On the Etiquette of replying to comments on Hive...

in #hive3 days ago

I think it's just a common courtesy to try and reply to MOST comments I get on my posts here on Hive.

I'm reflecting on this now, ironically, because I got a bit behind over XMAS and am only now just getting around to reply to some comments which I got over two weeks ago.

This is way below my usual standards of only having a three-four day max delay, and that's only if I have a long weekend.

Screenshot 2025-01-09 at 20.19.54.png

It's just polite to acknowledge...

I mean if someone is going to be bothered to drop a comment on one of my posts, I am going to be bothered to reply, and I do try and give meatier comments more attention.

Especially with the way most of us blog on Hive. Let's face it, there is hardly any content on here that is the kind of high grade content that people want to read for informational purposes only.

Most of the content is more rapid-fire commentary or personal stuff, or opinion based, the kind of content that asks for a response, for a dialogue, and that's part of Hive, the interaction, the qualitative interaction that is, beyond the mere fire and forget upvote click.

I am aware that I do very well in terms of reward on here, but I do also value the odd comments I get from folks who I've had some interaction with over the years, it's part of my routine, a little back and forth typically once a day, sometimes a little less because IRL gets in the way.

It's also nice to get the odd thought provoking comment, it kind of extends the topic I was thinking about, and it's nice to get others that are just for the lolz.

So I value them, so I acknowledge them, usually with a little upvote too. (That's another advantage, if I can spunk a 10 10% rewards on comments then that's one less post I have to seek out to reward, and lord knows there's precious little enough worth a vote around here these days).

There are exceptions...

I don't interact with people who I regard as comment farmers. They are easy enough to spot... have a quick look at their replies, notice they put one to two liners on mostly Orca and Whale accounts, of all persuasions, they are just fishing for upvotes.

But having said that...

Everyone has to start somewhere and there's absolutely nothing wrong with starting out a Hive career by commenting, it can be a great way of adding value to the chain, and decent comments are worth rewarding too.

It's all part of the game!

I'm catching up...

So Soz if I haven't replied in a while, I have a little backlog (lord that sounds like a line from work!) but I will get back to you just as soon as I can!

Posted Using INLEO

Sort:  

I always try to upvote all my comments to say thanks and then reply to the meatier ones, or if they have questions or insights to add. For a lot of the shorter comments and spammy ones a small upvote will do me.

Fair play, but don't upvote the spam! DV that!

The people I bring to HIVE I tell them to make their presence known thru commenting. No whale is gonna see your shit-post when you're new.. but they will see your shit comment. Make it count.

Note. The people I bring to HIVE never listen to me anyway.

I couldn't think of anyone nicer to not listen to!

I think it's fine to let replying get away from you every once in a while, you know? We all have a life, so I'm sure people understand. It's clear for followers when you're someone who never responds or just going through something, so don't be too hard on yourself! :D

I think it's nice to respond too, it's just common courtesy really, even if it's a small "thanks". And I agree, comments have brought serious surprises to me down the years with some earning more than some posts, so definitely worth a shot if you're looking to earn a bit as a newbie.

Yes fair play I'm not letting it bother me that much, I will get around to responding to the backlog eventually though, just need to find 30 mins or so!

And yes there are those who never respond, that's just rude!

I get very annoyed, particularly with newbies who just care about posting and ignoring comments. It's basic manners, if someone dropped by by your home to say hello, you wouldn't ignore them would you.

I'm with you on spam comments and AI generated ones. They're very obvious

Nice post sir. 😆

lol

Well played!
I've probably deleted as many comments as I have posted. I try to stop and consider if my comment is adding anything to the conversation - unless it's a silly meme thread/snap then there's no expectation of response aside from something silly back.

Great Gatsby Movie GIF by Sony

I never make any consideration.

#nofilter

Commenting is a great way of getting noticed if you're new, I think that's how i started. I remember getting some crazy >$10 votes on some of them, in the heady Steem days.

I will respond to most comments, but it can be a lot of work. I feel a bit embarrassed if I get a lot of votes, but no comments on a post. I want it to get real engagement and not just auto votes.

I have seen some fairly big or very active accounts who rarely reply. There was some guy who I asked about this and he said 'but I am a content creator'. No votes from me then.

'but I am a content creator'

it is the new social media thing, you should not read comments :D

i get the thing for super famous people, kinda, when there is thousands of comments and most of them are "spam" or "hate" comments, but i must say it just losing the point. but i did start the internet journey on mIRC and forums so "talking" to people was the actual point :)

I think around here talking is most of the point, no one's content is that good it puts them into that megastardom, literally no one.

Sounds like a pretty arrogant guy! I do like comments, but I'll also take the votes, lots of votes with no comments all the time would be a little hollow.

It would be daft if Hive was only about votes. We do actually have interesting posts that trigger discussion. Of course posts about Hive get a lot of attention.

