Oops. Guilty. Of some of that, at least.

Sometimes it's hard to know whether a "thank you" by email with no further substance is a courtesy or just another intrusion into the life of someone who gets much too much email anyway.

In any case, might as well be public: Thank you, BB, for your patience with my boneheaded RDF questions.

Dorothea, your questions about RDF were a delight, particularly since you were so interested in the answers. This can be rare for me at times.

Regardless, you're welcome, and any time.

It is frustrating to see zero comments on my blog. I work hard on it, it's a labor of love. If I see a tidbit I like I try to post a comment, but there are times where there either isn't time or not enough interest in the subject matter.

Guilty as charged.

Y'know, I surf thru so many peoples blogs without leaving a trace and some are quite remarkable, informative and enjoyable... like here for example, and textartisan... (dave, I haven't swooped past you yet I think). Anyway, the opportunity for engaging is often there and I just lurk. More schmuck me I guess.
Frank

Fortunately I have a couple of readers who I can count on to comment on the occasional post but yes it is distressing at times to see all those zeroes. If I find a blog to be interesting, such as this one, I return often and try to leave comments on posts that interest me. However, often I find that others have said what I wanted to say much better than I could. Still, I blog for myself. I blog as a process of self-discovery. What is it that truly interests me? Do I have anything to say about it? My blog is a record, constantly being added to, of what at that particular time/place held my interest, however fleetingly, and is something I will continue so long as I find the process useful to me regardoless of how many people read it or comment on it.

Some of my response habits were formed as a sysop back in the days of FidoNet netmail. Me too responders were frowned on because they bulked up the mail without adding content and the sysops had to, in many cases, pay long distance charges on every bit they downloaded. thus I learned early on to comment only when I had something of value to add to the conversation. I can't say how many blog readers feel that way but I suspect it is quite a few - why add to the comments if all you have to say is me too?

my $.02 (that would be $.03 Canadian [G]) worth.

I usually post comments in 4-5 blogs/day. This probably is a sign that I need to get out more. I will only post if I feel I have something relevant (or funny) to add to the conversation. I'm not sure why I get few comments in my blog, but much as Doug notes above, I blog because I want to not just to get comments. Of course, if I didn't want comments, I wouldn't have them enabled, now would I? Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that I don't care if people comment or not...

Are blogs "scaleable"? If we want to reach an audience of 10-20 people, and we all constantly comment on each other's posts, then it would be cozy, but closed. Let's say that 400-4000 people read a blog, could the author possibly be "courteous" to all, going to their blog, and exchanging comments and notes?

I keep coming back to a visual image. A small group of friends, maybe high school kids on a trip, or a business unit on the road, sitting in an airport lounge. They are talking too loud, exchaning comments and in jokes, and stroking each other's egos, and maintaining their pecking order of who is cooler than whom, or a bigger bigshot. Meanwhile, a larger group of eavesdroppers, hides behind their newspapers, or looks at the airport TV Add Machine, and wonders, why the fuck don't these people realize that the rest of us have no interest in their in jokes?

Are blogs on line simply to be overheard? Or are they an extraordinarilly exhibitionistic way to maintain a small social network?

Personally, my ideal would be to have thousands of anonymous readers, so angry, so offended, so hurt, that none would comment, none would write, many would fall permanently silent, and some would go insane.

Happy, I think of weblogs as a community where the door is always open for anyone to join. And we find each other through comments and links.

I think of weblogs as a way of connecting with people I would never be able to connect with if it weren't for the medium.

I do not think of weblogs as a form of journalism out to reach millions, nor do I think of it as a popularity contest (something I find personally repugnant).

And if it was all about writing for the masses, with no element of interactivity, and no sense of community, with no exploration into a new way of reaching out to others, I'd quit the damn thing right now.

Oo! Oo! Can I go insane? Please?

Since I tend to be astoundingly ignorant of prevailing social mores... well, look -- I never quite understood exactly how social and interactive blogs were supposed to be. Myself, I consider it rather safer to keep comments on my blog in my private email.

Of course, we all know I'm a coward.

boy, if ever a blog entry BEGGED for a response, this is it.

as long as the motivation isn't sinister like flags in animal farm, we're good...

Ben, no sinister flags, no animal farm. Animals, yes. Farm, no.

I read regularly but rarely have much to say. It takes a while for me to get to know someone well enough to be ready to speak, and I've done mailing lists so long that I have a real aversion to "me too" posts. So I often feel I have little to add by way of a comment, which disinclines me to post one.

I've gotten comfortable enought with blogging and being among fellow bloggers that I've started commenting more often. I have also finally opened my own blog to comments, which has been an interesting experience both positively and negatively.

But when I don't say anything, it doesn't mean that I am not reading and appreciating a blog.

Loved it, blogged it, thought it only courteous to say so - http://bgbg.blogspot.com/2002_06_23_bgbg_archive.html#85209677

Thankee kindlee Denise. But DIA?

Denver International Airport is simply unequipped to handle the traffic of those rushing to service RageBoy.