For those of you who maintain blogs, I'm curious about your practices vis a vis comments. When an entry of yours has received a comment to which you want to reply, do you do so: 1) directly to the commenter by email only, 2) directly within the comments section of the blog entry itself solely, or 3) both by email and within the blog entry's comments?
The second option would seem to allow the comments section to function as a forum of sorts, and also continue to allow others potentially to participate rather than turning the conversation into a private one, but I seem to rarely see back-and-forth communication between the blog author and the commenters in this fashion. If you do choose the second option, though, do you worry then that the original commenter might not see your reply at all?
I often use the third option, but in practice since the original commenter is much more likely to reply directly to your email rather than coming back to the comments page if they have something further to add, this ends up functioning pretty much just like the first option.
I usually do the second option (respond within the comments only). I suppose I just assume that commenters will come back to see what's up. Hm, in that vein, I've been considering putting some MT code in my sidebar to display a list of the five or so most recent comments, so people can see right away what all commenting activity is going on.
On the flipside, I usually comment only on blogs I visit regularly, so yeah, I definitely go back and scan comment counts, and read any new comments (from the blogger and others).
I also use option 2) replying "directly within the comments section of the blog entry itself solely." I've had a commenter ask me to comment back on her Web site once. But I also assume they will come back and read my blog, or at least the entry they commented on so they can see the full thread. If I reply by email then no one else sees my response. Other readers may also assume that I don't respond to people who comment on my blog, and I prefer not to have someone think that since it is furthest from the truth.
I suppose I could email the person with the comment and also copy the comment onto my blog, but eventually that could get impossible to do. Just my two cents. Great question by the way. It will be great to see what other bloggers have to say. =)
Tre...
I think you have perhaps the most beautiful blog I've ever seen; your design is so gorgeous!
Hmm, this is tricky. I tend to assume that people *don't* keep coming back to check the comments section for responses, so if I want to respond I usually do it via email. It might be interesting to try your second possibility, though, just to see if a dialogue - or even a more widespread discussion - would start.
Thanks for the compliment. =)
Probably better to assume they are not going to come back. I think I am going to continue to post a reply back in my blog, but also email the reply or at least reference them back to that entry. Hmmm, I'll have to think about that.
I usually email people back if questions are asked. Or, if enough people asked the same question, I'll use that question as a blog entry. I don't see a problem with option #2, however, I just haven't tried it.