OK, this is probably going to sound really mean, but it’s been grating on my nerves for a while now. WTF is up with all those people that come out of the woodwork whenever a blogger does a giveaway? For example, I follow a really awesome blogger, who gets probably an average of 10-20 comments per post–except for the days when they do giveaways, and then suddenly it’s all; “OMG! I love your blog! I want free stuff! You’re so amazing that I’ve never bothered to read your blog or comment before, but I NEED whatever it is you’re giving away!!” And suddenly, instead of the 15 or so of us who are faithful readers/commenters it’s 200+ commenters. Maybe there really is that many “lurkers” on a blog, but somehow I just have trouble believing it. (Because I do a lot of lurking, but I’ll still post the occasional comment, just to let someone know that I appreciate what they’re doing.)
I actually had planned a giveaway fairly soon (which is part of what prompted this post), with much weight being given to my faithful commenters/subscribers, because I’m not excited about sending something to a person who’s never taken the time to acknowledge my existence up until there was free stuff.
Maybe I’m being too harsh?
Splinters & Stitches 
I see what you mean. I don’t actually mind people coming out of the woodwork, it makes me wonder if they have been reading all along. If not, how did they know about the giveaway?
I often leave inane comments on people’s blogs. I’m not a gifted writer by any means. Sometimes I wonder if people would prefer me to keep my mouth shut a little more, but then I think, I’m here, I’ve read it, if I have the time to post a few lines, why not? I’m always so impressed by people’s creative efforts, and I feel like they are giving a lot to me by bothering to blog about it, so I figure a comment just to let them know I appreciate their efforts is probably a good thing. I know my comments are generally unoriginal and predictable, but hopefully they don’t judge me too harshly. If all comments had to be witty and original, I’d say very little indeed! I wonder if other people have these feelings to and it makes them shy to comment?
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I don’t often do some sort of witty comment either–it’s not one of my many talents. However, I think that most bloggers (or maybe just me) enjoy getting comments, as long as it’s not someone being a deliberate troll. Besides, there’s only so many ways to tell someone that the garment that they made is pretty freakin’ awesome, and that you admire their hard work (or creativity or whatever). 😉
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I haven’t actually noticed (paid attention more likely) that happening, at least not 200- comments. I have done two giveaways and I did notice my visitor count went up, a little. If my little blog went from 30 or so hits a day to 200 I am not sure how I would feel. Now that I have a blog I try to comment on most blogs I read.
What you could do, is confine your giveaway to the regular commenters (mememememe) or your followers. You wouldn’t have to advertise this either, it is your blog after all.
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LOL! Yes, I think that’s probably how I would do it (no promises that it’d be you this time though!), but I’m not sure whether I’d advertise that or not. I can’t decide if that seems fair/unfair or not. I too try to comment on the blogs I read (which is only about 20), though I don’t promise to comment on every single post, because sometimes I simply don’t have anything to really add, or the time to do so.
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I saw the title post and thought “oh I wonder what’s pissed her off now, yay”. Apparently I like reading that kind of thing.
I’ve seen quite a few giveaways that require you to have commented at some point to qualify. I lurked for a good year and a half before commenting on any blogs. I’m not sure why but that first comment seemed to need a really good reason to get me stated and it would have been based on wanting to share an opinion not a giveaway. I think a lot of it was why would they want to hear from little ol’ me?
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LOL! I always wonder if people enjoy my little rants or not (my husband finds them amusing if no one else does), so it’s good to hear that you enjoy that sort of thing. And why wouldn’t we want to hear from little ol’ you? I think you always leave nice comments, and I know that I always appreciate them. 🙂
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Oh, I don’t hold back now that I’m in there. I think when I was lurking, it was a different kind of attachment to the blogs. I don’t think I realized how cool it is to get a comment and a lot of what I read seemed to have a lot of followers and comments already (like Gertie). I think actually the first time I commented was on Already Pretty, something that just struck a chord where I thought my story added more than just “wow, that’s pretty”. Getting into the habit of commenting on peoples blogs led to me wanting a blog myself so I could expand on what was important to me and have a name to comment with. I still comment much like Tanit-Isis does, blogs that I feel more attachment to and comment often on. It feels more like a conversation on those blogs and a learning experience on blogs that I read more than comment.
