Now, I don't know about you, but I think comments are just as valuable as most posts (sometimes even more so!). They frequently provide diverse viewpoints, insightful commentary on personal experiences, or other input that is of value to readers. Comments are what differentiate a blog from a website; the two-way conversation is a critical component.
In our web-centric world, blog posts also have a life that may extend days, weeks, months, and sometimes years into the future. It's not uncommon for a blog post to be circulated a year or two after it's been written and for it to still be of value to readers. Some topics are timeless.
So why turn off comments after two weeks? As a blogger, that makes no sense to me.
BLOGGER'S NOTE: Feel free to agree or disagree with me today or in 2012. Your comments are always welcome here!
I totally agree and you put so elegantly but I may have an idea why.
ReplyDeleteI, like yourself, read any number of blogs and nearly always the comments, but there are one or two blogs where the commentees "get into it" with each other and on occasion seem to take great delight in attacking the blogger - for no apparent reason other than the fun of it!
If our not-so-intrepid blogger is of a sensitive nature they may find it hard to accept that not everyone (and sometimes even no-one) agrees with what was so important for us to write down. Our lexical "getting it off my chest" may serve its purpose just as that and no comments or foul language in return are deemed necessary; in fact, they may even be counter to why we are writting in the first place!
Any way, only a thought I felt like sharing with you - it may be totally wrong and inappropriate but it gives me pleasure to write to a fellow blogger.
I agree - as a blogger I love comments, even when people disagree with me.
ReplyDeleteSeiun: Thank you for contributing to the conversation. I think your assessment may definitely be the case in many circumstances. On this particular blog, the "turning off" feature seems to be in place on all posts and the interesting part is that the content is not at all controversial; it's mostly tips on how to do things.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for taking the time to leave a comment. It's always a pleasure to connect with fellow bloggers and especially ones like you who know the value of a good comment! Thanks again for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful response.
Narges: I completely agree with you! Getting comments is like getting gifts on your birthday! It's so great when you can meet new people and hear their opinions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for making the effort to leave a comment ;->
I am a person who does this (johandewal (dot) nl). And why? Of course I love comments, even negative ones If they contain valid arguments, but... I suffer from enormous spam attacks for many months now through the comment function(Russian servers, redirected via Amsterdam, hard to stop. Maybe that it helps to upgrade the WordPress format, but I cant do that by myself). So that is why I turned it off. Once, in my anger, to radically en manually delete all this shit, I even (regrettably) deleted some great comments from writers that reacted on a review of their books (grrrr). So, it's not always so that a person who does this is communicating 1980's style, sometimes there is more to it...
ReplyDeleteJohan: See, this is what's great about comments. Hearing someone else's experience and getting better insight into an issue. Thank you so much for chiming in on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI've never experienced spam attacks via comments (luckily!) and that does seem like a valid reason to disable the comment function. Is that something that happened to you as you initially posted your blog entry or did it happen after a period of time had passed. In the example I used for this piece, the blogger turned off comments after two weeks. I guess that's what struck me as odd. Why two weeks?
Again, thank you for providing some insight into the conversation. I really appreciate your input and you taking the time to share your experience!
I dearly wish that you'd posted this nugget and turned off comments...
ReplyDeleteAHCopywriter: I like your sense of humor! That would have been funny, wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I ran a website that had a forum that was taken over by spammers. It was literally a 3 hour a day affair to keep the forum clear of porn and other spam. I can completely understand why some people turn off comments.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Amber and I love the site redesign. Nice job!
Tom: Thanks for your input (and for your kind words about the redesign; it's a work in progress). Any idea what attracts spammers to blog posts? Three hours a day seems like a terrible chore.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll count my lucky stars that I was blissfully unaware of the spam thing.
I have the Disqus commenting system and it's fabulous. People can and do often converse with each other in the comments section and I'm able to answer each comment with the commenter immediately being notified by e-mail.
ReplyDeleteA writer needs an audience and blogging is a unique way to get that audience feedback right away and have conversations. I'm with you. Have no idea why anyone would turn theirs off. If you don't like a comment, you can always delete it.
BTW -- I'm delighted to have found your blog thanks to Elayne.
Jayne: Thanking for contributing to the conversation. I appreciate your input (and nice words!). How did you change the default comment option on Blogger to Disqus?
ReplyDelete* Folks, if you haven't checked out Jayne's blog, do it. It's quite entertaining!
Thanks Amber...
ReplyDeleteI second the comment on Disqus - very useful.
Check out www.lifewithoutpants.com. Matt talks about why he went back to Disqus after a one year hiatus (blog post 3/29).
ReplyDeleteI like the new look! :)
Theresa: Thanks for the link. I checked out the article and it's always interesting to read other people's take on things. Disqus does have its fans, doesn't it? Fortunately, I haven't ever had a problem with spam, so perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones (knock on wood).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment on the redesign. It's still a work in progress...