Seems to me that there are other web sites that let the artist comment to the commentators and not counted. I suspect the coding would not be that tough to implement. It would be a wonderful thing for the artist to interact with the viewer and not throw off the "most commented" sorting. On the other hand, what harm is there? If an image comes up on the "most commented" list and its the artist interacting with the viewers, I might enjoy reading the dialogue about the image. I don't think the comments effect the hot 20 at all. Maybe it would be good to notice the images where there is interaction and discussion about them. Darkginger, maybe its a good thing your two comments were counted. It shows you're interactive with others about your work.