Thinking about commenting....

I do most of my blog reading on Bloglines which, as Baggage (http://baggagethatgoeswithmine.typepad.com/) points out, means that you don't actually SEE all of the blog. You don't see when people make design changes, or notice when they add to their blogroll. Commenting requires a few extra clicks, so you (or some of us any) do a little less of that too.

What tend to miss is reading the comments. I'll realize that I am missing out on a big part of what is happening on someone's blog because I am not reading what people are saying in the comments. So if I have the time, I will go and check it out.

Some days I think I would love it if more people commented on my blog. Some of the blogs I read seem to get a dozen comments for every post. Someone writes about what they wore and people line up to say how interesting that is. (Okay...if I was ever going to get a comment based upon being snarky, that would be it. It's hyperbole folks).

On the other hand, sometimes I read a blog where comments are a regular thing and I feel sorry for the blogger. Poor Baggage has been dealing fairly gracefully with people who are debating her sex life and child-rearing decisions. So I think, I'm lucky. I don't get a lot of comments, but those that I do get are nearly all supportive and kind.

So it makes me think, why do we blog? Why do we open ourselves up for comments? Why in the world would ANYone want to lay out their lives for public inspection and comment? Why do that to ourselves?

Of course we do it for different reasons. In my own case I do it because sometimes venting here works better than venting almost everywhere else. I feel better.

I do it because it has helped to put me in touch with a peer group I could not have found any other way. I have made friends with a couple of foster parents, but we don't have much in common -- aside from the kids we parent. They are an interesting bunch. Most are deeply religious and yet surprisingly accepting. All are much more aware and concerned about social justice issues than most other folks.

But they are different from me. They don't THINK about everything so very much. They don't analyze all the time. Writing the blog has put me in touch with some people who do, and that has made me less alone.

And why do I comment? Well, to be totally honest, in the beginning I commented a fair amount because it brought attention to my blog. Turns out that there is little that will increase hits as much as saying, "I am parenting a recovering codeine addict" in a comment on some popular blog.

Later I started leaving comments because I had come to genuinely care about some people. Even when I did not have much to say I wanted to let them know that I was reading and thinking about them.

Sometimes I leave comments because I am a big fat know-it-all who thinks her wisdom is priceless and that the whole world would be a better place if everyone just did it her way.

I don't really know why I am writing this particular entry. Just pondering...