happy talk....

I think I owe you all an apology. Well, some of you anyway.

It seems as though I have been guilty of a terrible breach of blogging etiquette. Apparently it is important that you leave a welcoming message to first time commentators. Blogs can be intimidating places, and it’s only manners to acknowledge someone’s first contribution to the debate.

I’m fairly sure that I have never done this.

Now I think about it, I don’t reckon that I even have a policy on commenting (and frankly, who does?). I like comments, certainly, and I’m pleased when anything I’ve written chimes with anyone enough that they are moved to share their own thoughts and observations. Surely there aren’t strings attached though, are there? Sometimes a comment will lead to a debate and sometimes it won’t. Sometimes a comment is little more than an acknowledgement, an affirmation or an expression of support and sympathy. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a hug or a virtual cooing noise. Some comments will get a reply and some comments won’t. If I haven’t got anything to add, then I won’t bother saying anything at all.

If any of you have been offended by my behaviour in my own comments box, then I apologise wholeheartedly. I’d be a little puzzled, but I’d be sorry to have upset you.

Who wrote the book on blogging etiquette exactly? I don’t know about you, but I do a fair bit of wandering around blogs. I have a set of regular reads, sure, but I also do a fair bit of “off roading” in the search for interesting people and interesting things to read. I am fascinated by the way that blogs reveal how ordinary people lead such extraordinary lives; how the apparent mundanity of everyday living can be so interesting. I get wrapped up in the lives and loves of people who I will probably never meet. Blogging is brilliant. Bloggers are brilliant.

But are there really rules? Of course not. There’s such a thing as good manners, certainly, but rules?

As I wander about the place, sometimes I’ll be moved to leave a comment. Sometimes that comment will spark a debate, often it won’t. Sometimes I wouldn’t even know if it had triggered a debate because I don’t methodically go back and check on all the comments I leave. Is that rude of me? Someone could be leaving me a perfectly lovely welcoming note to their blog and I could have buggered off back into the ether, never to return. How rude is that?

Anyway. To save me repeating myself in the future, and to try to make up for omissions in the past, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome all readers – past, present AND future. It’s great to have you onboard and your contribution is valued.

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[I discovered this over at Troubled Diva, so go and read more about it there. If you decide to leave a comment there, I'm sure Mike will be pleased to personally welcome you onboard....)