Some people are afraid of readers disagreeing with them, but I think they should welcome disagreement. As you said, debates open up great discussions. The conversation that happens in the comments can spark ideas and notions you never thought of when writing your post. The value created for your readers is priceless.
Matt
· 10 months ago
Very true, Danny. And Tim has a good point as well. All of our blog posts are open ended, and we actively encourage our readers to discuss and share ideas that we may have missed. We even go so far as to add useful and valuable information into the post that we obtain directly from the comments (giving the commenter credit and linking to their website also helps a lot, too, as it gives people even greater incentive to actively engage in the conversation).
If you're afraid of spam, get a spam plugin (they are highly effective these days). If you're afraid of flame wars, moderate the comments. But limiting viewpoints to strictly the author really kills the point of a blog. This day and age, I wouldn't call a blog that doesn't allow comments a blog.
Danny
· 10 months ago
That's an interesting point you make about blogs not *being* blogs if their comments are closed. I can't recall who said it, but they were likened to just static websites as opposed to blogs. It'd be interesting to see how many blogs have some form of *closed comments* - whether it's registering before you can comment, or none at all - compared to open commenting.
Ari Herzog
· 10 months ago
Don't get me started with comment-less blogs. It's one thing if someone like Seth Godin--who writes his own posts--doesn't want the hassle of moderating comments because if he makes it unmoderated, he'll get the profane.
It's something else, similar to Michelle's link above, when Joe or Jane Citizen has a blog and closes comments. It's worse, closer to home, when a blog calling itself the "Newburyport Blog" falls under that schema. Have a look where the author explains her rationale.
Danny
· 10 months ago
Godin has always been an enigma to me. While I can see why he might not want to open his comments up (and he's explained why numerous times), I do still feel he's missing out a little. But, he has enough books and readers with their own blogs discussing him, so I guess it pans out. :)
That's a bizarre post over at Newbury - seems strange to close comments on what should be a community blog. There are way too many spam filters, profanity blockers, etc, available now to use the excuse Mr Moi is using.
And worrying about whether people are saying bad stuff or not? They already are - but you're giving them fuel to the fire by not having discourse. Just my thoughts. :)
Cheers Ari, always a pleasure.
Simon Mason
· 10 months ago
I tend to read blogs FOR the comments as much as for the bloggers content - its often in the dialogue that the most interesting stuff can be found.
Plus how will you learn or know if you are on the right track and hence how will you improve without comments? Bloggers with closed comments seem to be cutting off one of their own arms. (And while I understand Seth Godin's argument it would be great if he would put the time aside to do the odd post with comments.)
The media stops being social if its one way - it is just broadcast on a different platform and with a much smaller audience.
Danny
· 10 months ago
There have been many times that bloggers have mentioned that it's the comments section that really helps lift their blog to a new level. I know that I've learned some incredible insights from people leaving comments here, and I hope to continue to do so.
Andrew Weaver
· 10 months ago
Agreed. If you aren't going to allow comments and feedback then I don't think you have much of a right to be posting things disagreeing with other bloggers or Twitterers. Everyone has a right to do what they want on their blog, including disagree with another person's point of view. However, I don't understand why you would choose to close down any conversation for fear someone may disagree with YOU. If you're going to hit, don't hit and run.
It's something I will never understand, I guess.
Danny
· 10 months ago
The hit and run analogy is an interesting one, Drew. If you're going to champion the openness of the online medium and how it's better than the *old media* broadcast approach, closing comments seems an odd way to do it.
Hendry Lee
· 10 months ago
My blog has closed comments. :)
In near future, I plan to change that to select posts, when the posts are more of an opinion piece than informative.
I posted about my views before on my blog, or more appropriately, a CMS that uses a blog.
Regarding responding to Michelle's post, there is a way. It is called blogging (and using trackback or pingback). But that's your decision if it is worth a post on your blog or not, as much as she decided to close comments.
This has nothing (or very little) to do with getting people to disagree.
Danny
· 10 months ago
That's true, Hendry, and if I had wanted to write a full reply via a blog post, that would have been the way to go. However, it would have been nice to offer her readers a different view, as David offered in his comments and most bloggers offer in theirs. Perhaps closed comments is a way for people to try linkbaiting, with it being the only way to offer agreement/disagreement?
With your blog, for example, even though it's an informative-led one, wouldn't it be nicer to have other bloggers share their tips on what they use alongside your recommendations? One blogger's plug-in may be another blogger's pet hate, for instance? :)
Hendry Lee
· 10 months ago
Danny, I certainly can see the value of opening comments. That's what I've been doing on my other blogs and want to do so for my blogging blog soon for certain posts.
