When Roger and I first started blogging in January 2005 we used Haloscan for commenting. Not sure why, except that some of our favorite political bloggers at the time (like Eschaton) used it. It wasn't a good idea because Haloscan quit hosting a commenting platform some time in 2008. We were able to save all of the comments, and there were literally thousands of them, but only in a ridiculous Excel format that is seriously unfriendly in every way. The comments were deleted from blogger, and that was the end of that. I still have 18 database files of comments and planned to edit out personal data and would like to try to append them to original posts where they had been left. It's an absurd amount of work, and in all likelihood it won't ever get down, but not for lack of good intentions.
It was right about that time that we quit replying to comments. It always bothered me that we stopped, especially since we love bloggers who do reply, but our enthusiasm for had been diminished. We were moving around a lot back then, and blogging became more about journal keeping than communication. Still, we always loved comments and the amazingly bright and wonderful people who became our friends here and stayed.
So, you may have already noticed, I have made a commitment to reply to all of your comments. We appreciate hearing from you so much. You have enriched our lives and we just want you to know. So, you'll be hearing from us!
And, thank you.
PS The skies cleared. The local American Fire is
I do know how you feel about comments and have to admit that they do make my day! And I do try to respond by commenting on their blogs or with an email. But it does get difficult from time to time when there is a lot going on in your life -- like another move for me!!! But I'm settling in and trying to get back to returning comments. I love your beautiful skies and hope you have a lovely weekend!!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
I'm always so glad to hear from you. I absolutely understand how hard it is to keep up with comments, especially when you get a lot of them. I just thought I'd give it a try again. Good intentions!
DeleteI've never had a firm feeling on replying to comments. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. When it's a political topic, I really like to reply if I have something different to say than was in the original blog. If it'd just be repeating what I said, then I may not repeat it. I agree though that comments make the blog better and I appreciate any I get-- agree or disagree.
ReplyDeleteI understand not wanting to repeat content. That would get old so fast. I may try to reply the old way, one big response instead of hitting the reply to each one here. I'll see how it goes.
DeleteI love those clouds. You have the neatest skies and it's good to see the smoke gone.
ReplyDeleteI have always replied to comments, I do it to acknowledge how much I appreciate those that stop by and that I do read their thoughts even though I realize many never come back to see the reply. Or it could be I just like getting in the last word:))
Patti, you made me laugh, getting the last word. I love that! You have also inspired me to get back to replying. You're a good, dedicated teacher.
ReplyDeleteYou've raised the bar for comment quality with this post. Now I'm not sure if my snark is sufficient. I may have to hire a talented writer to come up with comments for me.
ReplyDeleteYour snark is absolutely sufficient!
DeleteWhen I started blogging, I wanted to reply to all comments because I know how it feels when a blog I visit replies to my comment. I know for sure that the blogger has read and appreciates the comment, and I want anyone who reads and comments at my blog to know the same.
ReplyDeleteThe clouds in the second photo are seriously cool. I have never seen anything like them. Lacunosos seems reasonable, based on what I quickly researched. Although my degree is in atmospheric science, and my thesis was about radiative transfer through a cloudy atmosphere, I'm not very good at identifying cloud types. I have a feeling that the identifications can be kind of arbitrary except for clouds that are pretty obvious.
I've been trying to teach myself cloud ID and Atmospheric Optics using the internet. I've learned a lot in the past three years, since I first noticed iridescent clouds. I think you are right about cloud ID being arbitrary. I joined the Cloud Appreciation Society yesterday, and their discussion forums are both enlightening and funny.
DeleteI usually make a general reply and then specific responses to some. I used to respond to everyone but it began to take too much time. There is a Cloud Appreciation Society?
ReplyDeleteI will probably vacillate between a reply to each one separately or one long reply. We'll see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the Cloud Appreciation Society:
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/
Wow! Very interesting. Thanks for the link.
DeleteI love replies to my comments...even just a brief acknowledgement. It's part of what makes blogging interactive and fun for me. It's funny though, I have no sense whatsoever which posts are going to garner the most interest and comments. None. Zilch. And I'm usually surprised.
