I was reading through different blogs this morning and I'm not really sure why, but suddenly found myself wondering who my very first comment came from.
I've been on ActiveRain for over a year now and this is my 112th post.
I remembered how nervous I was writing that first one and how exciting it was to get that comment.
But, I did not remember who wrote it.
Returning to that post was like visiting an old friend and I scrolled to the bottom to see who "my first" was with anticipation. It was Cait Donohue and this is what she wrote:
Sharon, This was a great first post! Soon you will realize that writing your thoughts down can be like an organization of your mind. You can get rid of some of the clutter and become excited over the direction it takes your life. Good luck...you've made a great start!
I continued on and read all the supportive comments, and was very surprised to see that I had never responded to Cait. I felt terrible, I know I wasn't familiar with blog courtesy back then, but what was I thinking?
I know it's been over a year, and it is well past due, but here goes:
Cait: Thank you so much for the inspiring comment. I know my mind could use some organizing and I am already excited about changing the direction of my life. I appreciate the support!
Do you remember who your first comment came from?
If not, go and see who it was. Why not surprise them with a little "thank you" comment on their latest post identifying them as your first.
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Oh my -- I am going to have to go back and take a look. Congratuations to you on your 112+ posts! It is amazing how quickly time flies.
I don't remember my first comment I have to go back and check it out too.
Sharon - That's a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion! I'm going to check... :)
Joan, Russ and Debi: It was fun going back and reading my first post and seeing who the commenters were. Have fun going down memory lane.
Sharon - I just went and checked out my #1, and discovered a comment that I hadn't answered. Thanks for posting this blog so I could rectify this grievous wrong! BTW, my first commenter was Elaine Manes. What's scary is that I remembered it!
Laurie: Happened to you too, huh? Well, I'm glad my post helped you to make it right. That is cool that you remembered who your first was! Thanks!
Now I am curious. . .I will have to check too - great idea Sharon!
Michele: Glad you think so!
Sharon, you made me think, I went back and looked... wrote my first blog in May of 2007 and never received one comment... never came back to active rain until Christmas Eve 2008... When I came back, someone kindly taught me the ropes of rain etiquette within a monthof my return, so I went back and responded to all that I'd missed... since I wasn't too far into it, it was easy to go back and make up for my transgressions... ;-) Everyone has been very helpful in the rain - something I am so grateful for... I have learned so much, so quickly because of this. Though I am sure I still have much to learn... It is posts like yours that help newbies to learn, you should post it in the Newbie group - it might help some that haven't learned this protocol yet.
What a great idea, Sharon! I searched my first blog from April 2007 and found that my first comment was from Terry Haugen (http://activerain.com/stagedtosell). I'm relieved to find that I did, in fact respond to her (whew!). I'm amazed to see that my first post got 31 comments -- but even more astonished that my opening blog got 1260 clicks (those were the days...)! This is such a great community -- it's nice to read the comments again! Thanks for the reminder, Sharon.
Joanne: Not getting any comments on your first post had to be discouraging. I'm glad you came back and have had a positive experience since. It is such a great source of information! Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it.
Leslie: It is fun going back and comparing then to now. Sounds like you were doing pretty well right from the beginning!
Sharon -- nah, it's just that back then AR didn't have any restrictions to the number of groups you could post a blog to (and it didn't occur to me back then to target them), so many more people had access to reading the blogs. Now that we're limited to posting to 5 groups, the statistics won't get that high anymore.
Leslie: Things change around here every day. It keeps us on our toes!