On my reviews and every time I participate in a meme, specifically Waiting on Wednesday, I receive comments from people that either: 1. express their interest or excitement for the book and elaborate on what or why they’re interested in it OR 2. leave the most generic comments that make me conclude that they didn’t read the post at all.
You have either:
- “Great pick/topic. Thanks for sharing.”
- “I am so excited because NARWHALS. FLYING NARWHALS IN SPACE IS AWESOME. NEED IT IN MY LIFE.”
Can you take a guess of which one makes my blood boil and make me react like this–?
(I doubt anybody could answer wrong, but if you did, just take a look at my blog header. Think about it.)
I try not to make ranting-type discussion posts and I wasn’t planning to discuss it since it’s one of those things that happen often in reviews and memes (more so on the latter), but when I think about it, I get annoyed (and slightly angry). This needs to be said again and again – those generic, vague comments are annoying.
I don’t care for your:
- “Great pick/topic. Thanks for sharing.”
- (Why is it a great pick or a great topic? Does the synopsis or topic interest you? Do you like the author? What have I said that warrants that reaction? TELL ME.)
- “That is good cover.”
- (What about the cover is good? Do you like the illustration? Do you like the font? The colors? I know why it’s a good cover, but what about you? Do you agree? Or what?)
- “Oh that sounds awesome.”
- (What sounds awesome? Be specific.)
- “That’s on my list too!”
- (That’s great it’s on your list, but there has to be a reason why it’s on it. What is it?)
- “Great review. Can’t wait to read it.”
- (Validation, yeah! I appreciate the comment. But what about the review is great? What is it about the book that made you want to read it? Leaving those two sentences tell me nothing about your excitement level for the book. FOR GODS SAKE PEOPLE, ELABORATE. DISCUSS WITH ME.)
- And any comments that are similar, very short, and don’t tell me anything.
- (Are you really not going to put your two cents into what actually interests you about the book? A simple “that sounds intriguing” with a short reason why is awesome to me. Make it a long ass sentence. Not a two word comment. You can mention how you love the author or something specific about the synopsis that interests you. I want to know you actually read the fucking post.)
I post memes because I find it fun and interesting to see what people thinks about the book I’m excited for or about what I have written. I want to share my excitement, but it’s absolutely discouraging to see someone totally overlook the point of the post. (ie. Are you really going to overlook the fact that House of Ivy & Sorrow has fucking witches in it? WITCHES, FOLKS. W-I-T-C-H-E-S. They need to be acknowledged because they are AWESOME.)
I haven’t noticed as much until recently since all the comments in my previous WoW have been good. The majority of comments were bloggers telling me why they’re interested in it. I like those. I can’t say I’m surprised the dreaded comments occurred here. It happens all over the blogosphere. Not just in memes. (I’m not a special snowflake). But fuck, people who makes those fucking generic + vague comments need to stop. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT. (I’m safe to say WE won’t stand for it, right?)
When I read those comments, I assume two things: 1. those people are only fishing for comments to give them more traffic and 2. they aren’t genuinely interested in my posts or what I have to say (and that sucks). I want to share my excitement, but people have stepped all over it, throwing their generic/dumb/annoying comments in my face like they ding-dong-ditch me. They get my hopes up, only to tear them down. :\
Those comments make me wonder about whether I leave extremely vague comments that have the OP rolling their eyes at me and wanting to cut my fingers off my hands. I don’t mean to. I don’t leave comments because I want you to return the favor, but because I’m genuinely interested in what you have to say. When I say “great pick” (which I would not actually write – more like “that sounds awesome!”), I say why I’m interested in the book afterwards. I’m pretty sure I do that. Yeah? But hey, if I commented on your posts (mainly memes) with just a “great choice/post” or “that’s an awesome cover” with no explanation why, I apologize. I know better than to do that. I try to comment on why I find it great, and if I don’t have anything to say, I don’t leave a comment. (I would prefer no comments to those vague annoying ones any day of the week.) It’s very simple. Have the decency to do that as well.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate every comment that my blog receives, but if you’re going to leave a “great pick/topic” or two short sentences in the comments section, you can GTFO. And if you think I’ll visit your blog after you leave that type of comment –
You have another thing coming. You have this post.
