The Blog Squad - Part 19

We are a group of three book bloggers situated on different continents but brought together by our love for books and a penchant for talking about them. We’ve joined our forces to create a collaborative series of posts about book blogging and we hope you’ll enjoy the discussions.

A MAGICAL WORLD OF WORDS - AmyNikita

BOOKS.BAGS.BURGERS - Uma K

BOOK REVIEWS BY DI - Di Hewlett

Do you read other commenters' responses on discussion posts before making your own comment?

I have to confess that I don’t always do this…. Sometimes it depends on how much time I have available to visit other blogs and often it depends on the type blog post I’m commenting on - if it’s a discussion post I’m much more likely to read the comments to see what the other commenters are saying/thinking.

I’ve often read comments on book reviews on my favourite blogs and then followed these to discover new blogs and to connect with people that may have expressed a similar opinion to mine on a book OR that made me think about it from a different point of view.

I admit I don’t really. Sometimes I will, but I usually just skim the other comments unless one particularly catches my eye.

I’m much more likely to do what Uma does, though: visit the commenters and check out their blogs. The majority of my discovering blogs has come from tracing commenters from their comment profiles to their blogs. I love doing that! And I’ve discovered some amazing blogs that way.  

Have you ever responded to a comment on someone else's blog?

I have done this, but only once or twice, and mostly when a comment was directed at me - like on a collab post or on a combined review for example.

I definitely wish it’s something that I did more of, especially on other people’s discussion posts - I mean, isn’t that what a discussion post is all about? Bringing up a topic that we all want to talk about? I would love it if people read the other people’s comments on my blog and started a discussion between themselves! That would be awesome. I haven’t seen it happen on very many blogs at all though - and I’m not sure if it’s considered taboo, but I don’t see why it should be.

No I don’t think I have. But if it’s a comment on one of Di or Uma’s Blog Squad posts, and if it’s directed specifically at me, then I will.  

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people replying to the occasional comment on blogs that aren’t their own; if the comment is something they have an answer for or are interested to discuss, then they should go for it. I think it’s great if discussions spring from that.

Is it okay to have an opposed/conflicting opinion with another blogger and voice this on their blog in comments?

This is a tough one, because it seems that as book bloggers we are always supposed to be seen as agreeable and amiable and definitely NOT controversial. I’ll agree that this is the BEST blogging community out there for so many reasons, not the least of which being the incredible support you get from other book bloggers, but we have to remember that we are all entitled to our opinions and differing opinions can spark the best kind of discussions - so long as everyone keeps the interaction positive.

Like Di said, it is a tough one. And as much as it’s great to have everyone agreeing and gushing over each other, I think it’s important that people share their honest opinions as well. Especially if it’s a discussion post. That’s what they’re meant for! And your voice is important - no matter what your view.

But I do think it’s important to be tactful and polite about it - agree to disagree, but don’t be nasty. I’ve disagreed with bloggers before on posts, but I’ve never done it spitefully and I hope it never came across that way.   

Overall, I think you should feel able to disagree, but always be polite and generous about it. Don’t attack the blogger and don’t bash the post.

Go over to their collab posts to know my answers!:

❤ Book Reviews by Di
❤ A Magical World of Words

We hope you’ve enjoyed the latest in our series of discussion posts! Please talk to us and let us know YOUR answers below. What do you think of our responses? If you have any specific questions you’d like us to address in the future, please let us know in the comments section below.