So, I am now a day behind. Every year, I plan to plan and get ahead and every year something comes up and I get behind. Yesterday was my brother’s birthday and there was just no time to publish a post before going out. This then, is the first of two posts this evening.
I is for Interacting
Communication is such an important aspect of human life. Face to face, it is the non verbal queues that often have more effect on us than the words spoken.
Online, we see rather than hear the words, but can’t see the person typing them and often struggle to see their true meaning. Who hasn’t received an email, grown angry at it’s contents and responded. I certainly have, though these days I try to pause, think about my response and sometimes pick up the phone.
I love the way we interact with each other as bloggers, commenting under a post, tweeting about what we have read. Or engaging with each other about blogging and writing on Twitter. It is easy though for the message being conveyed to be lost in translation, not because we don’t speak the same language. But because we can’t pick up those non verbals.
Commenting on blogs
The other day I had a little rant about people commenting, or not on each other’s sinful Sunday posts. It is one of the things Molly asks us to do and since shadow banning started to be an issue it has become more important. We need to get our work out there for others to see and unless it is publicised they don’t. Also commenting is useful for growing your own audience. But mostly it shows the other person that you have visited and thought about what you have seen. People came back to say that they often didn’t have time or were going through challenges in their lives. Of course, I can’t claim to be perfect either, since there are occasions I don’t look at all Sinful Sunday and other Meme’s posts let alone comment.
There is also the issue of having nothing new or constructive to say, as well as people being overly critical. Being nice for the sake of it isn’t right, but upsetting people is worse.
But, it is worth considering why we contribute to memes such as Sinful Sunday. As is thinking about how we feel knowing people have visited and commented. There are lots of ways of showing appreciation, through comments, on Twitter or by posting a round up. But interacting with each other is important and where possible we should do it.
I totally agree with you about commenting on others’ blogs. That is so important and the way we show our love to this community!
Rebel xox
I think about comments a little differently.
If I participate in a meme or project, part of my personal commitment in doing so is to visit all the other linked participants. I don’t necessarily comment though; I leave that for when I actually have something to say.
On my own blog, I find it…not frustrating, but…it’s not, I dunno, engaging(?)…when people comment just for the sake of commenting. Fifteen comments basically saying “That was nice” leaves me a bit baffled as to how to respond. I appreciate that they think so, but at the same time there are only so many ways to say “Thanks.”
And, to illustrate your point about readers not necessarily understanding the tone/intent behind the words: No doubt, at least one person will read what I just wrote above and think I’m being bitchy. I’m not 🙂 , and I *like* when people comment on my blog. I just see comments as the beginning of a potential conversation, rather than a rush-past “Oh, I like!” To me, that’s what the ‘Like’ button is for. (Which is another form of engagement, and one I utilize for multiple reasons, not least of which is its accessibility for folks who have disabilities that make the physical act of creating a comment difficult.) (I’ve oft thought about writing a little ode to the ‘Like’ button. Perhaps once A-Z is finished, I will. 🙂 )
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