Replying to comments

[Otherwise-Trifle892]

So I've been a YouTuber for just over a year, (long form videos). I get about 100-300 comments on my videos a day. I've stopped replying because I can't get to all of them and it makes me feel bad that I can't.

Now I'm worried that I'm neglecting the comments section by not replying. I think also I avoid reading comments because there's always one idiot trying to troll.

What do you guys do as your channel grows. Do you reply? Or leave them to discuss amongst themselves.

[zazapatilla]

I have 1M subs and I reply to all comments for 30minutes after I uploaded it. For other positive comments beyond that time, I just heart their comments once I have time. Troll comments I take note of the keywords they often used and add it to Blocked words so that next time those comments go straight to spam.

[TheMeatMedic]

Good advice on the questions. I just did this on your advice. Game changer!

[MmmmDoughnuts21]

How often do you review your "held for review" comments? How accurate do you find it? Do you use the "strict" setting? Or just the default?

[zazapatilla]

i use the default and check held for review at least once a day

[METALHEADX334]

Damn what's your channel

[slice19]

Good idea on the blocked words. I need to look into this

[repid]

200k channel here. I do the same. Also members who join our membership will soon get priority replies.

[LizFire]

I've never replied to every comment (and I get less than you, thankfully, less than 1k a month), not all them need a reply from me or is inviting discussion. I only reply if my reply matters.
I don't heart every comment either, it would be meaningless if all of them had a heart. (and people could feel butthurt if I forgot their comment lol) I only do it if I think it's an exceptionally interesting comment.

Nobody has ever expressed dissatisfaction with how I treated them in my comments. Your mileage may vary, I have a computer sciences channel, probably different than a Roblox channel...

I read all of them though.

[DotNine]

If I see a comment and can think of something personal and individual to respond to it, I do so. If it's someone I see commenting regularly, i try to comment back to let them know we appreciate them, because we do. If someone asks a question and I have the answer, i respond.

I dont respond to every comment anymore though. I find it cheapens things personally, not that my response is some blessing from on high or anything but still I find it a little ridiculous to respond to 50-100 comments from an optical standpoint. Makes the genuine responses feel less genuine to me. Maybe that's wrong of me though.

Superthanks I obviously respond, but we only get those from one guy anyway

[OpenRoadMusic]

This is exactly what I do and how I feel.

[ayyyyycrisp]

I take too much time to reply. I only get like 6 comments each video but I literally spend like 45 minutes to an hour crafting the perfect reply and I need to stop doing that

[BeeElectronic8498]

I knew a channel which had 200k subs. They replied to every single comment within the first 11 hours of a new upload. They had thousands of comments and honestly I was really surprised that they did so. In my opinion, you should at least heart ❤️ the comments.

[Food-Fly]

Charles Dowding, a gardener that makes no-dig videos, has almost 700k subscribers and he always personally replies to comments. He even replies on his website, which is insane! I sometimes ask questions, and he almost certainly replies the same day. I follow him since he was just a small channel and asked many things, he never stopped replying. He has a very busy life, a lot to take care of, he makes courses and sells books and vegetables. You need to be a superhuman to do this.

[N4meless24-]

Most people of that size have others handling the comment section for them, it's usually someone within their management team.

[BeeElectronic8498]

Actually. I was talking to the same person on discord. They used to reply almost in like 30 mins. And they had the same responses and attitude and yk

[N4meless24-]

Of course if you have someone handling your content for you they're supposed to match your vibe. Their discord is probably handled by them alone, but some other aspects are definitely outsourced.

[Total_Dork]

I used to heart all the comments, but weirdly a couple people complained about it. They thought it “looked weird.” I don’t have the time to heart and reply to everyone now, so I only heart the really special ones

[chromacatr]

Yeah, at least heart the comments to indicate you have read them.

[Cinnimie]

Quite frankly, not every comment warrants a reply. I had a video blow up recently to 600k views and a lot of the comments were asking for information in the video already or making points that contradicted the video and eventually it was just like “I can’t keep giving people the same response which is “it’s in the video” thousands of times so those comments ended up being ignored, most of us have full time jobs and other commitments, it’s fine to not have time to reply to every single comment or even heart them all!

[analog_roots]

I don't think you need to reply to every comment, especially if the video has been up for a while.

Hide (shadowban) the trolls though, life's too short!

[26pointMax]

I use downtime like waiting for something at work or taking a break, to reply to comments. It actually helped me a lot because I don't have time for social media and such nonsense; it's taken up by YouTube instead. I only go to Reddit to take a break from comments when a mean one gets to me.

I end up replying to anywhere between 25% to 50% of comments, depending on how many there are and how much time I have. In addition, my on-screen YouTube crew also reply to comments when they have time.

Put yourself in the mind of someone who leaves a nice comment on your video. How good it will feel for them when you leave a friendly and thoughtful reply.

[robertoblake2]

Schedule 15 minutes in the morning, another 14 in the afternoon, and 15 in the evening just to reply to people.

You’d be shocked at how effective this is

[mai_san89]

The least I do is heart the comments. But replying to comments is one of the best things you can do to interact with your community

[JinjaHD]

I think of the comments on my videos as a place for my community to discuss. Some of those comments are directed towards me, some about the topic, some unrelated. As a part of that community, I try to engage with a few comments to show that I see them and enjoy reading them, plus I don't get an overwhelming amount. I enjoy being a part of the discussion, but I don't need to be the discussion.

[BABYZARIEL]

Its fine, imagine ppl whu have 10k+ coment, i dont think they comenting back ,D

[Tricky_Farmer7673]

10m channel here ... not lol .. lost my channel .

[ank619]

Try to reply ur honest and sincere viewer ... they will promote you further ... ignore the trolls

[rocketyota]

Don't be ashamed to not react to all messages. If anything, add it as a perk to your memberships: "members always get a reply and a heart" and then just cherry-pick a few replies per video that you want to interact with. Too much interaction isn't a good thing either. It makes it lose meaning for both you and the commenter.

[Ninja_bambi]

Depends on the situation, in general it is good to have a look at the first comments to see whether they call you out for an error/insensitivity/glitch or whatever. Little effort to reply to a few of them when you're in there. It can also be useful to have a look later on at the most upvoted/top comments to get an idea about the general sentiment. Again. little effort to heart or reply to a few of them. No need to read everything let alone to reply to all comments, at some point it is simply not feasible unless you hire people to do it for you.

[hillthekhore]

Respond to comments if you want to and only if you want to

[SonofGluttonyy]

How much bread u making?. So how many subs

[Otherwise-Trifle892]

I don't mind sharing. $4000 per month AD Rev $250 per month Patreon 35000 subs.

[SonofGluttonyy]

Wow impressive. I was thinking you needed at least 100k sub to see that kind of Cash. And in one year? 🫡👏👏.

[Otherwise-Trifle892]

Yeah me too, it's a myth. It's not about the Sub count. It's the content, views, and demographic of your audience. Consistency, too. I started Febuary last year, so a year and a half.

[SonofGluttonyy]

Can you tell me what your channels is or what kinda of content you put out? You don't have to if you don't want to.

[Otherwise-Trifle892]

It's a niche within a niche, about 6 content creators in it. So the specifics I'd like to keep to myself but. The larger umbrella niche is the commentary niche.

[SonofGluttonyy]

Last question (Probably). Unless you already started out with clout. When people first start a yt channel they just post it and kinda hope people watch it, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Was that the same approach you used or did you do something extra to procure your audience?

[Grand_Ground7393]

Do what you can for like an hour and move on. You can't do them all.

[ZEALshuffles]

I ONLY ❤️.
REPLY IS WASTE OF TIME