Guide to commenting, replying and upvoting
The two sides
Mr reply : That was such a good post, in going to really take my time and right an interesting and thoughtful reply, I've checked it, double checked it and now it is perfect.
Mr poster : I've made nothing from this post, it has been up for a few hiurs now, a few replies have came in and I've answe, but it is time to move onto my next post, a reply just came in...
The outcome
Mr poster has missed a new follower, he has missed out some good engagement and is all the poorer for it.
Mr Reply has a serious dent in his belief in Steemit and will be less inclined to reply and Steemit as a whole is poorer.
No excuses
If you post at all you have a responsibility to those that read your posts, people invest time reading your post and another portion their valuable time replying - answer the post and give your reader the respect he or she deserves.
A lot of people will say "surely I can't answer all of the comments" that is bullshit (forgive the language).
Have a look at many very successful people here on Steemit, as an example of someone who writes first class posts and engages with all of his readers is @meesterboom an excellent read and he makes the time to answer every one of his replies...check him out you won't be disappointed and he engages with everyone in his community.
Upvote?
You can upvote a post without commenting, however never, ever comment and then don't upvote, it is just plain bad form.
As for upvoting comments, I think that you should upvote comments that are interesting and relevant to your post, if someone takes the time to reply to your post and have taken the extra time to do a good comment, then please reward them with an upvote.
These are very simple guidlines and help make Steemit a great place to be.
This footer is one of the best things that I have ever seen, thanks to @ryivhnn for his creativity and generosity in giving me this, please follow him!
Very good post. I follow you now
Raar. Kidding. Yes, very valid points. I once got into a slight disagreement with someone over replying to comments on a post. I was of the mind that it is the correct and social thing to do if someone takes the time to comment. They were of the mind that there were too many. This is flawed though, it doesnt take long to do and it shows that you actually care about people who are upvoting you. I would hate to throw my posts out only concerning myself with votes and not who was voting or what they had to say.
Cheers for the shout out!
Thanks for the follow :-)
And you are welcome for the shout-out , I always like to help out Struggling Steemians ;-)
This was super helpful! My brother got my started in here and I wasn't really sure what to do! Thanks for the insight.
Thanks very much for the comment, I'm glad it was helpful.
Great advice. I try to respond to anything that is more than "Really liked this". The exception being anything that requests a follow. I look into some of my commentator's content if something about that comment intrigues me, but I'm not fond of people requesting to be followed in comments.
I have to disagree with the "upvote good form" piece though. First, I and many other users have very little behind our upvote. I did upvote this post, and I think it generated less than a cent because I already drained my voting power on other posts I liked. I try to be very active in the community and really can't "afford" to upvote everything I comment on. Seems counter-productive to say comment less.
The second problem is sometimes you comment on content you don't like. It's part of healthy debate, particularly on controversial subjects. I'm not going to upvote a piece on how Jews are ruining the world, but I'm almost certainly going to put in a dissenting opinion.
For casual commenters, sure, you should probably upvote when you comment. But it should be understood that active community members would completely devalue their vote if they did this.
Good point about the comment and upvoting part of the post.
I do understand where you are coming from and I do agree with you, I would probably step back a bit from my opinion here and your point is well made about commenting an opposing opinion on a post that was distateful.
But I still Think that if you like the post and comment on it, then you should still upvote it.
I hope people see and learn, as this is so true and important. So many times I leave what I think is a decent comment on someones very recent post, one that opens the door for further engagement, and nothing. No reply. I understand that sometimes comments fall through the cracks. They go unnoticed, accidentally. I have done that, but try to rectify it once realised.
Given how important engaged followers are to any success here, having them comment (and in a meaningful way) is what posters should be craving.
Totally agree @naquoya. I think that people really forget that comments and replies are as important as posts, if not more so.
So far in my limited experience here, I've found that I've actually picked up a few friends from comments and replies :-).
It's in the comments that you connect with people. The posts are what grab your attention, but without interaction it's somewhat one dimensional. One's experience her becomes dynamic through the comments section.
I have definitely made friends here through that too. Not a lot, but valuable ones. Ones that I very much take an interest in and wish to see flourish here.
Great post. I totally agree with your point where you said to not comment without upvoting. A lot of people do it on my posts and it's very frustrating because I feel as if they're only doing it for their own self promotion.
I totally agree with you @charliesydney, it seems to be happening a bit more regularly. @johnyliltoe does make a good point in his reply, but I think that people have started doing it more since HF19 and some people definitely do it fit their own self promotion.
Hey, @scottish01. More gems from you as always :-)
Take very much @arekwolf, hope you are having a good evening :-)
Nice advice, many of the new steemit users who don't know the ropes yet are slowly but surely learning the tips and ways to excel in this vast open sea/ocean of Steemian creativity. I am excited that we are entering our second year already and we have grown so much. I wish you the best of success, and indeed, replying to comments is a must, and upvotes show appreciation and gratitude because the community is self sustaining when we all reciprocate love and attention for each others' valued posts we take interest in.
@verbal-d, thank you so much for the very kind wishes and attention today, It is good to talk to someone who has been here for more than a few months.
I think that it is just good manners to reply to people, if someone has taken the time to actually reply to one of your posts then it is the least you can do in answering them.
I am just amazed that people read my posts, like them and take the time to reply, it is kind of mind blowing when you think about it :-)
Yeah that is the true real community of steemit, we are all here interacting, giving and sharing and appreciating and being rewarded in many ways other than just the cryptocurrency. It has been quite a growth journey for me and I am loving every moment of it.
So yeah it is amazing to see how we can further our connections in this big community, and I only noticed you because of my friend @moonleesteem. He is a big supporter of you and appreciates you supporting him.
Therefore I learned of you and showed my appreciation and gratitude as well of your kindness