• evil_twin said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Most of the time, I read all the comments first before replying. Exactly for the reasons you stated. I don't want to repeat what someone else has already said. And I want to see if the person who wrote the post has already answered some of the questions I might have. Plus it's a good way to learn more about other people and their viewpoints too.
  
  Occasionally I'm in a rush and I really just want to say what I need to. I might skip over some of the comments, or just skim them briefly. And if the post is more of a general poll type thing, and there are a lot of answers before mine, I might not read them all because it doesn't have any bearing on my answer anyway.
  
  But generally, I always read the comments before I say anything. It's just better that way.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Good morning, Kyle.......so you too are a diver......:-)
  Can you see any correlation between your online approach and the one you adopt in real life toward others?
   

• evil_twin said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Hmm....well, I am a good listener. I always try to listen carefully to what people say before I try to offer them advice or anything. So that would be similar to reading the comments to make sure I have all the available information before I give my opinion. And while I have some definite viewpoints that I'll stick by no matter what, I'm always willing to hear other opinions, even if they don't match my own. If you're ever going to debate a subject, it's best to be armed with knowledge from both sides of the coin. I just like to learn stuff about people. And the best way to do that is to listen to them (or in this case, read them).
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• Me-Myself&I said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I read the post, then i comment without reading other's comments "most of the time".  If i read them and they take the words out of my mouth....then i would have nothing to say!!  **smile** then i read others    see ya

• MissMimi said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I usually read the comments first.  It kind of completes the blogging experience I think, if that makes sense.  Like Kyle said, it's a great way to get to know others better and a great way to ferret out the newbies.

  In R/L, I'm a listener as well as a talker.  I am genuinely interested in others' experiences and viewpoints.  Nothing more fun to me than spending an evening just talking and laughing with good friends.  That's kind of what SoulCast is like for me.

• mobil said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Mostly I don't read other comments at all, it can taint what you have to say. I do read comments from people I know and like. Which means I don't read your's Gingerbread...haha..........Gotcha

• Mamie said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I read the comments for the same reasons. I am very interested in the other points of view. I have learned as much by the commenters as I have from the blogger. Also it helps me to see things in myself that I wouldn't have noticed if I had not spent the time to go deep.
  M

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Kyle....yes...i do the same...in RL i try to gather as much info as i can about a person...if i meet them for the first time and also during the meeting...i am a good listener and i try to read their body language as well..

  I am a info gatherer.....lol.....it seems like i am more in control of the situation in this way.....it served me good for my job too... 

  M&M....you prefer one-to-one relationship with your favorite bloggers....are you this way in RL too  when you meet somebody for the first time? Are you comfortable in large group of people?

  Mimi...yes, you are right......it does complete the whole blog thing....i found out many things in reading the comments that i quite didn't get during the posts....:-)

  Mob.....uh...did you write something?...LOL...

  Mamie.....self reflection while reading....yes, its a two way communication tool...i can imagine you approaching people in the same way in RL....:-).

• beyondtheveil said on Oct 17, 2007....

  ginsoul- I read other comments, but mainly out of curiosity (that may kill me someday like it did the cat) and they are so important to me. My mind is somewhat made up about what I'm going to say after reading the post. If there are other similar answers already there, it could affect my wording but not the jist of the thought.
  
  Comments I find very interesting, many times better than reading the post. I enjoy the comments, in fact if they weren't there, I wouldn't be here. Comments to me are about 90% of the soul of soulcast.
  

• Me-Myself&I said on Oct 17, 2007....

  when i meet someone for the first time, i don't allow others opinion to cloud

  my feelings ....if that is what you mean. i listen to "Them" and then reply. Then

  i'll listen to others about ...whatever. Like here. Favorite bloggers.....yes, i

  have them but i like to go see the new one too. I'm only on here about a couple

  of hours a day so.....    am i missing something?!

  I  am not comfortable in crowds

  Any ol' way...ginger i'm coming to Dallas in November, want to find out

   "how" i am in real life?

  see ya

• sweet_cookie01 said on Oct 17, 2007....

  hmmm... sometimes when the post is about something that i feel cautious in commenting i read the other comments first just to see how the tides are coming...

  but if its just a light post i go right ahead and shoot my comment, honestly i rarely care if what i said is what other soulcasters have said because in my point of view it is what i would really say even if someone else has said it.

