Comment Love

So, I am curious... I wonder what the general consensus is about leaving comments and responding to comments.

When I go blog-hopping, I log in and comment with my email address attached to my account where I can, or leave all the appropriate info where I can't just log in. I have often received emails back from the blog owner either responding to my comment or question or just thanking me for stopping by.

SO, when someone comments and they have a blog that I can find by clicking on their name, I often go visit the commenter and often thank them for stopping by... in a comment on one of their posts. If they have an email attached to their account/comment, I might send an email with a response. And some bloggers leave a response in their own comments for each commenter.

I wonder what to do!! I love having comments, but I don't know the best way to respond! What do you think??