So, my lovely friends/bloggers, does this problem plague you too? (I’m pretty sure everybody’s hands will be up in the air.) Tell me all about it. Rage if you want to. I actually encourage it. ;)
Great topic Cee, thanks for sharing. ;D
Ha ha I wonder how mad you got there. :P
Don’t worry, I’ll post a way better comment when I get home. ;P
DAMN YOU, KELLY. :D
You better! I will throw a thousand suns at you if you don’t!
Ha ha, glad I made your day. ;D
But seriously, where do people come up with that lame sentence? I’ll NEVER think of that one in a million years. I’ll be like, great pick! and that’s it. I’ll never say “thanks for sharing” because that sounds totally lame.
I’ve been getting tons of those kind of comments when I do STS, TTT, and WoWs and that upset me. I do those memes because I want to have FUN and share my opinion, not get generic dumb comments like that.
I HAVE NO IDEA. After this post, I am going to try to never use “great” to describe anything. I just want a little more elaboration on what’s great about whatever I wrote or about the book. We all have different preference so IDK if they really think it’s awesome. :\ “Thanks for sharing” doesn’t feel genuine. It just seems added on to make the comment a little bit longer (but not really).
YES. SAME. I think I won’t link my meme post to the linky.
When I started blogging, I had no idea how I actually want to do it so I kinda, sorta copied others to an I’m-annoying-myself extent. So yeah I’d comment on a review and then I’d tend to leave a ‘great review!’ at the end. But then the word (great) started annoying me because I saw it everywhere (great review, great discussion, great blog, great pick, great list, great cover, great I-don’t-give-a-fuck). So I simply did anything but write great on any post because if I don’t want such a comment on my blog, I shouldn’t be throwing it on others’ blogs. (I still see it sometimes and- *rages*).
Of only I could post this blogpost as replies on comments of those bloggers. *daydreams about the day when people start being more thoughtful*
I mean yeah, I understand that sometimes there’s simply no time to leave comments and it’s be better to not leave them if you’re all gonna be not thoughtful. (We got a pageview, so thank you).
*End of rage*
(Not really)
*wanted
*If
(That’s three typos today, ugh.)
YES. I am seriously banning the usage of “great” on my blog and everywhere because I’m so sick of it. “Great” totally looses its meaning, especially in comments. I don’t know what makes any book truly great to other people until they tell me specifically what makes it great.
So I simply did anything but write great on any post because if I don’t want such a comment on my blog, I shouldn’t be throwing it on others’ blogs.
*hugs you* That’s what everybody should do! We need different adjectives. Awesome is a great word, but please follow it up with a reason why (that’s specific). It’s not very difficult.
Yeah, time is something people don’t have because of other priorities, but if they can’t make a semi-thoughtful comment, don’t leave anything at all.
Great post! Xd
I am not so much annoyed by the ‘great post, that’s interesting’, especially when I do it myself, mostly for crap books I’d never read but I try to be polite :P… What pisses me off more is the 3-4 words in a comment and then the poster’s link. It’s just so you get on that person’s blog, no matter what yours says. And it’s the same comment pasted all over the blogosphere, over and over again.
‘Nice pick. Here’s mine.’/’Great haul. Come see mine!’
NO. -.-
But I can see how it can be vague and annoying and I will work on it. :D :P
HA! :) The problem with “great post, that’s interesting” is exactly what you do though. I don’t know if people actually like the book or they’re just saying it because they didn’t read it or because they’re being polite even though they don’t like it. Usually, if it’s a crap book I don’t like, I don’t comment. It’s not worth my time or energy to think about the book. I find it better to comment on something that I know I will have something to say. :)
The 3-4 words comment annoy the hell out of me! There is no way that I will a click that link when they did not put the time or effort in actually making a comment (and in reading the post). I would want the person to comment on my blog the way they want people to comment on theirs. (If that made any sense. :P)
Just think “what makes this book/post/topic/whatever great”? And then write it down. It doesn’t have to be a long comment. It just has to be specific. :D
I think we can all relate! And it doesn’t just have to be memes! I rarely do memes anymore, but every once in a while I will get a comment on a discussion that says something like “Great post!” I mean, thank you for the confirmation that my post is great, but I rather you just hit the “like” button on my post instead. It makes it awkward for me because I have this rule that I will reply to every comment left on my blog, and when the comment is just something like that it’s hard for me to want to reply. “Oh thanks?!” But I do it!