• uniquely-ironic said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I usually read the previous comments before putting my opinion forth.  I will also follow up and read comments put in after me so that if there's anything I've left that needs a follow up that I can.  I actually comment more here than in real life.  I tend to keep my thoughts to myself unless specifically asked.  I've learned that giving unsolicited opinions is like dressing a pig.  It doesn't improve the pigs appearance and it only pisses off the pig.

• Battycat said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I usually read the comments first, but if there's a lot I may miss a few. I sometimes find I'm repeating what someone else has already said *shrug*
  In real life i'm a listener rather than a talker, and I hate large crowds, and feel more comfortable in small groups :-)

• CreativeWoman said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I usually read the other comments before I make mine.
  
  It's a good question, Ginger.  I've often wondered what people do.
  
  CW
  

• silverwhisper said on Oct 17, 2007....

  me personally, i usually do as you do, GS, although on some of the really popular blog entries, that simply isn't feasible.
  
  so i guess i both dive and fish. :>
  
  ed

• polarheart said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Gingersnap! For me its all got to do with time.  When I wasn't working I use to do like you do all the time, but now my time is so limited I just cant do it like that most of the time.  Funnily enough I read every comment made before I got to my turn LOL.  So (like ed) I'm a diver and fisher too :-)
   
  Luv Ya! Polar

• mobil said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Mob? is it so  hard to write out mobil Gingerbread? Mob sounds like I am out of control. Or a mad group of people about to linch someone.

  C'mon Gingerbread, you can call me Big Guy, or Enlightened One, or Mr. Sunshine, but you don't have to call me Mob.

  Oh, now I am NOT going to read your comments, how's them apples Gin? har har

• kruuyai said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I usually read all the comments first, because if I'm reading a post, it's usually a topic I'm interested in, and the comments can be as interesting or even more so than the posts at times.  I love it when things get off on a tangent (just like in a real conversation), and I like to see the interactions between everyone here and to interact with them too.  This pretty much is my social life  (har har).  

• quietone said on Oct 17, 2007....

  It depends on the post and what its about.  Mostly I read others then comment..

• quietone said on Oct 17, 2007....

  see I posted my comment then read a couple others....Mob  lolfof...good one!!

• Eilan said on Oct 17, 2007....

  It depends on the topic, I suppose.  I might skim through some of the comments, but I mostly just like to read what I write, even it repeats someone else.  I'm full of myself that way.
  

• the_infernal_optimist said on Oct 17, 2007....

  It really depends...if the post asks a question, I'll usually answer first and then read what others have said, so as not to let other people's responses (potentially) cloud my answer/thoughts on a given topic. And tbh, I don't really care if I repeat what someone else says when it comes to advice/opinions. I mean, it might help to see another person's point of view backed up, and if I truly do see things almost exactly as another person does, I still want to say that. I definitely won't skip commenting just because what I think has already been posted.
  
  If it's a "regular" post, I'll read the comments before I reply. They get read sooner or later either way!
  
  ~Infernal
  

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  BeyBey.....we will be two then to die....actualy, three..you, me and the cat...lol...

  I completely agree with you...commenst are the fabric of Soulcast....there are some blogs that start with a so so topic and then develop in great stuff to read only because of the comments that follow.......

  M&M...i am dying to found out how you are in RL...lol......i left  a comment in your post already....

  Sweetie.......yes, i definetely do read comments more carefully in presence of delicate or controversial topics..... last thing i need or want is sparking some unvoluntary quarrel.... 

• pickersplock said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I always read the comments, I'm just nosey like that!

• PassionTraveler said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Of course I read the blog before commenting, but it depends on whether or not I read the list of comments. The shorter the list, the more likely I am to read all comments. The more interesting the topic to me, the more likely I am to read the comments.
  
  If it's significantly long, or of only moderate interest to me, or if there are too many IGNORANT comments which usually only applies to some unnamed few we all know and love to hate here in SC, then I'll skim the comments looking for any responses that catch my eye, but that's about it.
  
  PT
  

• dailyachesandpains said on Oct 17, 2007....

  I do a little of both...I try to read the comments most of the time, but if I'm pressed for time, I just dive in and comment. 
  
  Daily
  

• truthsayer said on Oct 17, 2007....

  
  As you might guess; I read all of the comments ; )

  Truthsayer

• secretlife said on Oct 17, 2007....

  ginger: i used to love the comments more than the actual posts!

  they're a great way to get to know people....

  i still usually read all the comments before i comment.  and most times if everything i have to say has already been said, i'll pass on the commenting.

  what i'm not so good at is going back and back thru my conversations....

