I think I’ve probably said before that commenting on postings isn’t a really big thing for me as a blogger. It isn’t my cup of tea. I don’t tend to leave comments on other people’s blogs and I’m not particularly bothered whether or not people leave them on mine. In fact, when I first started blogging I had the comments button ‘off’. Maybe this just reflects how I am in meatspace: sometimes I have the comments button off and I can’t be bothered to comment - I don’t know.

Coming back to blogging after a break, I was interested in how lively the comment scene had become for Dr J. OK, K was quiet, but MP, SC and Dr J were leaving comments on each others blogs. And others, too. People I knew had gone comment crazy. At first I felt a bit isolated, like being in the playground when a gang starts up and you’re not in it and people you like are. There’s a conversation going on, but no way in for you.

In Lincoln I started scribbling down what people were saying about comments. Comments about comments. (I haven’t asked permission or anything, so this is sailing close to the wind ethically speaking). Very interesting. MP in conversation: I like blogging cos I get comments; JG (a one-time blogger) I tried blogging, but I felt isolated - maybe I’ll give it another go; SC Even if I get just a few comments it’s OK.

I began to wonder if I’d got it wrong (was a bad blogger or such like), whether this was about different genres of blogs (and what we aspired to), different kinds of people….or gender. I still don’t know. A lot of the blogs I read don’t have many comments at all. But then again, some do. When they do, the tone varies from the rather light-hearted banter that you often get on boards to more serious on-topic ideas stuff, and just about every shade in between.

Anyway, I’ve had a funny week with the world of comments. Well, for a start off I’ve been a bit more outgoing. Rather than just commenting on Dr J, I’ve left comments on VC, A, MP, SC and S. At the same time, I’ve had my best ever week for getting comments - that is if ‘best ever’ is a crude count of the number of comments. One of the postings has drawn 9 (to date). But it’s clearly not simply a reciprocal thing. It’s not as if people have commented on mine because I commented on theirs. There’s not a neat correspondence, and what’s more I’ve had comments from two complete strangers (maybe it’s just because they see that there’s the ‘hum of conversation’; they don’t have to break a silence). I even had an email comment on a posting from someone in the office next door at work!

Have I done something different, this week? Become a nicer person, for instance. Invited comment? Chosen safe topics? Not, conciously. Nothing, unless you count my experiment with being a bit more outgoing - could that subtley come through by own postings? The only thing that comes to mind is the jokeiness of the weird pet theme - does that soften the blog, I wonder.

And after all this ‘mild comment frenzy’, do I care? Does it matter, and what might it change? Well, from the perspective of theory, I love the fact that blog readers can also be writers. Response is good, I’m seduced by the promise of interactivity. But also, when the audience waves you know they’re there and when they shout out, they’re engaging in some way or another.

I’ve not resolved to post differently now, to pander to my audience, to include pets more, or anything like that. I may or may not keep busy commenting on other bloggers. But I have noticed I keep an eye on my blog a bit more. Sometimes it’s down there on the bar while I work (I wonder if anyone else has left a comment?). I wonder if anyone will leave a comment?