Of course, I do think memes are where it happens the most. Some people just want the page reviews so hope if they hop around and leave some generic comments then people will visit them in return. But they should know better!
My blog sucks lately. I don’t have many visitors compared to what I did before. And to me, it’s all because I don’t have time to comment anymore. Sure I could go around leaving a one-line meaningless comment on hundreds of blogs every week in hopes that people visit me back, but that’s not how it works. I got many of my followers because I leave meaningful comments in which I prove I actually read their posts. It’s not that hard! (Just time consuming.)
Anyways, rant away. You’re not alone. (And who doesn’t love narwhals!?!)
Yeah, I have noticed that in some of my reviews, people have just said “great review” and I get o_O because I don’t know if the read it? I understand if they didn’t (because they don’t want to get spoiled), but they could say “I haven’t read it, but I’m looking forward to it/going to read it because of this reason.”
It definitely does make it hard to comment when it’s just “great post.” I don’t reply because it’s really not worthy of any reply, but I feel awkward because they’re all alone, especially if I reply to everyone else.
I think it’s awfully disappointing when people are only concerned about page view because the purpose of the memes I participate in isn’t for that. (At least they aren’t to me.) I would comment in a way I would want others to comment back on my posts. (I think I wrote an awkwardly phrased sentence. :P) YES. When I have no idea about a blogger who come’s by my blog and leave a meaningful comment, I’m more likely to visit them.
(IKR? NARWHALS ARE SOOOO BEAUTIFUL. I want a space narwahl. Lollll. :D)
Great discussion, Cee. Will you check mine out?
http://thepapersea.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/discussion
A regular comedienne, Nikki. ;)
(And for some reason, I did click on it. DAMN YOU.)
LOL! Sorry, I just had to. ;)
We already ranted about this over Twitter, but I agree with you one hundred percent. You do also get this to a degree on reviews and discussion posts, but generally I find it’s mostly done on memes. I used to participate in Feature & Follow Friday—by which I mean I did one week of it. I gave up after that week, because although I got 30+ comments, there wasn’t a single meaningful comment. I tried to leave meaningful comments when I visited other people’s posts on the Linky, but it was clear that I was one of the very few who did so. It made me feel really uncomfortable, especially as some of the stipulations of participating in that meme was that you had to follow the two hosts, as well as the featured blogger for that week. Um, sorry, no. If their blog is incompatible with my tastes, I don’t see why I should have to follow them just because the hosts chose to feature them.
It also made me very uncomfortable for the fact that I didn’t really feel like I deserved these comments, whether they were meaningful or not, or the follows. Yes, it might have pushed my follower numbers up, but how many of them actually interacted with me or were interested in my blog after that point? I don’t think a single one did. Personally I would rather see that my followers were following my blog because they were genuinely interested in my posts and my blog.
Comments like “Great pick, here’s my WoW!” are just so obviously left because they hope people will click through and boost their pageviews. I think it’s a horrible practice, to be quite honest, and I never click through when bloggers leave those sorts of comments. It’s like they want the recognition and popularity but aren’t willing to put any effort or hard work in to get it.
