Commenting etiquette

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 scroll to the comments under it. Type into the Add to the conversation… box and press Post — your comment appears right away for everyone who can see the poem. Comments can be up to 2,000 characters (a counter shows how many you’ve used), and Shift + Enter starts a new line. 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, click Like under a comment. Once a comment has likes, the button shows how many. The person who wrote it gets a notification that you liked it, so a like is a small, real “yes, this” without adding to the thread.

Replying to a comment

Click Reply under any comment, or under any reply, type your response, and press Reply. When you answer a reply, your reply shows Replying to @name, so it’s clear who you’re talking to, and it joins the same thread so the whole conversation stays together. Long threads show their first two replies; click View 2 more replies (the number changes) to read the rest. Keep replies on-topic and kind — a comment thread is a shared space, and the poet is reading along.

Finding your way around the comments

• Top and Newest. Once there’s more than one comment, switch between Top (most-liked first) and Newest (latest first).
• The spotlight. Each comment the poet pinned shows in its own card just under the comment box (Pinned by the poet). With nothing pinned, the card shows, once there are at least two comments, the most-liked one as long as it has at least one like (Top comment).
• Ten at a time. A poem shows its first 10 comments. Show more comments loads 10 more; Show fewer comments folds them back.
• The poet’s own comments carry a small Poet tag.

Editing or deleting your own comment

Made a typo, or want to soften a phrase? Click/tap Edit under your comment (or use the … menu) to revise it, or choose Delete from the menu to remove it entirely. You can edit only your own comments. Poets can also delete comments on their own poems. 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.

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 they loved — it then shows in the card just under the comment box, marked “Pinned by the poet.” They can also reply once per thread as the author, and close or hide comments on their poem. 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.