REPLY TO PETER | 2005-05-15
Peter read my complaint about the lack of comments, and he then did something people just don't do these days:
He thought about it.
His first note is what I need readers to do: remind me when I am contradicting myself. It is much better to be contradicted by someone inside the blog family than it is for you to let me make a fool of myself in a public debate.
Peter says I should reply to comments more often. I had the feeling that the main blog is mine, so I don't want to hog the comments page, too. I put my big replies on the main page.
But I enjoy replying to comments. You read what I say about and you feel like talking about it, which is the whole point of the blog.
From now on, I will be replying to more comments. If you feel like am hogging it, I will blame it on Peter.
I do NOT want comments that talk about something I did NOT write in MY blog. Elizabeth does an excellent job on this. She thinks about what I wrote, and then provides information expanding on it.
That gives me information I need and also makes it clear that she is thinking about what **I** wrote. If she goes off into a new subject, it is starting from my writings and she makes it clear that I made her think about it and expand on it.
I would be a happy old man if more Peters and Elizabeths and Dons came in. On the other hand, as Peter said, I am trying to say what you are thinking. If I do that, you obviously aren't going to have much to add.
I say what I think I have to contribute. You say what you are thinking about. If I complain about the lack of comments, it is NOT because I want ditto heads. It's just that when I read your comments, I get hungry for more.
But, as Peter reminds me, I wouldn't enjoy comments if you felt OBLIGATED to make them, even though I made it sound that way.
But if you comment on what **I** wrote, you can't write too poorly or say something silly. I had to learn to write too.
This is a good place to do it:
1) You are not identified. As a Southern gentleman, I will not ALLOW my team to try to identify you, and they wouldn't do it anyway.
2) You have a professional writer here to advise you. But I can't advise anyone who doesn't write.
You'll get all I have to give. You know me. I'll tell you the truth.
3) Whatever you say, a lot of other readers are thinking the same thing. And what my readers are thinking about is the point of Bob's Blog.
You see all the thinking Peter made me do?
.
. OK, Bob you are missing the obvious here, geeze.
You have us all on your list. It's a big list, so you know lots of us are here reading you.
Why so few comments?
Because we all agree with you. You say what we are thinking. It would be annoying if everyone said vapidly "You are saying what I am thinking." Can you imagine reading that 400 times for each beautifully written entry?
Did you want us to type in "Ditto?"...
Comment by Peter — 5/14/2005 @ 11:35 pm
. OK again. If you really want us to comment more, here is what you might do:
Reply more to our comments.
You see, if you don't reply we think one of maybe two things: (1) Either you didn't like our comment, but you are too Southern to say so; or (2) we have no idea what you would like to hear from us.
Now, that would take up more of your time. So, maybe you could put a list in the side bar of the types of things you would like us to say, and those things you don't. If you would like us to think aloud in the keyboard, you could tell us that too. Normally, thinking aloud is annoying to people, so we don't that. Would you like to hear our various reactions with little regard to how dumb or trivial they may be?
Comment by Peter — 5/14/2005 @ 11:40 pm
. Of course, the reason you didn't reply to a comment we make could be the same reason we seemingly seldom reply to your entries: We agree with you and of course your entries are so definitive, how can we reply?).
Comment by Peter — 5/14/2005 @ 11:44 pm