when i first started blogging, i read a bunch of “tips for new bloggers” posts and almost all of them include the following tip: COMMENT. it’s how you get more readers to your own blog, as well as join the conversation with topics you care about. it’s a win-win! it’s also wonderful because the blogging community is so welcoming and nice. it should be easy peasy, lemon squeezy. but i have a confession to make:
commenting on other blogs is hard.
technically speaking, it shouldn’t be a big issue because you just go to another blog and leave a comment. no pressure right? everyone can do it. but it’s not that simple.
struggle #1: leaving a meaningful comment
i always want to leave a meaningful comment, not just a “great post! check out my blog!” comment. i want to show that i care, because 99% of the time, I REALLY DO CARE. but sometimes, i see a wonderful post, and i have nothing to say! after commenting, “i totally agree with you!” on ten blogs, it seems kinda empty and spammy. it’s like when you have nothing to really say, but you want to say something… UGH.
struggle #2: finding posts/blogs to comment on
up until recently, i had no idea how people kept track of all the blogs they followed. i want to email subscribe to all of them, but then my email would be flooded, and i wouldn’t actually read it. i used bloglovin for a while, but it was annoying because i couldn’t categorize my blogs. the overall setup was meh, but the idea was great. then my life changed. i found feedly, and IT’S THE BEST THING EVER. i can have all my posts wonderfully categorized and i love the layout. in order to comment, i’d still need to go the actual blog but that’s only one click away. so technically, this isn’t that big of a struggle anymore.
struggle #3: finding new blogs
i’m always trying to find new blogs, but where do i go??? i suppose one of the main purposes of commenting is to “get your name/blog out there,” but where to i find the blogs in the first place?! i find most of the blogs i already know from social media, but is there an easier way? is there some secret that i don’t know?
struggle #4: it’s time-consuming and i’m lazy
if i want to leave a meaningful comment (see: struggle #1), i’d need to read the post first. then think of a response, then go find another post, and all-in-all, it takes so much time. you could spend an hour reading/commenting on blogs, but only end up going through five posts. or at least that’s me. i could’ve spent that hour reading books, but instead i spent that hour talking about books. THE STRUGGLE IS REALLY REAL.
i can’t possibly be the only one who have these struggles… right? what are your tips and secrets to commenting? do you have any more struggles to add to the list? i’d love to know!
– alexandra
Oh my lord. I understand everything you said! Specially the one of being extremely lazy and the one of never knowing what to say. I’ve read amazing posts, and I always want to comment something, but the words never flow and then I’m like “well, i’ll think something later” but I never do.
me too!! i usually bookmark or “save for later” on feedly but end up commenting a week later. ugh, i’m no good at this.
All of this is me all the time. And then when I do comment sometimes I’ll think about it later and be like “why did I say that??” The advice posts about starting blogging say to comment to get your blog noticed, but sometimes I’m more in the mode of wanting to say something but not wanting people to read what I said. Or something like that.
yes! sometimes when people respond to my comment, i’m like.. ack did i actually say that? *cringe*
oh my god this is so true! especially for finding new blogs! i know a lot of people prefer booktube videos and it’s so hard to find some actual book bloggers. i found your blog from instagram so i was lucky! i’ll check this feedly thing out. thank you for sharing this post, it was really easy to relate to.<3
right?! booktube is much easier for finding new channels because youtube conveniently has ‘suggested videos.’ as for blogging, i think we just go to social media. (or comments! hah!) thanks for commenting!! 😉
Commenting is seriously my thing. I always have a lot to say and when I don’t, I always try to find ANOTHER post where I can say something. Usually, I comment on discussions [like this] because they have the most discussion room. When it comes to reviews, it’s harder because if you haven’t read the book – like what do you say???
For me, I’ve been lately recently but I’m hoping to get back on track to commenting on like twenty posts a day. What I usually do is also look at the other comments on a blog and check those blogs out. That’s how I find new blogs (:
nova, you’re seriously the queen of commenting. teach me your ways!! so true for review comments. i usually end up saying something along the lines of, “great review! i’ll be sure to add this to my tbr pile.” (or not if it was a negative review) commenting on twenty posts a day BLOWS MY MIND. how do you find the time?? and energy???? yep, i’m mostly just too lazy. bleh.