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I think a *lot* of people read without commenting. I know I read two or three hundred blogs, but only comment on about twenty or thirty, usually the ones who I feel a personal connection to. I guess I’m just shy. I’d say I get 10-20 comments/post average (which I then reply to, which artificially ups the numbers), but I have over 500 subscribers on Google Reader alone and get quite a few more hits than that. Some of those will be repeats and others will be spam-bots etc., but all together it suggests to me that there’s a *lot* of people reading who don’t comment typically. I know for a lot of people a giveaway is actually a way to gauge how many people are reading—since a much higher percentage will comment—and also a way to attract new followers. Sure, you might come just for the giveaway (especially if it’s the sort where you give people an extra entry if they blog about your giveaway) but you might like what you see and hang around. I know not all giveaways are like that—some people just have something they want to share or pass on to someone appreciative—but some are. Personally, I rarely put in for a giveaway unless it’s someone I already follow or am promptly adding to my reader, but that doesn’t mean I’ve commented in, oh, six months. Does that make me a bad blog reader?
… all this from the girl who doesn’t do giveaways (because I suck at mailing stuff). But who does enjoy a good rant. 🙂
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Whoa! You mean you feel a personal connection to my blog?! The amazing Tanit-Isis?! Quick, someone pinch me! Seriously, thanks I needed the confidence boost. 🙂 I don’t have any idea how you read 200-300 blogs, I can barely keep up with my 20 or so if I miss a day. 😯 And I’m glad that other people enjoy the rants, because I really like using this format to get them off my chest.
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Ha! I know what you’re talking about. People do tend to come out of the woodwork when the gifts fly. 🙂
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Exactly! The question is, why don’t they just come out before then? I LOVE hearing from my readers, and even take the time to try and respond. It’s not like I rate comments based on awesomeness, though that could be a cool contest, don’tcha think? 😉
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I can see why this annoys you. It would not be so bad if the new commentors kept commenting after the giveaway, but I can also see why people don’t comment, because I am guilty of this.
I read a couple of hundred blogs regularly,and write about 10 -15 comments per day, Reading is quicker than commenting! I love to recieve comments, and feel as if I should comment more, but I often feel that my comments are pretty dull. It is easy to be taken the wrong way in a comment if you say anything more than “that’s pretty”, and the last thing I would want to do is offend someone who is putting themselves out there on the internet, when I am enjoying looking at their work.
I do comment on giveaways sometimes if I fancy what is up there – surely if the writer did not want readers to enter the giveaway they wouldn’t be posting about it?I might have done this as a first comment on a blog, but it is rarely the first time I have read that blog. I tend to comment less frequently on blogs that already have lots of comments, or where I have commented quite a few times and the writer has never commented on my blog – I like the connection. I would rarely comment on every single post a blogger makes, even if I really like the blog.
I have been blogging for a few years now, and didn’t follow my stats, but with the new blogger interface, you can see in your post list how many visits there are to each post whenever you are editing. It astounded me that there are sometimes over a thousand hits on a post that has only a couple of comments – particularly tutorials, so I gather that my high reading/low commenting ratio is what a lot of people do.
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I wouldn’t say that it bothers me if people don’t comment on every post, because I realize that sometimes there simply isn’t anything else to say or I simply don’t have a good way to relate to the stuff presented and so I don’t know what I should/shouldn’t say. I do wish there was a better way to track people who follow regularly though, because unless they comment or subscribe or hit the “like” button, I have no idea that they’re even out there. And I guess that I wanted my giveaway to be a “reader appreciation”, and for someone who truly is a reader–but I only know if they are if I know they’re out there.
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You get what are called lurkers, it’s the same with forums, sometimes they feel they have nothing to say that someone else has already said. Anyway in case you are thinking am I lurker as you haven’t seen me post before, the answer is no, I just came across your blog on K-Lines lol. However if you are thinking of doing a giveaway, I absolutely love your blog and wow you are so amazing.
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LOL! I think this should get comment of the day status. 🙂
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LOL. Thought that would tickle ya.
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