Comments, Replying to Comments & Commenting Back

When blogging, if its about books or about something else, your audience obviously plays a huge role in how things work, in what you post, and how your discussions go. Without an audience, you're just writing to yourself, without an audience there is no communication, but instead its only your thoughts, and your ideas.

YES, it may be true that it is YOUR blog, and it should be YOUR opinions that are expressed there, but comments are what keeps things going, and brings a whole different perspective to a conversation.

After a little over three years of blogging, I've learned just how important and fun comments are. If I didn't want someone to comment on my writing, or if I didn't want to comment back on theirs, whats the point of having a public blog? I should have created an online private journal instead.

I can't even put it into words how I much excitement I felt when those first few comments were coming in. I was barely sixteen, had no idea what I was doing, spent my nights typing up crummy reviews and blog posts, and SOMEONE out there was ACTUALLY taking the time to read them AND comment on them.

With these occasional comments popping up, I had no idea what to do. I was happy and excited, but then what? I didn't know what steps to take next.

It took me almost a year to learn that I should probably go to their blog, to leave my very own comment on their writing. I quickly spread my wings and even explored farther to other blogs, that I found somewhere out in the blogosphere. And that longer and much more thoughtful comments were appreciated.

Before doing this, I enjoyed book blogging. I enjoyed reading books, and expressing all my thoughts on Turning Pages. But until I started commenting back on other blogs, and started communicating with other people in the community, I didn't realized just HOW much FUN blogging can be. And that you didn't have to write a HUGE post, just to have a conversation, but that even a small paragraph on someone else's website could do that.

Besides heading over to the blogger's website, that was nice enough to take the time and read what I'm writing, to leave a comment, I also decided to start replying to comments on my blog.

Why? Just to continue the discussion. I don't get very many replies afterwards, but still there is always the chance that that person may come back to see what I answered.

Initial comments, replying to comments and commenting back is what pulls the blogging community together. It shows that we support one another, and we build friends that way, even if the person lives just down the road from you, or across the globe. I've made so many friends, and talked to so many different people from all around the world its absolutely amazing!

Why wouldn't you want to reply, or go check out what they're writing about? Why wouldn't you want to build friends based on a common interest? Isn't that why were all here? Why we all started blogs in the first place?