ReplyDeleteI like the replies too. I first noticed this fancy little reply feature on your blog, Tara. Took me a little while to figure out how to get it here on Dharma Bums. If I can reply to stuff over at Facebook, I can certainly try to find the time to say something here.
DeleteIt's truly an amazing development in social connection that we have seen over the years. It has enabled us to become friends and acquaintances over vast distances. Your site has been a daily read for years and has become our garden for connection. Peace, Michael, Trace and Bodhi Dog.
ReplyDeleteMichael, Trace, and Bodhi Dog, We love hearing from you and appreciate your presence in our lives. We hope some day that that presence is actually actual rather than virtual.
DeleteIt's all pretty wonderful, this virtual connection stuff. I am especially thankful for its existence now that we live on this big rock. However, ain't nuthin like the REAL thing.
ReplyDeleteSomething not yet definable has been lost, I think.
You're right, Annie. It ain't nothing like the real thing. Sometimes I imagine the future with young people looking at pictures of water on their smartphones when they're thirsty and there's no water left. Something has definitely been lost. It didn't take us that long as a species to forget that we lived in tribes and communities; then nuclear families and neighborhoods. Now singular units of people staring at their phones. You know the best market is the individual.
DeleteThus far, I haven't been able to post with this system. It eats my comments when I "click" publish.
ReplyDeleteConsider this a test to see if it will work now...
IT WORKED!!!
ReplyDeleteThe clouds in the second photo are seriously weird. They remind me of the blisters when I had a rash from Lyme disease. What could be going on to create clouds that look like that? You Bums live in the most amazing place--not just amazing wildlife, but even the clouds are magic!
CCorax! I am so happy to hear from you. It's been a while. I can't figure out why it's so hard to comment. Could it be the captcha? I'm glad you got it to work.
DeleteI'd love to know what creates clouds like that? Pretty cool stuff. I sent the image to the Cloud Appreciation Society. Maybe someone there can ID it.
You had Lyme Disease? Yikes. Any residual affects?
Knock on wood, none. we caught it in the acute disseminated stage, before it became chronic. Basically, my body HOWLED as soon as it got hit.
DeleteYou are so lucky about that. We know a couple of people who have chronic lyme disease, and it really is a BUMMER.
DeleteMaybe you could email me about what your body felt like when it "howled"-- I am seriously interested in these effects. Thank you!
It's nice seeing your replies to comments once again. DB always had a good comment thread.
ReplyDeleteI like to reply to comments at my blog whenever possible. I enjoy that bit of interactiveness and that it is a good way to acknowledge the time that readers take to leave a message. These days it isn't too much work on my part as I'm barely posting to my blog at times. (Reminder to self to write something soon!)
I'm trying to keep my Facebook time down to a minimum, and as much as I enjoy the speedy interactiveness there, their policies annoy me. So, hoping the breathe life back into blogging and comments.
DeleteI always look forward to your posts, Bev. Your creativity seriously blows my mind!
Well, my blog posts never got many comments, so I was happy to save the texts of my posts when the Salon/Radio site went away. The paucity of comments on my blog posts (no one's fault except my own) led me to espouse the immediacy of Facebook. But now, I don't write anything worth reading, and it bothers me.
ReplyDeleteI wish you would get back into writing. I always enjoyed reading your blog. There's plenty to write about, especially all your kayaking adventures with those grand photos!
DeleteFirst off, great photos of your amazing skies!
ReplyDeleteIt may take me a while, but I made a commitment to respond to every comment my blog receives. I've pretty much lived up to it so far.
To be honest, I think I enjoy the back and forth of commenting and replying to comments, more than the blogging itself. I used to post everyday on two blogs. Then it went down to one. Now I post on one blog once or twice a week. It's not that I don't have the time to make blog posts, I just don't have time to reply to comments or to comment on all the blogs that I like. Something had to give and it ended up being the number of posts I do.
You do a great job of responding to comments. I was inspired by your blog to start up again. I think it's important to maintain the conversation, which is why we started blogging. Facebook made it easier, but not more interesting.
DeleteThanks for the nice words Robin. I totally agree about FB not being as interesting. If people would stop thinking that others care about the minutia of their lives, it would be much more interesting.
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