/RAGE hahaha
EVERYBODY DID THAT. (I hadn’t expected the jokes to happen, which I should’ve. Huh. ;D)
I had considered doing Feature & Follow when I first started blogging, but I realized I would be receiving those three-four word comments and I would have to follow the meme hosts. And I thought NO WAY. That’s not the way to gain followers especially if people don’t really care about what you have wrote. I would rather have a few followers who consistently leave meaningful comments than a bunch of followers who come by once because of a meme. Also, THAT IS SO DUMB ABOUT THE “YOU HAVE FOLLOW THE HOSTS + FEATURED BLOGGER.” NO THANKS. When somebody tells me to follow them, you know what I do? THE OPPOSITE. You can’t force me to do it. That’s not friendship. People are better off making friends/followers in discussion posts (like this) or on Twitter.
Those comments are definitely a horrible practice. Some people are missing the point of those memes, especially WoW. It should be about the books, not page views. They want the recognition and popularity but aren’t willing to put any effort or hard work in to get it. PERFECTLY SAID. People should comment the way they’d want somebody to comment of their posts. If they did, I would put in the extra effort to leave a looonnnggg comment or a CAPS LOCK squeal? ;D
It gives me hope when I see bloggers rant about generic comments. Not about the ranting part, of course. But about the fact that generic comments aren’t welcome :) When I first started getting a sense of what memes were all about a few months back, I did notice those “Great post, here’s mine” type of comments, so I wasn’t all too keen on joining memes because I didn’t want other to think I was just fishing for viewership. I’m past that now, and I do think I will join a couple more in future that really interest me.
And yes, I roll my eyes too when I get those kinds of comments. I’d much rather they didn’t comment. Sure, I still feel like I’m talking to myself when nobody comments at all but I’m totally fine with that because at least then I don’t feel like I failed to convince anyone to leave constructive feedback instead of a generic one.
:DDDD ! GENERIC COMMENTS, BE GONE! ;D
Yeah, I can totally understand being dissuaded from joining memes because of those annoying comments. That’s one of the reasons I hadn’t been doing Waiting on Wednesday in a while because I was completely fed up with the comments. WoW is one of those memes that should be about showcasing books you’re excited about and getting people who had never heard of it before to notice it. I wish you luck on your meme posts! :)
I think it’s extremely important to comment on people’s post in a way you’d want them to comment on your own. Put in the effort to make a meaningful comment. If you can’t do that, don’t comment at all. At least then I don’t feel like I failed to convince anyone to leave constructive feedback instead of a generic one. YES. At the end of the day, even if you don’t receive comments, the post is entirely for you. Nobody has sullied it with their annoying comments. :)
Oh, great topic!
..
Mhaha, just kidding, but I do think it’s a great topic. I think some memes just ask for certain standard comments. When you show your books, you just know you are going to get comments like: I can’t wait to read X book or X book was really good! I think people don’t have (or just take) the time to make their comments any longer, because yes, you could say WHAT was so good about this book or WHY are you waiting for it? That’s why I appreciate long comments always. It shows that people truly read your post and want to tell you something interesting.
LOLLL.
Memes certainly do ask for those comments, but I just wish people would elaborate more on their three word comment. It’s actually not difficult to write “this book is going to be so awesome because there are mermaids in it and I love mermaids” or “I love all the books by this author, so I’m excited for this book.” Those are good and easy to write. It tells me why they deem the post/pick good.
I agree with your last sentence. It makes me sad when I put in the effort to write the reasons why I’m excited, but nobody does the same. I find myself thinking, “is the book not interesting?” I appreciate comments that are longer than seven words. Lolll.
WELL, EVERYONE BEAT ME TO THE JOKE, but great topic. Thanks for sharing. ;)
Those comments DO get frustrating. I think sometimes people leave them because they’re not sure what else to say and they want to kind of “prove” they read the post. Not because they want a comment in return, but because they want to show they’re reading and support you. And sometimes that IS nice because blogging can be lonely and it’s nice to someone’s out there reading. But, at the same time, I like to discuss things! So it’s wonderful to get comments of substance!
THEY DID. AND IT STILL HASN’T STOPPED. (Help me? ;D)
I certainly understand that, but I will forever be annoyed by it. I feel like they should at least say something about the book itself (or maybe even the author). They must have some specific thoughts about the synopsis.