   

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Uni....i like the mataphor of dressing the pigs....:-D

  Batty......i was guessing right about you then...:-)

  CW....you know...sometimes i am reading some comments and it seems obvious that the person didn't follow the conversation at all....some questions they ask or some consideration they make break the nice flow of the comments....so it made me wonder...

  SW...being you the unquestionable master of a trouting skill i knew you would have fished too...lol..

  Pollie....yes, time is probably the key here... thank you for stopping by...

  Mobil........wow.. ...ok, ok...if you dont like i will never call you Mob, Mob.....har har..at least can i laugh like you?...and, btw, this was NOT a comment to YOU....

  Kruu..yes, i like that too a lot...its like..wait a moment..weren't we talking about something else?..lol....its like sitting at the bar and drag the chair to the side to make room to a new friend ....:-)

  Quiet.....dont laugh about that...He-who-i-cant-call-Mob might come back here again....LOL..

  Eilan......lol......i guess we all are ....

   

• Trinov said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Hi, I read all the comments, and if someone has said what I thought of saying, I save myself the typing. I like to agree with someone who I think said something important, and I like seeing different angles to one subject. In real life I'm sometimes just a listener because that's the way to learn things-- but if I get started on a topic I could bore people so I've learned to watch for reactions. For when I am interested in something I am really interested and do a lot of reading on the topic etc. I no longer can stand being in a gossip group, and basically am interested in helping out my friends if possible, but I don't really give a damn about what is going on with people as long as they are okay. If there is injustice then I want to do something, if they need info I can look for it. etc.

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Trinov....i knew you were surely a good listener in RL....and since you have in yourself a deep need to help people i also knew you are the kind of blogger who likes to ponder all the different sides of a topic and offer knowledhe and experience....:-)

• botoni said on Oct 17, 2007....

  The comments so often bear great stacks of wisdom and/or humor. I cant imagine not reading them. I love the conversations we get into in the comments on a good post and I m always amazed at where the comments take us.

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Infernal......i don't think to have much of a problem in not wantign otehr opiniosn"clouding" mine...but i admit i might have changed my first reaction to some post after reading some other comments......some have been really eye opener......i am not afraid to admit it..  

  Picker..oh, i knew this abaut you already...lol...

  Passion...skipping those is an art......:-)

  Daily.....another comments diver here...;-p

  Truth....yes, you definetely say so, my dear Truth....

  Secret.....i know what you mean...sometimes my comments to the other people comments don't seem so great as theirs....and when i can't come back immediately to answer them and they start to pile up i feel almost anxious ..i like to answer to each of the comments i find in my post...and i feel rude if i dont do it soon and properly....

  Bottie.....i so agree with you.....a post can lead us to unexpected truths or directions...its a great journey sometimes.....

• satyr said on Oct 17, 2007....

  ginger, I usually read the post and then, depending on my interest, I usually read the comments.  For me, too, often what I could say has been said by someone else, often in a better way. 

  I read this earlier and didn't comment, because what I could say has already been said, but I wanted you to know I do read (at least most of what my friends write).  Sometimes I'm in a reflective mood and don't feel much like responding. 

  I'm just weird. LOL (as if you didn't already know that) 

• gingersoul said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Satyr.....lol....uhmm.....you weird...oh my, and why?....lol...

  Yes, i know or at least i hope you read around even if you dont comment alot lately....but its ok.....you always bring nice comments here anytime you do it....{hug}

• wombat said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Well, I didn't read all of these, sadly!  Most of the time, I read them out of curiosity--but I read too fast and miss the meaning sometimes--causes problems occasionally for me!  If I am in a hurry, I skim down to see only the responses to my comment from the writer.  And yes, I feel guilty about it when I do that!

• ALIENated said on Oct 17, 2007....

  Hardly ever, such as in this case.

• hotaka said on Oct 17, 2007....

  My flight time on SC is often very short and there are a few posts I want to read. If there are 40 comments I certainly don't read them all. In most cases I read the first couple and the one just before mine. Then I comment and move on. There's no time for more. If I actually do read through all or most of them often I find what I wanted to say has been said and I have nothing to add in such a brief time so unless I want to come back later then I just don't comment.

  It's easier with my own posts because the comments rarely exceed 10.

