As for commenting… I’m guilty of not commenting on my own blog[s]. I just… forget to go back and check. I do however, respond to every comment (if I know about it) at TGTBTU, but that’s because every comment from that post is automatically emailed to me. I also do like making people feel welcome- and in my head, I equate blog comments to a random “hello.” If a stranger, or you know, friend, says hello to me on the street, I’ll say hello back. Ignoring him/her would feel weird. [Unless it's a crazy or creeper. Which online I guess would be spam, or a troll.] I also know that’s just how I think of it, and I don’t expect anyone else to.
Ideally, I’d subscribe to comment threads, but I suck at email. I think I have something like 8K unread emails across all my accounts. On the one I check most I try to keep it at under 500, and every so often just blaze through and delete 400+ unread messages.

Anyway, I do think it depends on the person, the blog, the content, and the day. Basically, to each his or her own, and unless there’s a clear pattern, I don’t attribute any sort of motive to it.

And since this is an incredibly long comment I’ll just add to it and discuss the length to make it go on more. [Sorry for being long winded!]

And I don’t have a problem with bloggers who don’t leave comments. There is many a blog I read but don’t leave a comment – either not enough time or while I enjoy the post, I can’t think of anything to say.

As for responding to comments on my own blog? Totally depends on the post. I would say 90% of the time, I’m responding to everybody. Other times, the post is written as such that I *feel* it’s not necessary for me to respond to every single commenter unless someone chimes in with a question.

I think blog-hopping is good for the soul, and helps build a sense of community. That said, I know there is no way in heck I could leave comments on all the blogs I follow. There are not enough hours in the day. So I pick and choose, leaving comments when I have something to add.

Or use them to get on lists and try to get books or what not. Some worry about ‘traffic’ first and blogging or enjoying it second. Or maybe they think it will get them a gig on Entertainment Weekly.

But what would be the point for “the blog owner is trying to drive up the number of comments on the thread as well as their own traffic number”? I guess if you have advertising on a site, I can understand this, but if you are Joe Schmo blogger, what does this prove?

Not responding at all, is something some do because they want to be above it or harder to ‘access’. Not commenting on other blogs is sometimes because they want people to come to them. Of course I am just speaking of people I know/knew of and their reasons.

Personally I have been a horrid bloghopper and commenter. Now that I have a new computer and something of a better connection (although sadly not the best) I plan to be around more. It is awesome to see so many new blogs, opinions and views out there. At the same – it is wicked hard to hop around, comment and run a blog yourself.

In regards to comments: I used to respond to every comment on the blog (I believe Rowena still does), but I stopped for a couple of reasons. The two main ones are 1) time constraints and 2) relevancy.

My online time is more limited now than it used to be. I would prefer to spend the time I have writing new blog posts or leaving comments on other blogs, not responding to all the comments left at my blog.

That isn’t to say I don’t respond to some, but only if I feel I have something to say. I certainly don’t meant to offend or alienate people by doing this, but I feel somewhat ridiculous posting a “thanks for stopping by” comment. It feels condescending to me. (Not that I think that when OTHER people do it, only when I do it. I’m neurotic that way, I guess).

As for commenting on other blogs, the same rules apply. Unless I have something relevant to contribute, I don’t see the point in commenting just to comment.

I do love reading the comments we get on the site, though.

Though, unless I ask a specific question in a comment, I don’t hold it against other bloggers if they don’t respond. Lord knows, I understand!

Jane, as a blogger, made a choice to include a link that only other PM subscribers could access. (While this strikes me as inconsistent with DA’s creed that it’s “by readers for readers” — how many readers subscribe to PM? — that’s still just her decision.) But when a reader said, “Hey, what gives? Why include a link I can’t access without buying a subscription?” Jane shot that person down.

It’s not the editorial decision to cite Axelrod, and then refuse to paraphrase his reasons and make it impossible for non-subscribers to find out what he said, that’s germane here — it’s her rudeness in the comment thread. And you can’t convince me that a lawyer as skilled and knowledgeable as Jane doesn’t know that summarizing ideas is not “stealing” under either the copyright laws or any reasonable Internet subscription contract. So it wasn’t that she couldn’t provide more context, it’s that she didn’t want to.

And honestly, why even respond to Janet’s comment if that’s Jane’s decision? It’s almost doubly insulting: I won’t accede to your request AND I’ll dismiss your reason for requesting it.