Theallmightypoe
Some do, some dont.
For general compliments....no idea, you're better off out right lying at that point.
Yeah, that's not happening.
I'm not sure why I expected there to be an easy solution. How to attack this....
So we've established that people enjoy complements, which makes perfect sense. This is obviously no substitute for conversation, but if I can find a way to work it in somewhere, it is reasonable to assume that the other person will view me more favorably and thus be more willing to talk to me.
So when I attend my writing group I ought to put more focus than I have been on what people are doing well. But comments on writing are expected. Comments on, say, clothing are not. Therefore, I anticipate that such complements would be more effective than "you wrote this really well."
And now I really need to stop going over what I already know and find out something new. What do relative strangers seek to accomplish when talking to each other?