That's also why you see me leave a lot of comments here on your blog. :)
But for most posts, I'd prefer if my readers want to discuss something, they do it using Twitter or the forum. I know it's basically a hindrance rather an encouragement to participate but in this case I really prefer they do it in other ways.
Rather than telling others about "I use this, I use that." or "Your list sucks", I'd rather focus on doing something else. I guess you've visited a site where most of the comments are "me too" type of comments. This is what most likely going to happen in such blog.
There are two sides of a coin. For your plugin example, inexperienced blogger may promote a SEO plugin that they like, but the fact is they know very little about the topic. That would ruin the list rather than helping it, because most visitors don't know enough which comments to trust and which don't.
If people experience difficulties with the tested plugin, they should report to the plugin developer through one way or another to get it fixed. Rather than testing other random plugins from the comments.
Sometimes silence is just gold. Communication can be distractive at times. As much as I like to interact with people, I still need to shut everything down during the time when I need to get my work done.
And to protect my time, I decided certain types of posts in this blog don't really need comments.
Danny
· 10 months ago
I hear you. Although I'd also say that you can get the same *inexperience* or *you suck* comments on Twitter and forums. Plus ca change... ;-)
Hendry Lee
· 10 months ago
No the experience is not the same at all. At least because:
1. People have to explicitly address my name in the tweet. 2. Their followers will also see their behavior 3. They are less likely to be anonymous or else no one will see their tweets anyway. 4. I don't follow everyone back. It appears only on the "reply" column on my TweetDeck as "one" tweet. 5. Don't have to moderate comments or approve them or anything. It takes a split second to neglect these tweets.
I'm sure I can come up with more reasons... And as to forums, it allows other forum regulars to answer the questions too. Community is what I plan to build, without a focus on me.
I can go on and on with more reasons, but here's another. Can't reveal too much though because it is my business model.
In the future I'll provide installation and customization services. People who want support for my opensource plugins and other popular plugins for free may go to the free community support for help - which is the forum.
Of course, I still have to answer the questions in the forums at first. But as the community grows, other participants will also use the forums to help others and perhaps get clients out of their participation.
And if people prefer to have someone accountable for such things, I (and my team) are available for hire.
Based on my experience, managing comments can be time consuming. If I am to enable the feature, I want to do it right, mainly because I want to maintain the quality of the blog.
Danny
· 10 months ago
Yet you still have the same issues with forums as the ones you mention about Twitter and open blog comments and vice versa.
* There are many Twitter users who don't use their real name, same as they don't leave their real details in comments, same as they have pseudonyms on forums. If they don't want to be known, they won't. If they do, they will. This will be true of all the mediums they use.
* Blog comments foster a community (the responses on this thread, for example) much the same as community-building in forums. The focus need not be on the blog author, either - if that was the case, then there would be closed comments and all the interaction would stop at reading the blog post.
Obviously everyone is different, and I know my blog comments don't add up to the hundreds that Chris Brogan, Rob Scoble and the likes get. But even if they did, I'd still like to think I'd be communicating with my readers in the comments section.
My own personal view is that the comments add to the quality of a blog. Community comes in many shapes and sizes. Some would argue that it takes more time moderating a multi-threaded, multi-tiered forum than it does one blog post thread.
At the end of the day, there are fans of open comments and those that oppose them. Each has their reason why and if it works for them. I personally prefer open comments and many others would agree.
But for all of *us* there will always be bloggers in the other camp. And if that works for you, cool. :)
Frank Reed
· 10 months ago
Because of the lack of time to truly address everything that I come across on the Internet I immediately discount anyone who is not open to comments. I know that I am missing some gems but I can be talked at somewhere else any time. I value the interaction that must take place for this (the social internet) to have value for me. I'll buy a business book if I want to travel on a one way street.
Thanks for bringing this out for comment!
Hendry Lee
· 10 months ago
Exactly. I have blogs that open to comments. And for BBU, the comments are disabled for certain type of posts.
Comments, like blogs, are just tools. It is up to us to make use of this feature.
In a perfect world, I'll have a team moderate and answer all comments, but alas it is not possible in every situation when you have a business to run and choose whether to spend your time on A or B, not both.
All Comments
If you're afraid of spam, get a spam plugin (they are highly effective these days). If you're afraid of flame wars, moderate the comments. But limiting viewpoints to strictly the author really kills the point of a blog. This day and age, I wouldn't call a blog that doesn't allow comments a blog.
It's something else, similar to Michelle's link above, when Joe or Jane Citizen has a blog and closes comments. It's worse, closer to home, when a blog calling itself the "Newburyport Blog" falls under that schema. Have a look where the author explains her rationale.