You’re a ray of sunshine, Katie. :D I just feel that most of the time, people who comment on memes aren’t really supporting me by leaving those generic comments. How can “great pick. Thanks for sharing” be supportive? It makes me think they’re mocking me. Lolll.
I love this discussion (no, really!). Like Katie said, I think sometimes bloggers want to prove that they’ve read the post and they have no idea what to say. More often than not though, comments serve as an advertisement for their own blogs so leaving a comment is an invitation to check out their own blog. Relationships that are formed this way are rather shallow in my opinion (“I’ll comment with something boring and cliche so check out my blog”). Leaving meaningful comments will not only benefit the blogger who wrote the post, but other bloggers as well since they’ll be intrigued by the person who commented with the comment. It’s a win-win situation!
Most of the time though, I’m pretty sure most people don’t even check out the links in the comments that the commenter has linked because it’s a sign of laziness. “Great picks! Here are mine!”
Hey, your first sentence is better than everybody who commented in this particular post with “great.” ;D
I totally understand that, but I also feel like they would have some thoughts on whatever the post is about – may it be about the synopsis or the book cover or whatever. Comments serve as an advertisement for their own blogs so leaving a comment is an invitation to check out their own blog. I totally agree! It’s an essential part in blogging and in connecting with other people, but memes are not the best way to forge relationships. (Discussion posts like this and Twitter are a better way tbh.) When the comment is something that’s genuine/thought-provoking/meaningful, I’ll certainly visit back to leave a meaningful comment that shows the person my appreciation. Who knows, maybe I’ll even like what I see on the person’s blog and make an effort to come back.
Hahaha. Very true. I know I don’t. (Mainly because of annoyance and laziness) ;D
I hate generic comments too!
*goes back to reading her book*
Lol. (and yes, I know I was like the 4th person to use this pun, but it’s still fun, imo) So yeah, sometimes I do it, too, but I try not to leave super short ones like “Great post/review!”, because I know how it feels being on the receiving end. (Like you just spend an hour planning/researching/writing/ a post and no one cares) It’s one of the reasons I stopped doing memes. I only do TTT now, but I don’t link to B&B anymore (or link it a few days later when no one cares anymore :P ), this way I can avoid the comments of those who only look for traffic for their blog.
Yes you are, but hey, you didn’t start the comment by saying “great post.” ;)
I absolutely get disappointed when I write a post I have put some much effort in it and the comments on it are not what I expected. I go: “WTF. DO YOU NOT SEE THIS ESSAY OF A POST? WHAT IS WITH YOUR COMMENT? DID YOU NOT LIKE IT? DDD:.” People should leave comments they’d want people to leave on their own blogs. Lead by example!
That’s what I plan to do – not post my meme post in the linky. It will be better for me. :D
Well, I was going to be a snarky bitch and say ‘Great topic.’ before leaving a real comment, but like Katie said, everyone else beat me to it haha. I TOTALLY know what you mean! But you know what pisses me off the most? “Great review.” That’s it. Nothing else. Um, did you even freaking READ the damn review?! What’s the point of leaving a comment at all? I mean, like you said, all comments are great. I guess I should be grateful that they commented at all. But when I read posts of blogs I follow and don’t have something legitimate to say, I don’t comment. Which is kind of sad, because they don’t know I’m reading it. But still. I don’t like to waste my time or theirs leaving a half-assed comment.
I no longer participate in memes because I outgrew them, but it used to drive me crazy when someone would comment “Great pick, here’s mine” just to get me to visit their blog. (Please oh please God tell me I never did that when I was a noob…) I have plenty of people comment something pointless or irrelevant just to get me to visit theirs, and my reaction is the same – “UH no.” Nope. Sorry. If you actually show some genuine interest in my blog, then maybe I’ll return the favor.
I personally avoid ever saying “great” anything at the end of leaving a comment, because it’s over used. If I comment on it, that alone is me implying that I think it’s great because I wouldn’t comment otherwise! But there are some that say “great review” after literally EVERY comment they make. It doesn’t bother me because that’s their style, as long as they actually leave a real comment so I know they read the review. And if for some reason they don’t want to read the review – like fear of spoilers – but want to make a short comment on a low or high rating, I like when they say they didn’t read the whole review because they haven’t read it yet or whatever.
