I'll Tell You What's Fair

Now that DF has achieved a modicum of popularity, however, what I tend to get instead aren’t queries or complaints about the lack of comments, but rather demands that I add them — demands from entitled people who see that I’ve built something very nice that draws much attention, and who believe they have a right to share in it.

They don’t.

MG from TechCrunch has also linked to John’s essay, further agreeing with the premise that commenting is essentially useless these days.

I have thought long and hard about this and in many ways agree but in others I disagree. There is exceptional value in “forcing” people to respond on their own web site rather than allowing a free-for-all, no-holds-barred flame-fest to occur in a conversation being conducted in the comments.

The flipside to that thought is there will almost always be insightful comments worth having, which potentially outweigh the negatives from the “bad” comments received. The idea of curating a living, breathing community is exciting but with the good comes a whole lot of bad. It is these evils that are beginning to outweigh the positives as the noise level of the average internet jackass tends to drown out the regular joe. It is truly sad.

Ultimately, I find myself agreeing with both John and MG, even though that contradicts what my heart of heart believes. Unfortunately, blog comments have become more hassle than they are worth. The best method of response is to write an engaging blog entry and use your very own soapbox to socialize your thoughts.

parislemon