Strong Opinions @marksbirch

parislemon:

Comments Still Off

Here’s the thing: while some try to paint comments as a form of democracy, that’s bullshit. 99.9% of comments are bile. I’ve heard the counter arguments about how you need to curate and manage your comments — okay, I’m doing that by not allowing any.

I welcome feedback. Just do it on your own site or on Twitter, Facebook, etc. That small barrier alone removes most of the idiots. 

Let’s be totally honest here: anyone worthwhile leaving a comment should do so on their own blog. Very few read blog comments anyway. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Commenting is a facade. It makes you think you have a voice. You don’t. Get your own blog and write how you really feel on your own site.

Earn your voice.

MG Siegler = Idiot.  You know what, he is right, I can really feel my “voice” now that I commented on my own blog…

I knew that within the space of one day of following Parislemon on Tumblr, he would write something blisteringly moronic.  He proved me right in spades.  My guess is that his acerbic style and thirst for stirring controversy is what led him to turn off comments and then rant about it.  But of course, he needs confirmation of his decision by taking refuge in someone else’s decision to do the same.

Turn off comments if you feel like it.  For some people, they view commenters as a burden or less than worthy participants or even freeloaders and trolls.  Their blogs are purely their narcissistic joy where they can spew out views at will without the distractions of opposing viewpoints or negative feedback.  They can get all the pageviews they like to boost the ego without dealing with the detritus of humanity.  It is your blog so you are certainly free to manage it however you like.

I like comments however.  Some people feel the desire to follow up or ask a question through other channels like Twitter or email, but I like to give folks options, so I enabled Disqus on this blog.  Having comments enables the potential for engaging discussions and debates.  While I have no delusions about having an actual “community” on my blog, the comments I have received have been additive to the topic at hand and wholly valuable, whether in agreement or disagreement.

Are spam or trolls a problem?  Not really, but I believe it comes down to having quality and thoughtful content.  MG Siegler on the other hand writes inflammatory and barely cogent material that is basically begging people to punch him in the face.  He has to turn off comments because he is a troll magnet.

Can comments work and should you allow comments on your blog?  The answer is a definite yes to both.  The best blogs are about community.  They are of high quality in both content and readership.  When I read Fred Wilson’s blog AVC, I do not see one person, but a whole group of people engaged in a conversation that is almost always more compelling than the content itself.  It is the quintessential virtual coffeehouse hosted in the web with a diversity of people coming together online for intellectual stimulation and engaging debate.

It is also important to implement a solid technical solution such as Disqus or Livefyre to limit spam and manage comments more effectively.  Just look at how much improved the comments are on TechCrunch since implementing Facebook comments.  NY Times has been experimenting with a trusted commenter system that should greatly improve the quality of the comments and discussions.  That is opposed to websites such as the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider which tend to attract the most vile, vulgar, and voracious trolls on the planet.

What does this mean for you?  Your blog is probably not as popular as MG’s, Fred’s, Daring Fireball, or others.  They can afford to have these debates about comments as they have wildly popular sites.  However, you are better served by adding comments and building a readership by engaging with folks.  Use social media to help distribute your posts to a wider audience.  I use Postling to manage this process, thus pushing posts to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn simultaneously.  I also repost on occasion as many people will miss posts in the timeline of their social media stream.  Once your posts are distributed, engage with folks in whatever forum they are using, whether Twitter, Facebook comments, Tumblr dashboard, or comments directly on your blog.  Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that MG Siegler is someone to emulate when it comes to your own blog.