To comment, or not to comment…
Derek Powazek shares his thoughts on turning off comments:
I turned off comments in the last redesign of powazek.com because I needed a place online that was just for me. With comments on, when I sat down to write, I’d preemptively hear the comments I’d inevitably get. It made writing a chore, and eventually I stopped writing altogether. Turning comments off was like taking a weight off my shoulders. It freed me to write again.
I too have been trying to decide whether to continue using comments on my main blog. On the one hand, I can sympathize with Derek. I often “hear” the comments I’ll get, or won’t get, and ultimately allow that to either adjust the content in a post, or don’t publish the post at all.
On the other hand, I truly do enjoy the good discussion that can sometimes takeplace, and I don’t want to lose that. Perhaps a reply by Twitter option (as Jon Hicks is considering) is a decent option to generate that discussion without the feeling of obligation?
2 Smart Things Were Said
Should you comment on a post when the post is about comments being the problem?
I like sending the comments to Twitter, the problem is they might get buried and lost quickly. Another issue is that it is hard to have any sort of intellectual dialog in 140 character fragments.
The character limit was a major reason why I chose to stick with comments for now. The brevity of 140 characters can help to keep thoughts precise, but sometimes, a topic warrants more room for discussion.
What's On Your Mind?