July 2, 2008
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Multiple Replies in One Comment
Got this great question from ElusiveWords:
I have a question about Xanga etiquette. Is it considered good form to reply to multiple comments in one comment “box”
e.g.
@user one …
@user two …or is it better to have a single reply per comment?
That is a great question… anyone have a take on this one?
Comments (109)
I don’t find that a problem… but it’s just me.
I generally try to answer as many as I can in one box, but that is because I try to comment back to all of my subscribers. Also, your own comments count in your comment total, so I kind of see replying to each one as cheating to up your comment count.
i’m too lazy to copy and paste multiple users, so i just reply to each one separately. besides, it makes my entries look like they have more comments!
It doesn’t bother me any. Now is a long comment, it would a pain.
It’s easier to just do it all at once. So you don’t have to do it individually. I don’t have an issue with it.
I would go with multiple replies in one comment box. That way you don’t artificially jack up the number of comments.
But anything is better than the ol’ “ryc.”
I do it all the time since my internet acts up frequently and I don’t get to post comments and check and update my Xanga as impulsively as I want.
it just looks like you have that much more comments if you have a single reply per comment. i think it’s kind of silly. to save time and use common sense, do a mass reply
@Southernlass - Agreed.
Also, I’ve observed a user or two who thought it necessary to reply with a separate comment for every separate idea they were addressing, even if to the same person. This is just odd to me and ignores the wonderful usage of a thing I like to call “paragraphs”.
It would be good if my own replies didn’t count in my comment count. But since they do, I try to be frugal and use multiple replies in one box.
I hate the @user thing because I never remember to check back and see if someone commented back; I prefer taking the whole two seconds out of my life and going to their site to write “RYC: blah blah”. It feels more personal that way. I don’t think that I’ve ever personally used the @user feature.
i usually like to fit as many in one box. i like my stuff organized not overflowing.
Not a fan of padding my comment total; I’ll be frugal with the replies.
can we do it like livejournal, where each comment goes directly under the person you’re commenting to? makes it look cleaner… that way, we don’t have to search for it.
I feel it depends on the topic. If one person is commenting on one issue, then I wouldn’t mass comment, it may confuse the person. If my response covers both commenters then I do a mass reply.
I can always tell what the total comments are by eProps, which I’m glad we still use.
@livingfortommorow - As long as they use it as well, their response to you will show up in your universal inbox/feedback. No need to keep checking back. That’s the beauty of that feature.
I do it both ways. If I’m getting lots of comments, I try to reply to several at once so people reading the comments won’t have to scroll as much. If I’m going to give a long reply to someone, I reply only to the one.
Yeah I go for just one reply in the comment. Uhm, I don’t know, the only reason why I’m saying so is because it gets confusing.. (I’m like: okay where is his or her reply to me) to Eilis, this one’s for bunny, this one’s… It’s annoying.
No me gusta the @ feature. I prefer going back to the person’s page to reply
This is why I always reply as a comment on the other person’s most recent Xanga entry.
I would like the reply to be place right under the user member who left the comment.
I don’t much care either way, but I just reply to one and then go on to the next all in one giant comment… it works and nobody bitches so why not? It doesn’t look so much like you’re stalking someone.
“HeartOfPandora left eleventy-five comments on your weblog entry…”
That’s just kinda creepy.
One box is fine IMO. I wasn’t sure I would like the feature at first, but it is so handy! By the time I got to pages, I usually forgot what I wanted to ryc anyway. This really saves time for me.
I am never offended when someone replies to me in a box with others.
I don’t understand the concern about comment padding. Doesn’t seem like it matters. Maybe I am just not clued in to something.
I have a question sort of related. I started using friendfeed to keep track of friends doings from all over the place and I just heard of a feature that allows comments from there to be imported to a blog and I think vice versa too. Is that something that can be done with Xanga? I haven’t used it much yet, but it seems very useful for keeping nonxangan readers involved. If a bunch of xangans used it and added their youtube, flicker, picassa, digg etc accounts along with their blogs, it could foster come cool connections.
On what basis might one be offended one way or the other? I don’t understand.
limit to 5? don’t want to go searching through a list of 20+ responses to see what mine is.
I think it’s better this way. It’s more efficient
.
On a random other note, John! Ya gonna IRC chat it up with some Xangans next Wednesday? I’ve decided to host an IRC meet for Xangans, and it would be much aprecciated if you’d help out the cause. :] (Too lazy to explain here, so I’ve explained here.) Hope to see you theres! =D
I do not mind either way…as long as their reply is about the comment that you made….what I hate is when they only use the reply to comment you,instead of going to your site.
i have no issues on this. i think it’s perfectly fine either way.
It’s not really an issue of etiquette, if I intend to reply to more than one comment at once, I do. If I happen upon another comment and reply to it, I create another reply.
