Why Don't People Respond?

I'm just wondering about this.  I realize that we all receive emails &/or personal messages &/or comments (or parts thereof) that really don't necessitate any particular response ... but then there are the questions someone asks or the incidents they relate to you that, well, they deserve to be acknowledged!

More than once two particular internet friends of mine have written to me & asked what I've been up to lately.  I have responded promptly, filling them in on what's been happening in my life & ending with "& what have you been up to?"  I then never hear from them again until a few weeks or even months later when they write & ask "What have you been up to lately?"  Puzzling, is it not?

Then there are people who are more along the lines of acquaintances.  People you "know" by reading their postings on forums or blogs but you don't really know them.  A while back someone posted on a forum asking for information about a software program for designing craft patterns.  "Tori" responded on the forum saying that she loved the program she used, gave the name of it, & invited people to drop her a line if they'd like more information about it.  It sounded interesting to me so I clicked on the link to send her a personal message & asked for further information.  Nothing.  I realize not everyone knows to check forum messages (although this person certainly should've known since she was the forum administrator) so I then sent her an email asking for information.  No response.  I've been emailing for many years & do know that every once in a while an email "goes missing" so I sent another one.  No response.  Finally ... out of desperation because I really, really wanted more information about this software program from someone who used it ... I posted a comment on her blog & asked her about it.  Again no response.  What's up with that?  I know what you're thinking ... perhaps some life crisis happened to keep her from responding.  Nope.  She continued to post on her blog, continued to post on the forum, etc.  Needless to say, I gave up.

I suppose there's another situation to include here where someone receives an email from you & then responds immediately saying "I really can't answer your email right now but I will do so soon."  They don't.  Again you know there's nothing wrong because they still post on their blogs, they still post on forums, etc.

These types of things really used to aggravate me.  I considered them rude & thoughtless & I still do ... but I don't let them aggravate me anymore.  After a while I just write the person off.  After all, there are more important things to get aggravated about   : )