Is It Worth Reading?

Summary

The author, Lucy Dan, discusses her approach to engaging with comments on her own work and when commenting on others', emphasizing the importance of acknowledging diverse experiences and contributing value to the conversation.

Abstract

Lucy Dan shares her personal rule for engaging with comments on her work, which is to ensure that commenters feel heard. When commenting on others' articles, she aims to contribute something meaningful, recognizing that diverse life experiences enrich discussions and personal growth. She does not expect writers to reflect her own experiences but values the opportunity to think about new perspectives. Her comments are intended to enhance the conversation and respect the time of the writer and other readers. If she cannot add value, she prefers to simply "clap" for the article without leaving a comment.

Opinions

The author values acknowledgment of comments on her work to convey that the commenter has been heard.
When interacting with others' work, the author seeks to write comments that are worth reading and contribute to the conversation.
She appreciates diverse life experiences in writing and does not expect these experiences to match her own.
The author believes that finding common ground with a writer is beneficial but not necessary for a meaningful interaction.
She emphasizes not wasting the writer's or readers' time with comments that do not enhance the conversation.
The likelihood of the author commenting on an article decreases the longer she waits to read it, due to the possibility that her potential contribution has already been made by someone else.

My rule for comments

Good comments are conversations. Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) asked: What considerations do you have when you comment or interact with someone else’s work? How much do you expect others’ writing to include your experiences or be accurate based on your lens vs. be absent about your specific experiences?

If I am commenting on a comment to my work, my goal is simply to convey “you have been heard” to the reader who took the time to comment. If there’s something that sparks a discussion, cool, but it’s not necessary. They took the time to comment on my writing, I should take the time to comment on theirs.

If I am writing a comment on someone else’s article, though, my main goal is to write something worth reading. I seek out writers with diverse life experiences. How else will my horizons grow and expand? I do not expect that the experiences of someone growing up as a black man, or in a small town in Europe, or married young to their high school sweetheart with a passel of kids will match mine.

I would never expect a writer to include my personal experiences, in any but the broadest sense of “this is what it means to be human”. Even my best friend, who I did absolutely everything with for about 20 years, does not have a complete match with me on personal experiences. We had different experiences growing up, which shaped how we interpreted all of the things that occurred as adults, even when we were doing the exact same thing.

If I can find commonalities with a writer, that’s awesome. If they made me think about something I hadn’t considered before, I’ll certainly tell them. But above all, my comment is not designed so they will hear me. It’s designed to not waste their time, or their readers’ time.

If I can’t think of anything to say about a story that enhances the conversation, I won’t leave a comment. There are many times that I just give claps and no comment. It doesn’t mean I didn’t like or appreciate the story. Usually it’s just that I was late to the party, and someone else has already said whatever it is I could think of to say.

In conclusion:

Expect differences, embrace commonalities

Don’t waste people’s time

The longer I wait to read an article, the less likely I am to comment

Inspired by:

Is It Worth Reading?

My rule for comments

On An Interesting Phenomenon In Comments

Does this happen to you?