Why he responds to some stories but ignores others

When someone watches most of your stories but replies to only some, they're filtering. They see you post, decide whether it's worth the tiny effort of a reply, and move on. This isn't malice. It's just how attention works when someone isn't that invested. The stories he does respond to are usually the ones that require minimal effort, a photo where you look good, something he can make a quick joke about, or the ones that accidentally trigger something real.

He might respond to one story, skip three, then reply to another. That randomness isn't random to him. It's just you seeing the pattern and him seeing nothing pattern-like at all. He's not thinking about your story when he swipes past it. The inconsistency tells you he's watching you as background content, not as someone he's checking for specifically.

You're not trying to get him to care about your story retroactively. That's lost. Instead, your reply should either respond to something he said or did in a way that shows you're present right now, or it should introduce a real reason for him to engage. This means moving the conversation off the story comment track entirely. If he watches but doesn't reply, a direct message that isn't about the story he ignored gives him a fresh entry point.

The move is to reply to him in a way that doesn't depend on him having replied first. You don't need his response validated. You're just moving things forward. This sounds like commenting on something he posted, bringing up something you both talked about before, or introducing a new conversation beat. It removes the asymmetry of waiting for him to engage with your content and puts you both on equal footing.

Three ignored stories is a pattern. One is nothing. Two is a maybe. At three you know what's happening and you can adjust. Before that point, treat each story normally and don't overthink it. Once you see the pattern, stop posting stories with him in mind at all. Post for you or your actual audience.

If he replies to a story, a quick response is fine, but keep it short. If he ignores the next three, slide into a new conversation angle instead. Don't wait more than a few days between stories for him to reply. If it's been four days and he watched but didn't respond, he's had his chance. Move forward with something new or move on from him entirely. The goal is to recognize when his interest level has settled at low and stop wasting energy on it.