Do you respond to everything on your LJ?

[kevyn]

It occurs to me as I look through my LJ message inbox that there's a bunch of comments I have never responded to. This seems to be a normal behaviour pattern for me: I don't always respond to everything, because I don't feel compelled to do so.

Is anybody offended by this behaviour on my part?

Even though LJ is considered to be a "social networking" site, for me it is first and foremost a journal, a chronological record of my life, where I put down what I am thinking, feeling, what I am horrified by and amused by, photos, school papers, movie tickets, and bric-a-brac. It's a digital scrapbook for me - the operative word being ME. It just happens that you are allowed to see it.

The "social" part of LJ is secondary to me -- I don't look at my LJ as a dialogue (though many times it is one) so much as a monologue, where people can comment if they want to, and sometimes I even respond.

I am a very public person by nature, but I do employ levels of privacy -- if you're not on my friends list, you don't get to see the more salacious, personal or controversial stuff that I post. (Ask me if you want to be added). And, of course, I also post things that I don't share with *anyone*, for my eyes only.

Just as I don't feel compelled to answer every voice mail I receive, or every email I receive, I don't feel obliged to respond every time someone comments on my journal.

I guess what I am asking here: Am I being rude? Are people bothered when I don't respond?

Comments

[atldaddybear.livejournal.com]

There are times I'll try to acknowledge each reply to one of my posts. There are other times that a reply from me seems completely superfluous.

Likewise, there are times I'll expect (or, at least, hope for) a response to a reply I leave in someone else's journal. There are times that I'm just being either snarky or a fuckin' smartass and don't expect any type of reply-to-my-reply.

It's all a question of context. Or, to put it another way - like the diapers, It All Depends. :-}}}}

[lostncove.livejournal.com]

I take zero offense, because I do the same thing. I'm pretty low maintenaince anyway. ;)

[phreddd.livejournal.com]

Not especially, at least in my case - I respond to what I can.

In the other direction, I've received responses months after the fact, and (depending on what I put out in the first place) don't recall needing to make a big deal of it, so I probably didn't.

...really good question all the same, Hagrid.

[porthos74.livejournal.com]

Is a person rude for not answering a reply? In a very bloodless, face-value way, yes, they are. If someone takes the time and care to offer you an opinion, it probably deserves a response. However…

People have to be realistic about time (even those of us with casual relationships with time—nudge, nudge, wink, wink!). Those with full-time job, relationship, family, or ‘extra-curricular’ responsibilities, which would be most anybody, can empathise with the fact that it’s damn near impossible to get to *all* LJ responses in a timely fashion.

In other words: stop fucking worrying, my boy. We all have replies we can’t get to, and even so, it doesn’t mean we appreciate them any less. :)

[kcfairy.livejournal.com]

I am horribly offended...by the war machine but not from a lack of response. Worried sometimes but not offended.

[detailbear.livejournal.com]

I try to respond to every comment in my Journal. I'm (probably overly) thrilled when a poster responds to my comment, but it not a requirement.

I guess that I treat my journal as a dialogue, and just sitting there not responding would be rude in that case.

What really bothers me is when I see someone respond to every comment but one. I now understand that many people use the convenient but non-comprehensive method of replying to LJ-created e-mails. That's not me, though.

[baxil.livejournal.com]

Naw, you're fine. Sometimes, like when a commenter is just saying "I agree" or "thanks for writing," there's no need for conversation - just a message being passed.

I probably answer about 30-50% of my comments; more when the raw numbers are lower, less when I get inundated. If someone asks me a question or makes a point worthy of further discussion, I make an effort to get back to them; but otherwise I respond mostly at random (with a small element of "Have I said anything to them lately? Will they feel I'm ignoring them if I stay silent?" ... because I'm a little neurotic that way).