And let me just say, I love that you had the balls to approach this topic when most people wouldn’t, and say exactly what you think with no filter. I’ve never been here before (how have I never been here before?!), but I will definitely be stalking your posts from now on ;)
THEY DID. Everybody wants to be a comedienne. ;D
SO TRUE. “Great review” makes me rage soooo hard because I’m 95% sure that the person hasn’t actually read it at all. When I don’t have something legitimate to say, I don’t comment. YES. If the comment is not going to tell me anything about what the person actually thinks about the review or the book or whatever, don’t comment! I don’t leave comments on reviews very often because I usually haven’t read the book and it’s not worth my time or the blogger’s time if I leave something that says, “Great review. Can’t wait to read it.” That’s a sad comment. However, when I have read the book, I usually try to engage them in a discussion about it. Or when I’m really excited about a book, I write up the reasons why I want the book in my life.
Haha, SAME. I am totally banning “great” from my blog (and probably in my own vocabulary) because it has lost its meaning and I will forever be annoyed by it. ;D Though, I will accept it if people tell me why the review/book/discussion is great. THERE HAS TO BE A REASON. GIVE ME IT. I like when they say they didn’t read the whole review because they haven’t read it yet or whatever. I DO TOO. I appreciate the honesty. They don’t have to read the review. I understand the reader don’t want to get spoiled. They could just tell me why the book interest them.
I appreciate the compliment! :D I WELCOME THE STALKING. ;D
Exactly! It’s even more annoying when it’s for a giveaway entry and I specifically state ‘Leave a MEANINGFUL comment.’ Saying ‘great review’ is NOT meaningful! Argh.
I’m the same, I usually only comment on books I’ve read because I have more to say. Although sometimes I’ll comment on a review for a book I want to read, especially if I see a low rating. If it’s a good bloggy friend then I’ll comment on the occasional review to say something like “EEEEP so glad you loved this one, I can’t wait to read it!” but I generally try not to, because it’s too short!
Great is such a generic word, anyway. Why not AWESOME or STUPENDOUS or SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALADOCIOUS?! There are so many other words besides great!
Heheee ;p
Holy shit that was long. Sorry about the short novel you have to read :p
Don’t even apologize! I appreciate long comments. They make me smile. :)
I don’t know if I get as upset as you do… LOL! Honestly I only find these types of comments on memes. Follow Me Friday can be the worst. But .. it’s true that that meme is just to get followers so I suppose everyone is trying to get someone to visit back their blog. Sometimes.. when I leave a meaningful comment ( or reply… I reply to all comments on my blog), what sucks is that people don’t even come back to read what I have said. I need to really figure out how to get disqus on my blog! And figure it out soon!
YOU WILL ONE DAY. MARK MY WORDS. ;D
Follow Me Friday (and any variation of that) are certainly the worst. The point of those memes are to follow people. That’s why I don’t participate it because it’s a shallow way to make friends/followers. I would prefer making followers/friends because of the content of my posts or because of my personality. ;)
I hope you figure out how to get Disqus on your blog! I’m sure there are instructions on the site on how to install it.
These are things that I wonder about those comments. But never really look into to much because I have no time. Though I think sometimes I might be quilty of leaving them. Generally I try to comment meaningful stuff, and if I don’t know what to write then I don’t comment (then feel terrible because how will the blogger I know I really enjoyed their posts afhsjkdf). A lot of the time my vague comments are returns for memes. I try to find something interesting to say but it’s not always possible.
Ha, now you know! :D
Yeah, I think all of us have made those type of comments, but we should make comments we would want people to make on our own blogs. It’s better to leave a meaningful one because it makes everybody happy. Sure, comments are good, but seeing the same worded comments gets really annoying. I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY. I always feel bad when I don’t leave a comment even though I read a post.
