Is This Thing On? (Tap, Tap) Anyone There?

**This was one of the posts I lost due to Blogger's crash, so I apologize if your comments aren't exactly as they were written. You can read the content I borrowed here.**

I was fairly surprised (but not really) how many of you struggle with the commenting aspect of blogging. I know I do! I'll go over a few of the responses left on my last post because (for the most part) I can completely relate.

"I know at times if I don't receive comments I feel like I failed to get across what I was trying to say." I so understand this. I happen to think I'm pretty hilarious, so when I write something funny or sarcastic, I'm disappointed when I don't get it dished back. If I feel alone in an issue, I'm hoping you ladies are all, "Oh girl, I've been there and you're not the only one!" (Or, "STOP NOW YOU'RE SO WRONG. Because sometimes we need to hear that.) But when there are no comments, (chirp chirp, chirp chirp) I feel even more alone than I did to begin with. (And stupid.)

"I couldn't agree more, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't (recently) consider closing down my blog simply because I felt ignored." I think I'll borrow a few words from Beth on this one: "Can you imagine wanting to share a story, thought, or belief with forty people and preparing what you had to say, choosing the right words, nervously approaching them and then saying what you had to say, just as you planned it? You wait for the response and the person you are talking to listens, looks at you and just walks away. Without a smile, without a frown- no reaction. And out of the forty people you say this to, only one replies to you. Can you imagine? A blogger who is appreciated is more likely to be a happy blogger and a happy blogger blogs for a long time and doesn't stop because they are under appreciated or frustrated." So Miss V, please don't close your blog, you ARE appreciated!

"I blog to document my life and the lives of my children, not to "whore" myself out and beg for people to read. I guess I don't see what the fuss is about." I definitely think "the fuss" depends on why you blog. If documenting your life is enough and makes you happy, I admire that and WISH it were the case for me. Personally I believe we can find support, encouragement, inspiration, and friendship through blogging. It is a social network, after all. I guess I want to take full advantage of that.

"I try to convince myself that the amount of comments I receive doesn't bug me, but it kinda does. " I think most of us try to assure ourselves we don't care about feedback, but we're only human. We crave interaction, and honestly, if I didn't want to hear from my readers I'd pick up a pen and write in a journal.

"We take the time to update our Facebook status or maybe "like" someone's status, but do we ever get past those superficial, impersonal relationships?" I'd rather NOT receive a comment then a thoughtless, two word response like, "Great post!" or even worse, "I'm following you, come follow me!"  It's easy to tell when someone is being genuine or looking for traffic. (aka "whoring" yourself out.) If a writer gets personal in their post, consider how much heart went into it and remember they want to know they were heard. "There is one thing all bloggers have in common, it takes our time, it comes from our hearts, (I hope) and most of the time, bloggers are proud of what they have written." 

I suck at this. I have about fifteen blogs in my feed and I read every new post, but you know how often I comment? Almost never. We all understand there won't always be time and there won't always be words to say. I simply hope this post raises awareness on the importance of commenting. Your words matter, and most of the time a blogger just wants to know theirs do, too.