#4 is me me me. im so lazy tbh i cant be bothered to type out comments for most posts i read (EXCEPT YOU ALEXANDRA BC YOURE FABULOUS) but like seriously i might be super into a post but then the idea of having to write a comment, then being judged for it if it’s deemed too short to be meaningful like shit thats too much work for me when all i want to do is just be freeeee. but like honestly i get wanting a meaningful comment but sometimes all i really have to say is I LOVED THIS POST SO MUCH and nothing else bc i just agreed w everything and repeating everything would be such a waste of time so idk. #2 and 3 arent as big problems for me bc ive just always had a lot of posts / blogs to read. like if i dont check my feedly for a day it blows up to like 110+ unread posts and its like WHOA but lol i was actually going to comment use feedly and then realized that yes you are!! its amazing. legit dont understand all the hype w bloglovin, feedly is where its at
anyway yeah i feel you THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
THANK YOU, ANNIE. you comment on nearly all of my posts and i feel so bad whenever i don’t respond or don’t comment on your blog but it’s mostly because i’m like, “i’ll do it later” but later never happens. (sorry) and when i do actually comment, i feel bad (yet again) because it’ll only be a sentence or two. UGHHH. and yes, feedly is LITERALLY THE BEST THING EVER. these commenting struggles… i can’t deal.
omg no don’t feel bad!! like alexandra i dont know if youve noticed but i suck at commenting myself. like even if you did comment itd take me like 10 billion years before i got to replying bc im the EXACT same way (so in that sense you’re actually a lot better than i am). i comment on your posts because i love them and not looking for anything in return (just for you to know that i love you and your blog) so honestly dont feel bad!!!! bc commenting is hard and replying is even harder!!
I FEEL ALL OF THESE STRUGGLES, especially on my lazy days. And with summer and all, those days are basically everyday.
I’m one of the few bloggers I know that actually enjoys commenting. I just love seeing new content and finding new people to interact with and all that jazz. The whole community aspect of blogging is pretty big for me. Yet, sometimes I get SO FRUSTRATED because you’re totally right when you say it takes foreeever to comment. I try my best to leave longer comments because that’s what I love to see on my blog, but then that makes the entire process even longer and even more frustrating ahaha. It’s a never-ending cycle. 😛
I’ve found this new way that I use these days to leave more meaningful comments with things like reviews, because not gonna lie, it can be hard to come up with articulate things to say besides “WOW ILY THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL” when I read a review, lol. I read a paragraph of a review, then write one or two sentences about it, agreeing, or making some sort of commentary about how I feel about that kind of stuff in general (ie, somebody will say [MC] is so kick-butt! and i’ll type, daaang, I LOVE kickbutt characters that can actually defend themselves!] until I’m done with the review. It helps me write longer and more thorough comments, plus it saves so much time. I always found myself reading the entire post, going down to write a comment, forgetting everything said in the review, and then having to scroll up again and again. This way, things are far more efficient and I can (try to) get to more blogs.
Also, can I just go out there and say I hate Bloglovin’??? The day I discovered Feedly was a beautiful, beautiful day. The design is one million more times organized, it doesn’t take 90823948023984 years to load, and the app ACTUALLY WORKS. During the school year I always like to flip through blog posts on my phone, and the Feedly app is perfect for quick reading, since it’s so user-friendly. On the other hand, the Bloglovin’ app doesn’t even work… *glares*
I’ve been struggling to find new blogs these days because I’m kinda tired of reading the same blogs, oof. So what I do is when I read a post, I just go to other people’s blogs who have commented on said post (pretty sure I found your blog that way, actually!). That can be kind of hit or miss, though. :/
This was such a lovely post, Alexandra! <33 I agree: commenting can be a struggle (although I do love it- on most days haha).