This was a well needed discussion post and I *hope* the offenders of the short meaningless comments are reading it! I HATE HATE HATE when someone just leaves me a two word comment… especially on reviews! I’ve come to expect it on meme’s but a review? It’s weird. Anyway I also didnt realize that people get offended when the words “Great Review” are written after a meaningful comment. I always say Great Review or Cool Post or something like that after I leave a good comment just because I like to say something to wrap up my thoughts. Sorry to all you ^^ people up there. I didn’t realize it was a bad thing to say. It feels awkward to not wrap up my thoughts so IDK. Anyway thanks for posting this and bringing it to people’s attention that MOST bloggers do not like meaningless 2 word comments!!!
I HOPE SO TOO.
Ha, I understand why people would write “great review” as a wrap-up. I’m generally okay if somebody writes it after their meaningful comment. As long as the person read the review and commented on something specific about what I wrote, thumbs up from me! I think it’s the word “great” that’s making us DDD: because it’s so overused and meaningless now. We see it so much so it’s annoying to see it over and over again.
I guess that is the big downside of memes, people using them to just place a link to their site (and to make it less obvious it’s shrouded in a “say hi”).
I’m new to book blogging so I try and participate in memes to meet other bloggers and I’ve gotten my fair share of “Thanks for visiting – here’s a link to my post” kind of comments so far – after having spent my afternoon/evening actually reading meme related blogposts so I could leave a good/meaningful comment. It can be a little frustrating. But then you get a commenter who sounds like she really cares and it’s those I focus on.
Cheers, Kaz :)
Definitely. There’s always pros and cons in everything. Pros: you get to see awesome posts and books. Cons: vague, generic comments.
I’m glad you can see the bright side! Those meaningful comments always make my day (but it also makes me realize that people post a lot of frustrating comments). They’re an absolute gem. ;D
This is actually the reason that I don’t comment all that often. It’s because I just don’t have any real things to say about the post. I read plenty of stuff but if I don’t have anything else to add to the review/post I just won’t comment. That’s not to say that I disliked what you had to say. But just typing “good job” or whatever just feels incredibly pointless.
I will add great review or something of the like when I comment, but I will add something else to the comment as well, for example why I don’t agree or why i think it’s great or just anything really!
I wish more people think, “is this comment I’m making what I want people to leave on my blog?” If it’s a no, then rewrite that comment or don’t make one at all.
“Great review” (and any variations of it) is generally fine with me as long as people write down what you’d say (what you don’t agree on or just squealing excitement. :D).
Put it this way: as long as it’s not spam or entirely off the topic, I don’t mind what people comment on my blog. HOWEVER, I make a point of visiting all commenters’ blogs and commenting on their posts, provided it is a thoughtful comment. Similarly, I reply to comments that actually have something to respond to. I am not going to reply “THANK YOU :)” to every “great post!” comment.
So, I feel you.
Yeah, I can’t be bothered to put in time and effort in visiting and commenting on somebody’s blog who didn’t do the same for my blog in the first place. :P I don’t want to leave a “great post” because I wouldn’t want that on my own blog.
THIS! Just… THIS WHOLE POST! Seriously. It doesn’t happen a lot to me, but when it does it always, ALWAYS happens on my stacking the shelves posts. I love stacking the shelves, and I love visiting other hauls and I don’t mine the squeeing type comments but I hate, absolutely despise… “Great Haul.” and “Nice haul. Come visit me.”
When I participate in StS (which isn’t as often as it used to be for sure), I only visit comment on the hauls when I have something interesting or worthwhile to post on their blog. And it’s definitely not for return back comments. Actually, I comment on those posts a lot of the time when I’m not even participating because I think their haul is awesome or for whatever reason. It’s so glaringly obvious when people are just popping through the whole linky list to get return back visits. It’s also so obvious when people don’t read the post, because I always write about my excitement for the new books and if it’s a purchase of a book I already read I always indicate that I bought it because of my love for it. You would not even believe how many comments I get that say, “Hope you enjoy it!!”. I DID ENJOY IT!!
