I don't reply to every comment on my posts but I zap them all (even if it is just 10 sats) and reply to most of them. Unless they are clearly a bot or excessively stupid.

I had been zapping and replying to every comment, but now I'm more selective. I still zap and reply to all substantive comments from good-faith actors, but I realized my initial approach was too exploitable.

If someone is just sat farming by leaving low quality comments, I ignore it (sometimes even downzapping). Similarly, if someone is trolling me, or otherwise trying to goad me into an argument with no intention of engaging with my points, then I just ignore it.

I believe that taking the time to read all the comments will do justice to those who took their time too, but responding to them is not an obligation. I hope I contributed

I agree with @grayruby, not all comments need a reply. Zapping them is like sending a read receipt, and a "thank you for taking the time to reply".

You should reply to every comment on your posts. Every single one.

If I have nothing to say to a reply, I usually just zap it in recognition, unless it's a really nasty, trolling reply. That hardly happens here anyway.

If you want more people to reply to your future posts, take the time to reply to them. It's a bit of an art to figure out what's worth turning into a conversation, but it's a valuable art that applies beyond SN.

Don't reply for the sake of just replying. If you want to, then add a pinch of fun to your replies and make them short. Today, I just made a simple reply with 'Eh' and to whom it was addressed appeared and zapped a few sats.

There's no problem with your choice, however.

But because SN is quite early, so to instigate some more conversations you need to be little more talkative as OP. It's just my Opinion.

I always found this an issue. There will always be sat farmers. Just do the best you can. Answer who you think actually deserve it. But you should realize that because you posted, its your responsibility to manage it. Im not a fan of people posting and just leaving. My opinion, l dont know how others feel about it.

Reply to all you have something to say to. Zap where you see good commentary

Your call... I only respond when see value add or interesting point of view or diff opinion,YMMV.... circular economy is where is at... :-) You give and take and live happily ever after...

In my opinion, you have to select the most relevant comments, otherwise it takes ages 😉

reply only to valuable contributions

Great question. I don't think there is a wrong or right way. I enjoy engaging with most of my comments usually. And some times I don't feel like I want that. And it may change. Regardless of the value I am returning, I go by how I feel.

I think that everyone acts as they see fit, in my case I don't usually respond to all the comments... I think that there are comments that invite a response and others where you just have to read, receive the message and continue.

If there is a conversation then I reply.

If there is a good comment or some thoughtful input I zap.

If the comment is contrary or even negative but still the person did the work to write I zap and comment.

If it's just ignorant drivel I comment but I won't zap. Sometimes I've gone back when I was angry at someone and zapped them anyway because I was affected.

Sometimes I've down zapped.

Mostly I try to seed the conversation if it makes me aware, think or educate.

I took a long time off SN mainly because I felt I had nothing to add. Probably still don't.

Just don't pendulum too far and spin up a reply guy bot like the recent Nostr spam.