Commenting etiquette
How to leave a comment, react, and reply — plus how to give feedback that actually helps a poet grow.
Reviewed regularly to match the current app.
Overview
Comments are where a poem stops being a solo act and becomes a conversation. A thoughtful note under someone’s work is one of the most generous things you can do here — it tells a poet their words landed on a real person. This article covers the light mechanics of commenting and reacting, and, more importantly, how to leave feedback that genuinely helps someone grow.
Leaving a comment and reacting
Open any poem and find the comments panel below it. Type into the Leave a comment… box and press Post — your comment appears right away for everyone who can see the poem. You can mention another poet by typing @ and their username, which links to their profile and lets them know they were tagged.
If you want to show quiet appreciation without writing anything, use the Like button under a comment — a small heart that lets you nod along to a comment you agree with. Likes on comments are a lightweight way to signal “yes, this” without adding to the thread.
Replying to a comment
To respond to someone else’s comment, click Reply beneath it and type your response. Replies nest under the original comment so the back-and-forth stays readable. Keep replies on-topic and kind — a comment thread is a shared space, and the poet is reading along.
Editing or deleting your own comment
Made a typo, or want to soften a phrase? Open the … (actions) menu on your own comment and choose Edit to revise it, or Delete to remove it entirely. You can only edit or delete comments you wrote — and deleting is permanent, so there’s a quick confirm before it goes.
Giving feedback that helps
This is the heart of good commenting. A poem is someone’s vulnerable, finished thought — treat it that way. Useful feedback is specific: instead of “nice poem,” name the line that stopped you, the image that stuck, or the turn that surprised you. Poets grow from knowing what actually reached a reader.
- Lead with what worked. Point to a line, a word choice, or a moment that moved you before anything else. Specific praise is more useful than a generic compliment.
- Offer craft notes as an invitation, not a verdict. “I wondered if the third stanza wanted a little more room” reads very differently from “this doesn’t work.” Frame suggestions as your reading, not the law.
- Respond to the poem the poet wrote, not the one you’d have written. Meet the work on its own terms.
- Keep it about the writing. Critique the poem, never the person.
Comment the way you’d want someone to comment on your own work on a tender day. Warmth and honesty aren’t opposites — the most valuable feedback is both at once. If a poem isn’t for you, it’s always fine to simply move on rather than leave a discouraging note.
What the poem’s author can do
When you comment on someone’s poem, remember it’s their space to tend. The author can pin a comment to the top of the thread to highlight a response they loved — a pinned comment shows a small “Pinned by author” badge. Authors can also manage the comments on their own poems: hiding, filtering, or moderating them as they see fit. If you’re the poet and want to set that up, see Managing comments on your poems.
If a comment on your work crosses a line, you don’t have to just live with it — you can block, mute, or report the person who left it. See Block, mute, or report a user for the difference between them.
Where to go next
To set the rules for comments on your own poems, see Managing comments on your poems. To grow the audience who’ll read and respond to your work, see Build your following. Still have a question? Contact support and we’ll help.