@Randi Wow. Thanks for the kind words. I’ve long thought that the blog author makes up for only half of the equation as well. Without a community of commenters maintaining a blog can become very lonely.

I think for me it’s mainly “what Janice said.” If a blogger is warm, friendly, has a sense of humor and shows evidence of reading his or her comments, then I am more apt to leave a comment. The blogger, through his words, has created a sense of an online neighborhood.

Many times, as someone who loves to write, I see a post as a writing prompt. It causes me to think about something in a new way, or causes me to actually think about something in the first place! Having the itch to write, I then leave a comment rather than going home to write my own full blown post.

It’s not only the blogger though who makes a blog welcoming. It is the other commenters. Many times, Marc, on other blogs, you have had me laughing, or have responded to my comments. It’s that kind of commenter that is useful too—someone who doesn’t rely just on the blogger to make everyone feel welcome. You help make it feel like “family.”

Randi’s last blog post..Shyness in a Nutshell

I’m going to try uninstalling then reinstalling Comment Luv, Melinda, thanks for the suggestion. This is exactly what I mean about good , supportive, friendly people making the ‘boxes below’ a good place to be.

Marc, I went over to the Comment Luv site like you suggested. I contacted the actual creator of Comment Luv and was stunned at the speed of his reply and his helpfulness. I actually spoke to him on the phone, too. Lots of ideas to check but sadly they all point to google and feedburner as being the source of the problem. Or, even more scarily, that my tulips take too long to load…But it must be meant for a reason. No idea what, but I’ll figure it out.

There are a couple of blogs that I have stopped commenting on simply because I never received a single reply. I don’t expect a site owner to reply to literally every comment, however they need to show up in the comments fairly regularly.

Melinda’s last blog post..Monthly Book Giveaway – “Purple Cow” and “The Dip” by Seth Godin

Yes we have our own schedules to keep and yes it’s nice to be acknowledged even in 3 words or less, but over time those posting for their own sake will eventually disappear into the folds while the true contributors will still be around even if it is just to say “thanks”.

As for Comment Luv, have you registered your site with commentluv.com? Your feed should automatically refresh when you make a new post at the very least, not sure why it’s not working for you. Drop me an email if you like.

Although I think Comment Luv is a great invention, I also fear it’s done some damage; some people are genuine supporters of a blog but may only have the time to say “Well done -nice one!” but take the time to do it to boost their friends’ comments numbers, while others say “great post!” every single day just to have their own posts showing. It’s a tricky one. I prefer to think of Comment Luv as a great win/win though. (Even though it doesn’t Luv me! Your box down below keeps telling me that I need 2 posts to receive the luv and offers me the option of trying again when my feed is refreshed or choosing a different post to show . I don’t even know what refreshing my feed means!Help! she whimpers…)