i’m trying to leave a response to your comment and all i can’t think is YES YES YES. now you can see my bad commenting skills firsthand. *sigh* commenting is a struggle, but certainly very fun! your new mthod of commenting sounds super efficient and i’m 500% sure i’m going to start doing that now. (the scrolling up and down bc i forgot is too annoying for words)
also yes, FEEDLY IS LIFE. i used to use bloglovin, but was so annoyed at the annoying interface and that awful app. feedly is so pretty and convenient; I LOVE IT. i hope you’ve sprinkled some of your commenting magic onto me! thanks for your helpful tips <333
Oh lordy and the social anxiety speaks
OHMYGOD I feel your pain, Alexandra. The struggle is real! I find it really hard to leave relevant, INTERESTING comments on other people’s blogs… And it’s so time consuming too… Sometimes I struggle just to reply to the lively comments on my blog too, and then I feel like an awful human being. Isn’t blogging fun??
Beth x
YUP. And can I just say how 100% accurate this post is?! I love visiting other book blogs, but it has proven difficult for me to leave comments. It seems I never quite know what to say.
Haha I relate to this post on so many levels! It’s especially terrible when you couldn’t read blogs for a while (because of exams or you went on holiday or something) and then you get back on the internet and THERE ARE SO MANY POSTS TO READ AND COMMENT ON. I still haven’t caught up since my exams ended.
I completely agree with you. I am the worst for commenting because I just don’t have the time. I tend to have a bunch of blog posts open in various tabs awaiting me having time to comment. It isn’t efficient but it means I don’t miss posts I really want to comment on. I wish there were an easier way to comment sometimes, but sadly there isn’t. I just remind myself how much I love getting comments, regardless of what they say, when I feel like my comments are a bit empty because every comment can make a blogger feel like their work hasn’t gone unnoticed.
I TOTALLY agree with all of this! I’ve been struggling with commenting lately not because I lack the opinions or thoughts, but rather because I’m too lazy to type it out. Oops. This is one of my goals for this year, and I really want to work on it! Wonderful post, and I just followed you because OMG YOUR DESIGN IS SO CUTE.
Yup, I feel your pain Alexandra, it sucks when you can’t find the blogs to view and comment on, or you don’t have the words to share how you feel, and so you become a ghost reader. I ALWAYS want to comment something, and I’m still learning, but I think I’m getting there, you know? This is such a great post lovely, you should be pleased and proud! 🙂
I toally agree with you that commenting is important and it can be really hard as well. I have a few techniques for commenting on reviews and with discussion posts I usually just reply with whatever I am thinking. I also want to leave meaningfull comments and sometimes I think I might be too strict for myself and feel like I have to write a long enough comment. With discussion posts this usually isn’t a problem, but with reviews or meme’s it can be hard.
I use bloglovin to follow blogs and I don’t categorize blogs, even though I think they have a sort of option for that. I just have all the blogs I follow in my feed. I really should clean up the blogs I follow once though. Finding new blogs to follow is a hard one. I often try to check out blogs when other blogs that I follow link to. I also check out Oh the Books their weekly recap whcih has links to lots of other blogs. Sometimes I just comment on the post they link to, but if I really like the blog I follow them. It’s hard to find blog to follow. And yes commenting takes a lot of time and sadly that means it’s the first thing I skip when I have a busy day, but I also love commenting on other blogs so I try to make some time for it.
It really can be difficult. One thing I really appreciate is when someone ‘likes’ my post on WP, even if they don’t comment, because that way I still know they read and enjoyed it. Maybe that’s an alternative if you feel like you have nothing good to add?
I had to make a new Feedly account, because my old one was following literally EVERY BLOG I’D EVER SET EYES ON. When I first started blogging, I did a lot of Feature and Follow Fridays, and ended up following about 50 million blogs. But now I have a new Feedly, where I’ve added my faves and will slowly add more and more blogs as I come across them, and yes, it’s amazing! I love that you can mark certain posts as read, save others for later, mark all as read etc.
