Some things saddened me and I empathise. The fact that it is really quite a pain to comment on blogs, I do accept that. I've tried to make it easier by removing the need to enter the word verification (don't know about you but half the time I just can't read them, especially on smaller screens eg. iPad). I have had to disallow "anonymous" comments to prevent being inundated with annoying spam. I accept it is a chore to register with Blogger and all that, I am extremely un-technically minded myself. Give me sewing any day!
Some commented, and it's true, that it is so much easier and quicker to post and to comment and "like" on other formats such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Of these, I don't fancy Twitter, I don't understand Facebook and I do very much like Instagram. However, I am trying not to get sucked into going down only that route because though there are loads of great things about it, I'd still miss the connection with my old blog.
I really don't expect all of my readers to comment every time they read my blog. I guess I think they maybe are like me, they don't have time to comment every time or maybe what I've written that day, is not something they're particularly interested in. That's ok, I think; I blog about lots of different things and everything is not for everyone. Maybe you just like quilting or you only like the 1940's re-enactment posts.
What I do find hard to understand is that there are people who never comment at all. Either they never find anything interesting enough on my blog to comment on (so why are they reading) or well, there's some other reason.
So when one has a rare spare moment, one might wonder what those reasons are. I felt really sad that some of you had felt too shy. I really am the most normal person (ha!) and approachable, I think.
Now to replying to those comments when they do come in.
What did surprise me, was that some people wondered whether their comments were even read. Every time a comment is left, that is emailed directly to my inbox so I have the pleasure of reading and enjoying every one. In an ideal world, I would then click on "reply" and thank you for your comment and maybe enter into a bit of a short natter. I am a talker, it's true.
However, many people's emails are not revealed by blogger, so when I click "reply" there is no email address there to which to reply. I understand this can be changed within blogger (and I've yet to find out how to do it myself. Told you I'm a technophobe!) The other way I can try to get back to someone is to go and visit their blog and read and leave a comment. I will often try to do this but, I cannot always do this. If I have no email address for someone and they do not have a blog, I have no way of replying at all.
This inevitably leaves those people who feel unhappy that having taken the time to leave a comment, they do not receive a reply. I can only say that if it is possible for me to reply and I don't, it's not because I wouldn't like to.
To write a blog post, takes me probably a couple of hours on average, sometimes less and often more; there are photos to take, upload and edit, words to write and proof read, technical tantrums to solve! I therefore hope that foremost, I have offered my readers something of my time in composing my blog posts.
With every blog post, I always reply to a number of comments. I try to reply to about half the comments each time, it may be more or it may be less as circumstances at the time dictate. I try to revolve those people to whom I reply with each post, my intention being that with every few posts, I will have replied to hopefully everyone.
I don't doubt that my brain is not what it used to be and this is not a perfect science. I'm sorry if some have felt their comments have not been returned or their blogs not visited frequently enough.
I've also looked at things the other way round (devil's advocate, I suppose). There are blogs out there on which I've commented many times for years and can say I've never received a reply. These tend to be the very popular blogs with lots of followers, but not always. The fact is, I love their blog, I love what they write, I love that they share that with me. I'd love to hear from them but I'm not going to hold it against them that I don't. I know they've given me the privilege of letting me into their life and I can understand that on top of composing that blog post, they don't have the time to then reply to everyone.
To those of you who did "de-lurk" (what a terrible phrase!) thank you so much. That you took the time to comment, whether for the first time or not, or to email, I really did appreciate it and continue to do so. Some bloggers may not mind whether they have commenters or not, but for me, if nobody comments there doesn't seem any point in making my blog public. I never intended to stop writing my blog, I just wasn't feeling as positive about it. Even though I had lots to share, I wasn't justifying to myself the time needed to do so.
If some of you have been encouraged to comment on my blog, then I'm glad I mentioned it.
You may have noticed (unless you were so gripped by the words!) that there were lots of photos throughout this blog post. These are my recent Instagram shots which I like to share here. They include a weekend trip to Bridport complete with lots of thrifty finds, baking and crafting, another workshop (of which, more very soon), and the furry friends, of course.
Let normal service resume...
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