not appreciate are anonymous (fake name, fake email address) comments that criticize and name-call. The ones – ok, just one – that hints you know me in real life. If you’re upset with what I’ve written, please call me (you know my number). Email works, too.

But this post isn’t about you.

This post is about the fantastic people who have followed me through thick and thin, pithy and verbose, enthusiastic and depressing, here and not-s0-here.

This post is an enormous, sloppy, wet thank you to my amazing peeps. You comment when I’m happy. You comment when I’m sad. You even comment when I’m not around here much.

I appreciate your candor. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I love your dependability. I love it when you make me laugh.

In a nutshell, I love you. Each and every one.

Thanks for letting me know I’m not posting to the wind.

Needing Some Comment Advice After My Advice On Comments

Are you confused? Well, now you know how I feel.

Seriously. I’m a nice kid. I try always to play nicely. I try to be fair. I try to be kind, even when I disagree with you. But there are some comments on my blog that I just don’t get and I’m not sure how to handle.

WordPress has a nifty little feature where if you haven’t commented on my blog before I get to approve of your first comment. You don’t know how many times I struggle with “approving” someone or not. First of all, as judgemental as I try not to be (Quit rolling your eyes – I said I try not to be. I didn’t say I never judge.), approving someone’s comment feels….well…..judgemental.

What to do? What to do?

For example:

a) There are the comments that obviously, obviously, so very, very, obviously come from someone who barely skimmed my post. They read the title, assumed what it was about and left  a vague, not even helpful comment. You know what they say about ass-u-me?

OR

b) There are the comments by people who obviously read what I wrote but write such a flaming, almost nasty retort I’m afraid they might hunt me down and kill me in my sleep if I don’t press “approve.”

OR

c) There are the comments that feel like spam, read like spam, walk and talk like spam. But when I visit the blog they came from? Not spam. Real live blogs, written by real live people that…well, write like spam.

So, I’m curious. How do you handle questionable comments?

(Oops. There I go again. Asking questions that (hopefully? fingers crossed?) invite lots and lots of comments.

Shameful.

That’s what I am.

And proud of it!)

How To Increase Your Comments – Jane Style

(Many of you have asked me how it is I attract so many comments. Seriously? How long have you been reading my blog? I garner about half the comments most of you do. So, before you read the below tip sheet, I have to qualify. This post is tongue-in-cheek. It truly is. I know that many of you employ some of these tips with sincerity and passion. (How do you think I came up with this tip sheet?) And I’m jealous of you. Honestly, I am. This post is merely poking fun at myself and my own lack of passion/energy/discipline at honoring the comments that do come my way. For all of you who have been slighted by me in that regard, please know I am deeply sorry and acutely aware of my inadequacies. Now, on to the post….)

How To Increase Your Comments – Jane Style

10. Write all the comments yourself. As many as you like. Until your fingers bleed.

9. Comment after everyone else’s comment. Even if all they say is, “Great post!”

8. Let the spam through. After all, the spam was nice enough to spam you in the first place.

7. Beg and plead for comments. Ask oodles and oodles of questions for your readers to respond to. Even if the questions have absolutely nothing to do with your post.

6. Pray that God and all the angels will bring more comments to your blog.

5. Scream at the lurkers and guilt them into acknowledging their presence.

4. Promise prizes for comments.

3. Become a comment whore and indiscriminately leave comments on any blog you can find. Even if all the time you can spare is to say, “Great post!”

2. Make it easy for your readers to comment. Skip log-ins, CAPTCHA codes, registration forms and the required first-born son.

And the number one way to increase your comments?

1.

Sorry. I couldn’t come up with the number one answer. Yes. I am THAT comment-challenged.

Can you help? (Hey! I just employed tip #7! See? I’m learning!)

(All “Great post!” comments will not be deleted. So if that’s all you have to say? By all means, I’ll take it!)