There is a 15 minute window to add more replies to a reply anyway.
it adds less clutter to the box if you put them all into one.
I don’t like to add on to the number of comments on one of my posts. When I do, I get all excited and think I got a new comment, but I didn’t. It was just me commenting on my own post.
it is probably better to do multiple responses as it will increase the number of comment ouputs!
i think if you’re good about replying right away, one at a time. but if say several reply-worthy comments poured in since the last you checked, all at once isn’t so bad.
I think its ok as long as its kept small but if its a long comment back then it should be only ppl pertaining to the comment & added at the top.
HA My 2c+1
i dunno if it’s a big deal, especially if you are answering the same question asked by two different people. i just did that today actually…
I like to reply to each one just because I don’t want them to be reading replies meant for others.
I don’t get a lot of comments, but when it’s fairly large compared to normal I usually reply individually to people…unless I’m just feeling really lazy lol
I prefer the multiple reply, looks a bit more neater, but it up to the user how they use this feature.
I do multiple replies all the time, and I think it’s good form, although I hadn’t thought about the additional benefit of not artifically jacking up one’s comment number. Good call, @Southernlass .
I am too lazy to do individual posts… :-X
I don’t like it! But if it’s only 2 comments back then that’s alright.
a reply orgy!
My two cents is that I’ve been replying to multiple users in one box, but I don’t really care what anyone else does. I’m good with it all.
Hmmm… Case by case basis – But, I kind of prefer single post for a reply (replies) to a single user.
@NDM - This.
@XINERGY - that.
either way, but I do like the multiple replies in one box, because it saves space and time.
I generally like to reply to persons in one comment, sometimes I do single replies if I feel the replies have really nothing to do with each other.
I really don’t know what the etiquette is. I usually go through all of my comments at one time a few days after I posted the post and I use one comment to reply to anyone that I want to reply to. I don’t know if this makes me rude or not.
Dear John,
I prefer to write and read multiple ”@reply” comments in one box. I find that a lot of similar questions can be answered at once. I still use my customary salutations when replying. (Dear xxxx, Dear xxxx, Dear xxxx, then the reply.) I think this makes it more personal, but I usually write full letters instead of just “commenting” anyway.
I have email updates for replies selected in my account information but I don’t get emails anymore when someone replies to a comment. I do use the universal inbox now so I see the replies as they appear however.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
each one separately so the readers feel like you’re answering to them as an individual, it’s more personalized that way, right?
Multiple is more convenient, but it is more work for the blogger to set it up this way. Harder = copy and paste
John,
I think I just noticed a bug. Your above (and all other) posts don’t show up in my subscriptions! That means i’ve been missing an awful lot of good posts!!
I don’t think it should matter one way or another. You can get an email notification that you have a reply to a comment you made. It even lists the comment you left. But if you opt out of the emails… I still don’t see that it matters. Groupings of replies or single replies… are still replies! I say, do whatever the owner of the page likes to do.
@chrispycrunch - Haha, your kind words are duly noted. However I just checked, and my subscriptions do show up properly. Could you check again?
Most professionally run websites I’ve looked at choose to do the multiple response in one comment method.
i’m offended we’re even discussing this. how rude!
…
do whatever you want. It’s a free country you know.
I’d reply to many in one post. Don’t need to waste more real estate
i like ‘em all at once as long as they’re sort of related. if it were, like, “oh, i’m so sorry your aunt died” and then “i love britney spears!” that would be a little insensitive
i don`t care. it`s more efficient to put it all in one box. ctrl+g your username if you want.
Wow…. thanks for posing the question for the community. I love reading the different perspectives. Btw, the original question was inspired by Zsa_MD and I said I would check with you on what the etiquette is.
mass reply ftw! not that i use the feature a lot anyway
@EilisAngelos - LOL
I prefer multiple reply in one comment box.
multiple replies in one comment box. a bit more efficient and less cluttered.
I don’t there is any accepted etiquette here, and I’d hope to keep it that way. There are already too many stupid no-nos on Xanga that people get unnecessarily riled up about.
@TheCrimsonNinja - I’m offended that you’re offended. Therefore, I’m also offended at myself, which makes it a triple offense that perpetually adds to itself.
i never saw a problem with that. usually I like to comment to the persons individually and put something worthwhile rather than ‘lol’ ‘yea’ etc…
it depends on whether i am commenting shortly after someone has left me a comment, or if i have a few comments waiting to be replied to…if i am replying straight away, i just reply to that person, but if i’ve got a couple waiting, i put them all in the same box…
on the other shoe, i’m not bothered one way or another how someone decides to reply to my comments, it’s just nice that they reply in the first place!
makes more sense to just get it all in one comment, unless you want the ego boost or whatever from having a bunch of comments
i don’t really have a preference. it’s nice to even get a comment no? haha
i guess it doesn’t bother me when the answers are one liners… but when the answers are way long for each person, it seems much more respectable to give individual replies.