I honestly didn’t realize how much this annoyed me until you wrote this post, haha. I love comments, and I don’t expect book length comments but I do expect that if you are commenting on my post, that you would have atleast read the damn thing.
I totally agree with you when you say you don’t leave comments because you don’t want a return favor. I don’t either, I’m commenting because I like your discussion, or review, or haul or SOMETHING.
Ok, I’m done now. Anyway, this is a fabulous post. :D
YES. I love showcasing my book hauls and seeing other people’s too, but the comments make me want to tear my hair off my head. I usually don’t comment on STS because I feel bad if I leave a “great haul” especially for hauls that has books I’m not interested in. However, if there is a book I’m super excited about, I’ll probably comment saying so. I get insanely jealous of some of the books that people get and I want to let the blogger know. Lolll. (I don’t know if that is an annoying comment to make, but what else am I suppose to say?)
Ha, I am sooo guilty of saying “hope you enjoy it.” I’M SORRY. DON’T HATE ME. (Although, I usually say it when it’s books the blogger haven’t read yet.)
I didn’t know how annoyed I was either (until I saw WoW or House of Ivy and Sorrow on my feed). SO MUCH BUILT UP RAGE. READ MY POSTS, DAMN YOU. At least read the damn synopsis and tell me what you think (if it’s WoW)!
:DDDD
I have noticed more of these kinds of comments on memes lately as well. And I might be kind of guilty of sometimes leaving very short comments, too, if I have very little time, but want to just show the other blogger that I did indeed read their post.
This week, I’ve gotten some comments that only said : Thanks in advance for following me back and I was like o.O
I think it’s important to discuss this, though, because copied and pasted comments aren’t all that much fun to get on our blogs, but actually getting into a subject and chatting back and forth about things is pretty darned awesome :)
Have a great Sunday!
Great post. See mine.
Trolololol.
LOL Christine :) That has to be the best comment here. And I totally clicked your link, too :D
Have a great day!
Haha. Okay. This is exactly why I do not participate in memes – well one of the reasons. Hundreds of people are posting similar things, so they get so in-your-face with their promotion. Of course, there are better ways to stand out, but I guess some people do not understand that. Or maybe they want to visit all the participants and they leave a comment to show their little pixel footprint? No idea.
I’ve noticed this happening on my monday musing posts a lot. My least favorite comments are those which include a link to the commentor’s post for the meme. I comment back when I get comments folks and I can find your latest post myself if I want to! Nothing says I’m just commenting so you’ll visit my blog like a short comment and a link to a recent post. I’m thinking of switching to The Sunday Salon since I think it encourages slightly more discussion than the monday musing meme, so hopefully that will help :)
Lol I totally agree with you. This is why I don’t comment on memes because I seriously have nothing to say on a meme post unless I see a book that I really really really like and I just HAD to comment! Same thing goes with reviews, too. It bothers me when people say “nice review”. How was it nice? Please elaborate LOL. I like your new header, btw. :)
Well, this is pretty much why I don’t check memes. I’m not really the best commenter ever, and I do know that when I do check a WOW meme, the most is three sentences. And one of them is probably one of those generic sentences you listed. And since I wouldn’t want to receive those, then I shouldn’t give them at all.
I completely agree. These types of comments annoy me sometimes. I participate in memes because I enjoy them. I like to see what everyone else has picked and rant or rave over common books. But the comments that just say “Great pick! Here’s my TTT or WoW” just irritate me. Because they are obviously fishing for comments/traffic, and second of all how am I supposed to respond to that? I like responding to comments, but vague comments are hard to respond to.
Memes are definitely fodder for lame comments. I, like you, participate in a few memes (Top Ten Tuesday, various surveys) only when I have something to say. Sometimes when I’m crunched for time, I may just type up a list and hit “publish,” but more often than not, I add commentary explaining my choices. Some bloggers, however, view memes as ways to up their blog traffic. The worst ones to me are the ones where bloggers write, “Great list; check out mine!” It’s such an an obvious page-view ploy. My comfort is good content keeps good readers, and you’ve got that!