• ellamae14 said on Oct 18, 2007....

  ging: Once in a while I'll be able to read a blog that was interesting to me and would also read the comments given to it. Most of those times the comments have expressed even my views so I don't leave a comment because i don't want to repeat what has been said and discussed already. I'll feel like a kid caught sleeping in class and will then try to make up for it by asking questions about the topic only to realize that it has been tackled. hehe. well, at this time, I'll tell you honestly, I didn't read all the comments in this topic because it's too many. I just want to answer your inquiry- yes, I'm reading all the comments and i take care in giving mine. and i appreciate it when people do comment and give their opinion.

• LloydTheBarber said on Oct 18, 2007....

  Hey Miss Ginger,

   I rarely if ever read the comments. As a matter of fact, i didnt read any of the 39 comments that proceeded mine!!......... I just hope that somebody else hasnt already used this same generic joke.

• Lioness said on Oct 18, 2007....

  It depends. If time permits that I could read others comments, I read. The disadvantage of this is that, if my ideas or thoughts have been expressed by one or more people, then I don't comment anymore, since it would be redundant. If I am in a hurry, I read the comments after I have already written my comment, which means the next day or 2. 

• moyz said on Oct 18, 2007....

  it depends ..if my connection is slow then i just read the post and comment, but if its ok and i aint busy then i read the comments before posting my own comment

• GypsyRoseII said on Oct 18, 2007....

  I usually read all the posts, but sometimes i just comment.....
  it just depends on the topic i guess....
  or on how much time i have before the boss comes in to the office..... ha
   
  hey i guess its not just all work for me..... play time..haha
   
   
  Gr

• anonymous said on Oct 19, 2007....

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• Trinov said on Oct 19, 2007....

  Hi, Those three Hebrew ads are spam about some sex- site so just delete the stuff. How they found your blog I can't imagine.

• gingersoul said on Oct 19, 2007....

  Hi Trinov.... i had only two anonymous in more than one year at Sc and one of them is in Hebrew.....how cool is that...a sex site in Hebrew too....lol...

  I have no idea how they come up here anyway...misterious ways of internet... 

• gingersoul said on Oct 19, 2007....

  Wombie............yes, reading too fast is one of my problem too..i foudn that sometimes i skip something important and i have to come back to reread again....there are so many things to read here at SC....:-)

  Alien..so i guess i have to be honored to have you here anyway .....:-0

  Hottie....your posts are the kind of post people love to read (i know i do) but maybe dont fill too compelled to comment because they dont actually propose  a question or a discussion ..they are a beautifully evocative photograph in words ..

  But....dont forget that when you were DogLips THOSE blogs have been inundated by comments.... I think we tend to react more to emotional comments than those purely descriptive..... 

  Ella.....yes, i know you have some issues with boring blogs......:-)....luckily you wrote your comment here....does this mean you didn't find it boring?...funny your comparison with the sleeping kid.....ehehehe...some blog make me sleep too...  

  Lloyd.....hey you...long time i dont read you around........no, first time joke.....you are spared public humiliation....lol... 

  Lioness.....so you write your comment AND then you read the other ones days later?.....this is an unique approach...but if it works for you...:-)  

  Moyz......yeah, those damned connectuons....i feel your pain....

  Gypsy...oh, girl..you have all my sympathy there...i am a sneaking one too...when i can, i do i...lol...

• ellamae14 said on Oct 19, 2007....

  ging: you already know that i never find you boring, EVER! :)

• hotaka said on Oct 20, 2007....

  Thank you, ginger. Yes, I often just want to tell a story or give people something to chew on for a few moments. I hope to educate even just a little whenever possible. I tend to shy away from the questionaires. I am glad that you are one of my biggest fans here. Thanks for your words. As always you make me smile and feel special. I'll drink a sip of red wine to you tonight while cooking dinner.

• gingersoul said on Oct 20, 2007....

  Ella......thank you!

  Hotbabe......you can bet i am your biggest fan here....

  and.....uhmm...there is anything more sexy than a man cooking dinner and sipping red wine? i dont really think so..... :-)

• hotaka said on Oct 21, 2007....

  It was pasta too! ;)

• crybabylu said on Oct 28, 2007....

  I tend to add my comment before I read the other comments.  I guess I do that because I have found if I read all the comments first, I am not always tempted to leave a post.  If someone has already commented close to what I was going to say I think "Oh well, it's already been said".  But, isn't it kind of nice to read it from everyone's way of saying it?  So, like I said, I usually scroll down to the comment box, and then add mine.  Then I go back and read all the comments.

• gingersoul said on Oct 28, 2007....

  Cry.....yes.....its very nice...sometimes i found details about other people that weren't so clear in their posts....i also like to see the way they interact with other bloggers....

  thank you for stopping by....:-)

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