I almost always respond to comments even if it is just one word or single emoji comment( But I am not likely to upvote those). At the moment I am getting more comments than in the past. I am not sure if it is because I upvote any half decent comment/add commentrewarder at 5 percent or because people really like what I do. Either way I am happy. In the past I was envious of bigger accounts but not just because they were getting bigger upvotes but perhaps more so because they were getting more comments. So now that I am getting more comments I take it as a sign of my own account growth.

Oh yeah the upvotes might help, it's worth checking in with who people are commenting on, if it's ALL the well known larger accounts with small two line comments- you know taskmaster, taraz etc. etc. - sack the votes off, they will probably stop.

If I comment on a post, and I only comment on posts that have sparked my interest, and unless they are someone I follow or who follows me. I mute them, not interested especially if they are noobs. Sometimes just a thumbs up OK is neede as a matter of curtesy.

I am afraid I don't reward a comment, not sure if it is of value to the commenter? I do when someone ( not AI written) has taken then time and trouble to respond in a worthwhile manner use the topcomment and hopefully they will earn rewards fom that

Do I need to change my way of thinking?

TBH I don't comment on too many other people's posts, something I could do more of, but it certainly has to spark my interest for that.

I think i maybe just vote comments out of habit, I need to think about whether it's worth it. Probably the main reason I do is because it's an easy way of using up voting power. These days I'm finding I'm voting what i'd call mundane content from people who I know keep it powered up, there's so little worth my vote!

Hence voting comments.

On that note it's now 9.00 a.m. my working day beckons!

LOL oh the joys of the 9-5

And mine is 12500, it will surely increase 😉

That is pretty prolific!

Most of the people I follow are through comments they left and the engagement thru left, not replying is a bit like not saying no problem when someone says "excuse me" tog et past, I mean you don't have to but why be rude

I think that's about right, at the very least acknowledge!

I have pondered the etiquette of responses here on Hive a time or two. My thoughts are similar to yours. I settled on the conclusion that most times one of the two is sufficient, a vote or comment. My reasoning is simple, both indicate that the comment was read. The Vote given don't even have to register for rewards. Its the indication that it was read that is most important in regards to etiquette. There's exceptions as you pointed out. A full post addressing many as you just did. Not interacting with a regular 1 or 2 times out of ten is acceptable in my eyes. Sometimes things just don't need to be interacted with.

Yes sounds similar to my philosophy, and no not everything needs to be responded to!

I'd prefer people just not comment on my posts if the comment just sounds too generic one or two liners that hint they haven't even read any of it. It just wastes both our times reading the empty comment. But without this bad comments, it's hard to appreciate the good ones.

Oh yes I love those type of 'I obvs haven't read this' comments, not!

We are kind of fortunate on Hive to have this culture of commenting and replying to comments. I don't understand the new wave in social media of ignoring comments on your content. We will see where this goes, and how it will affect Hive.

Is that a thing... ignoring comments? That one passed me by!

I mean posting without replying to comments. Seems what some huge accounts are doing. I don't know, perhaps when you have hundreds or thousands of commends on your posts, it's impossible to reply to them.

I try to do the same. At the very least, I upvote all comments. I try to upvote with at least 15% when I can, but more than a reward, I regard it just as a "seen" indicator. But I always do try to reply as well. As you say, it's just polite.

15% is a good way to burn through yr vote power pretty quickly, very generous!

haha yeah it definitely burns through my voting power. But I like to show my gratitude. Plus it gives me motivation to get my HP up even higher so I can give a decent vote with a smaller percentage.

There is that, you need a decent HP to make a small % worth it!

This reminds me to use https://engage.hivechain.app more! I want regular readers particularly as I write more short fiction, thanking readers on a smaller account is critical.

For every comment I leave, I probably delete one - if I think the comment isn't going add some substantial value to the conversation. HIVE is a fascinating place in that it has some etiquette and normative behavior, that isn't seen on much of legacy social media. It's interesting to me how there is an inversion from Twitter. On Twitter a large account is going to ignore 99.5% of comments. Here on HIVE an account with a relatively large amount of followers is likely to respond to 75%+ of meaningful comments - because it's part of the social contract.

There's a lot to think about here though, responsible and meaningful engagement being the key.

I guess the point is here it doesn't scale, Hive is small enough for me to do this, if i got even treble the amount of comments I do it'd start to feel oppressive, 5* I wouldn't be able to keep up, and I don't get that many comments already even!

While I don't get too many comments on my posts, I agree with u.. I always reply to each and every one of the comments I do get. 😎👊

I am also catching up since I was away for 2 years after a devastation , sometines posting sporadically just to stay in the loop.. but you are right, there are really comment farmers that's just here to exploit on rewards and do not contribute any value on hive. And as you said, it's part of the game and they'll still be around for a long time.

Oh fair point, I don't expect them to go anywhere!

Congratulations @revisesociology! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

You have been a buzzy bee and published a post every day of the week.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Loading...