I like multiple replies in one comment, because if you reply to every comment individually, it looks like you’ve gotten a lot more comments than you really have. You start looking like that crazy person that replies to every comment just to get your “# of comments” ticker boosted. LAME.
I don’t think it makes much difference. Maybe it depends on the comment or the reply.
Hey John I saw you on my site how are you today
Your welcome. How is your day so far?
I think fitting multiple replies in one box seems more organized
Sometimes it would be better to be able to say thanks to lots of people at once, rathe than loads individually. if one reply’s to each with an individual comment it makes it look bad, like you’re trying to make comments.
I love the reply feature and the new dashboard… it makes knwoing whats going on a whole lot easier.
Multiple…. !!!!
Where is spell check gone from the comments box… I was sure I saw it appear there a week or two ago… perhaps its in mozilla the feature shows itself
@OwenHiggins - Spellcheck is built into Firefox… that’s part of the browser, not Xanga
.
@john - I was just too lazy to go check.. new mozilla is so fast, but the only thing I hate is that it doesn’t go back to the same point on the previous page when you hit back button. perhaps thats a feature I’m also to lazy to find
If its the same responce for all of them I will just do it in one comment box… if it is different I may put a couple in one box, but I hate it when people make me search through ten or twenty replys… not fun.
I like akiko’s idea but overall, it’s not that big of a deal
First, how the hell do you delete subscribers??? Hear people talking about it all the time but never could figure it out
Personally i think the whole @ thing is quite rude, especially if you don’t go to their site after doing it. Looks pretty lazy and self-centered to me…i prefer the ol’ RYC
But using multiple @’s when two or more people are saying basically the same thing is okay…and one more thang about RYC’s—i think that is pretty self-centered when you go on someone’s site and just RYC without referring to their posts…although with my posts i don’t give a fuck whether anyone reads them or not…the pictures i put up will leave y’all thinking
I do not use the reply thing it is great for what it was meant for but now people do not even bother to come to your site and read. How do I turn on the minis on my site? Judi
I use both actually. I’ve never really thought about it. I might do a multiple comment like that or just individual users.
Hey john.
sorry agent john, but i’ve recently been plugged to the matrix. when replying with @whomever, must i include a hyphen or will a space suffice?
as for the etiquette i think sets of 5 would suffice.
Hey john what should i blog about.
Either way works for me but I prefer if the other party replies in my own site.
It works either way, but I prefer it when people reply to my comment individually.
@EltonxEvermore - haha, your comment and mine are virutally identical. That’s weird, cause I didn’t see your comment until mine posted.
hey
It’s fine with me, unless someone replies to 700 comments with one comment.
Hey John, what’s up? I got a new radioshow piped through my Xanga page and I’m now on the air! check it out.
~Doctor E
I *love* multiple replies in one comment. Honestly it’s the one unique feature of the REPLY system that really makes it stand out. If you look at it sort of visually, like as a graph, it allows you to create unique path structures that you can’t make with just normal threaded conversations. In normal threads you can only create Trees.
But I can see why it can be annoying to some people because it sort of broadcasts your reply to one person to a bunch of other people through the email notification. So it needs to be used with care.
To http://www.xanga.com/VersaGratis……. Is ur problem…
To http://www.xanga.com/Southernlass….. Ur such a cheater…..
To http://www.xanga.com/wutuwaitn4…. Lazy ho….
I could go on with individual insults for every guest……. but is way eaier to just say……… “Why is you all so noisy?”
Shut the fug up……….
That’s my take on that shit……
Hugs and kisses
mitch
@Southernlass - I agree
i think multiple replies is fine. I havent once found it annoying unless the replies are excessive, which has yet to happen to me. so yeah limiting it would be a good idea.
hey john thanks for the rec!
i watch that video you reccomende it was funny.
either way, it doesnt matter…
Sir, would you pretty pretty please go read my blog? I’ll give you a big mini!
(If I can afford it…)
Here’s one of the greatest posts ever on Xanga: http://www.xanga.com/blonde_apocalypse/666909428/row-row-row-your-boat.html and it ain’t mine
it doesn’t bother me at all and I do it all the time…I mean…santa does it all the time.
which brings me to my point.
It is Christmas in July time and because of this I’ve come here to give you a present for being such an awesome Xangan all year!!!
Happy Christmas!!!
LOL, john, that pulse DID give me up didn’t it? hahaha.. curses.
I don’t really mind what people do one way or the other… though I guess TOO many individual replies kind of clogs up the comment box. I don’t reply very often anymore on my site, so I can honestly say I never figured out which would be preferable.
Move to threaded comments.