That's a bizarre post over at Newbury - seems strange to close comments on what should be a community blog. There are way too many spam filters, profanity blockers, etc, available now to use the excuse Mr Moi is using.
And worrying about whether people are saying bad stuff or not? They already are - but you're giving them fuel to the fire by not having discourse. Just my thoughts. :)
Cheers Ari, always a pleasure.
Plus how will you learn or know if you are on the right track and hence how will you improve without comments? Bloggers with closed comments seem to be cutting off one of their own arms. (And while I understand Seth Godin's argument it would be great if he would put the time aside to do the odd post with comments.)
The media stops being social if its one way - it is just broadcast on a different platform and with a much smaller audience.
It's something I will never understand, I guess.
In near future, I plan to change that to select posts, when the posts are more of an opinion piece than informative.
I posted about my views before on my blog, or more appropriately, a CMS that uses a blog.
Regarding responding to Michelle's post, there is a way. It is called blogging (and using trackback or pingback). But that's your decision if it is worth a post on your blog or not, as much as she decided to close comments.
This has nothing (or very little) to do with getting people to disagree.
With your blog, for example, even though it's an informative-led one, wouldn't it be nicer to have other bloggers share their tips on what they use alongside your recommendations? One blogger's plug-in may be another blogger's pet hate, for instance? :)
That's also why you see me leave a lot of comments here on your blog. :)
But for most posts, I'd prefer if my readers want to discuss something, they do it using Twitter or the forum. I know it's basically a hindrance rather an encouragement to participate but in this case I really prefer they do it in other ways.
Rather than telling others about "I use this, I use that." or "Your list sucks", I'd rather focus on doing something else. I guess you've visited a site where most of the comments are "me too" type of comments. This is what most likely going to happen in such blog.
There are two sides of a coin. For your plugin example, inexperienced blogger may promote a SEO plugin that they like, but the fact is they know very little about the topic. That would ruin the list rather than helping it, because most visitors don't know enough which comments to trust and which don't.
If people experience difficulties with the tested plugin, they should report to the plugin developer through one way or another to get it fixed. Rather than testing other random plugins from the comments.
Sometimes silence is just gold. Communication can be distractive at times. As much as I like to interact with people, I still need to shut everything down during the time when I need to get my work done.
And to protect my time, I decided certain types of posts in this blog don't really need comments.
1. People have to explicitly address my name in the tweet.
2. Their followers will also see their behavior
3. They are less likely to be anonymous or else no one will see their tweets anyway.
4. I don't follow everyone back. It appears only on the "reply" column on my TweetDeck as "one" tweet.
5. Don't have to moderate comments or approve them or anything. It takes a split second to neglect these tweets.
I'm sure I can come up with more reasons... And as to forums, it allows other forum regulars to answer the questions too. Community is what I plan to build, without a focus on me.
I can go on and on with more reasons, but here's another. Can't reveal too much though because it is my business model.
In the future I'll provide installation and customization services. People who want support for my opensource plugins and other popular plugins for free may go to the free community support for help - which is the forum.
Of course, I still have to answer the questions in the forums at first. But as the community grows, other participants will also use the forums to help others and perhaps get clients out of their participation.
And if people prefer to have someone accountable for such things, I (and my team) are available for hire.
Based on my experience, managing comments can be time consuming. If I am to enable the feature, I want to do it right, mainly because I want to maintain the quality of the blog.
* There are many Twitter users who don't use their real name, same as they don't leave their real details in comments, same as they have pseudonyms on forums. If they don't want to be known, they won't. If they do, they will. This will be true of all the mediums they use.
* Blog comments foster a community (the responses on this thread, for example) much the same as community-building in forums. The focus need not be on the blog author, either - if that was the case, then there would be closed comments and all the interaction would stop at reading the blog post.
Obviously everyone is different, and I know my blog comments don't add up to the hundreds that Chris Brogan, Rob Scoble and the likes get. But even if they did, I'd still like to think I'd be communicating with my readers in the comments section.
My own personal view is that the comments add to the quality of a blog. Community comes in many shapes and sizes. Some would argue that it takes more time moderating a multi-threaded, multi-tiered forum than it does one blog post thread.
At the end of the day, there are fans of open comments and those that oppose them. Each has their reason why and if it works for them. I personally prefer open comments and many others would agree.
But for all of *us* there will always be bloggers in the other camp. And if that works for you, cool. :)
Thanks for bringing this out for comment!
Comments, like blogs, are just tools. It is up to us to make use of this feature.
In a perfect world, I'll have a team moderate and answer all comments, but alas it is not possible in every situation when you have a business to run and choose whether to spend your time on A or B, not both.