#4 I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND. Sometimes I think ‘Let’s go on a commenting spree!’, open up Feedly and then think ‘… Nah.’ 🙁
Lol, I completely agree. There just isn’t enough time to read and comment on all the blogs you want to. And I LOVE Feedly. So much better than all the other options right now.
Hi Alexandra, I just found your blog through Aneeqah and can I just say how beautiful your design is! And I can’t believe you’re going to be an ACTUAL ballet dancer – that is just so cool, ballet is just a hobby of the past for me!
Anyway, I completely understand your struggles of commenting! I don’t like the idea of leaving those meaningless ‘Great post! Come check out my blog’ comments either because it comes across as though I haven’t even bothered to read what they have to say. When I had my old blog and I’d do the usual rounds of commenting on all my favourite blogs, I’d use the comment format Aneeqah mentioned above where I give a commentary on aspects mentioned by the blogger. I’ve found this largely works but sometimes I’d feel like I was commenting on a review just for the sake of commenting and it could become rather excruciating. And yes, you’re absolutely right.. IT TAKES SO MUCH TIME. But then again, I feel that if people are going to take the time to read and comment on my posts, it’s only fair to do the same.
This time round, I think I’m going to take it easy though. Only comment when I really have something to contribute and not force myself to come up with what I think is a ‘meaningful’ comment when I really don’t have much to say. There are some posts which I read and my mind is already forming a response. These are the posts that I have fun commenting on. And that’s what commenting should be. It should be fun and I’ll try and remember this!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on commenting – it’s always interesting to see what other people have to say about it. Oh and it’s nice to meet you!
It is all very time consuming. I used to keep track of blog feeds through Feedly, but have recently switched to Bloglovin’, which I am liking for now. It is an easy way to see everything on one feed when I decide to catch up.
I love visiting other blogs. I have found wonderful books that I might have not otherwise have picked up, and there is a lot of original creativity to be found in the book blogging community. Leaving a meaningful comment is something that I strive to do, but it is true that it can be s struggle at times, even when I really like a review or post.
I struggle with #4. My job used to allow me time in the mornings to go through my feedly (love feedly!!) and check out 10 or so blog posts, leave a comment and then go on with my day. I miss that 🙂
Now my job requires work from me about an hour before I actually start and then it feels like things rarely get finished by the end of the day. I don’t mind the work but I miss reading blogs! I miss talking to my friends. Now I binge and comment on a bunch of posts for the month whenever I can grab an hour.
On the finding new blogs front – I just do it by leapfrogging the ones I already follow. It’s especially easy when they post links to a friend’s blog or a post that inspired them. I also go through Oh, The Books weekly recap to see who’s talking about fun things and follow new blogs from there.
Ha, I just lowered my bloglovin feed down from 175 unread posts. I don’t comment on every single post, just the ones I have something meaningful to say. I think commenting is time consuming but its also a part of blogging, just like reading and reviewing books and keeping up with your blog.
Oh my gosh! This completely describes the struggle! I’m really glad that there’s a lot of us that feel the same way. I totally can relate to the struggle of finding blogs (Aneeqah has given me a few with her post). P.S. I am totally in love with your blog design!
The struggle is infinitely real. Actually, what I’m doing right now is catching up on commenting. Also reading. I use bloglovin but as you said I don’t like the layout and it stresses me out to read posts using it, so they gradually build up and then I’m left with 200 posts to go through and comment on by the time I get over my bloglovin anxiety (I should make the switch but I’m too lazy – it feels like a lot of work).
It’s funny for us that we’re commenting on a post titled the struggles of commenting😂 We really liked this post and we have a few reasons. Number one is that we’re also lazy. We’ll read something amazing and think “Yeah let’s comment on that!” But then we don’t because that’s effort. As a result leaving comments is a sporadic event for us😎 Number two is how much we agree with how hard it is to find other blogs. We know we could scroll through Instagram or whatever and find blogs of our favourite bookstagrams, but really, who wants to do that?
Thanks so much for writing this! Also, you’re the only person who doesn’t use caps at the start of sentences that we can tolerate so….50 points to the Hogwarts/Ilvermorney house you belong to😊😊🔥