Why I left your Blog #72

[Gamermk]

There are many reasons why people leave blogs. I just left a fantastic blog with great information.

Why? I couldn't comment.

I don't even know if it should count as a blog if I can't comment. (Ironically, one of my sites is this very same way and labels itself a blog) That being said, this blog has missed out on an RSS subscriber and ultimately a regular return visitor simply because I couldn't say "Hey, Great Post!" (or something just as generic)

Does your blog allow comments?

If not, would you consider it successful?

[Golgotha]

Good Point Gamermk, having a blog without allowing comments is basically a one-sided conversation - that's no good in my book.

I really don't know why Seth Godin doesn't allow comments, but I guess when you're that big you can do whatever you want.

Forget PageRank people, comments is what I covet most.

[fortunette]

There are a lot of reasons to turn off comments.
-Harassment.
-Human spam.
-No time to read the comments.
-comments need to be moderated, and no time to moderate the comments.
-You don't care what people think of your blog.
-Your blog doesn't handle comments.

All of these reasons have a solution, get a better blog, hire moderators, or be less self-centered.

Although I prefer comments to no-comments, I really don't think that it matters that much to a lot of people. If I remember the post from useit.com, only 9% of users in a system participate, so blogs are one-way to a lot of people.

[KLB]

Can it really be considered a blog without comments? I personally don't get a lot of comments on my blog, but I do use the number of comments a post gets as a metric as to how much interest people took in a post (either for or against). It is a great way to learn what one's readers are interested in reading about.

[vgarcia]

Get a 100+ to 1 ratio on spam vs humans and you might want to reconsider.

I love a good online conversation but I've considered shutting comments off many times because the time spent moderating comments greatly outweighed time I spent writing.

[Gamermk]

Originally Posted by vgarcia

Get a 100+ to 1 ratio on spam vs humans and you might want to reconsider.

I love a good online conversation but I've considered shutting comments off many times because the time spent moderating comments greatly outweighed time I spent writing.

But does the time spent moderating comments greatly outweigh the loss of users from not having comments? Or as KLB mentions, the loss of knowing your audience's interest in your writing?

Moderating spam is a small price to pay I'd say, but then again some niches might be prone to more spam than others. (read: SEO, Gambling, Porn Blogs)

[KLB]

One thing I do is pre-moderate all comments. No comment gets posted to my blog until I have read and approved it. I don't filter out dissenting view points, only abusive posts and spam. I sometime think that spammers learn or share blogs and forums that are easy to post spam to. In my case, blogger makes it really easy to approve or reject comment posts. Every time my blog gets a comment it is emailed to me with an approve or reject link. I give the post a once over, take the correct action and move on.

[dnordstrom]

Originally Posted by vgarcia

Get a 100+ to 1 ratio on spam vs humans and you might want to reconsider.

I love a good online conversation but I've considered shutting comments off many times because the time spent moderating comments greatly outweighed time I spent writing.

I too had a lot of spam until I activated the Akismet plugin in WordPress. Haven't seen spam since. Highly recommended.

If comments are needed or not, well I guess it depends on a lot of factors. What is the blog about? How many visitors? And so on.

But then again, comments wouldn't be obsolete even if the blog only existed for a purely informational purpose because it can also be seen from a marketing viewpoint. Increased interactivity makes people happier. They have more freedom.

And after all, the internet is an interactive medium.

[plnelson]

Originally Posted by Golgotha

Good Point Gamermk, having a blog without allowing comments is basically a one-sided conversation - that's no good in my book.

Why? If you read a novel or a short story in an anthology or a poem by a dead poet you can't comment. If you read a newspaper or magazine article you can't comment except by writing a letter to the editor, and they have no obligation to publish, or even read, your letter.

The benefit of a blog is based on whether I enjoy reading it, i.e., whether it's well-written, has evocative or colorful turns of phrase, or whether it's interesting or has useful information. Walt Whitman and John Keats don't invite us to have a conversation with them; does that mean their poetry is no good? If Beethoven had a blog would it be not worth visiting if he didn't allow comments?

[Golgotha]

Originally Posted by plnelson

Why? If you read a novel or a short story in an anthology or a poem by a dead poet you can't comment. If you read a newspaper or magazine article you can't comment except by writing a letter to the editor, and they have no obligation to publish, or even read, your letter.

The benefit of a blog is based on whether I enjoy reading it, i.e., whether it's well-written, has evocative or colorful turns of phrase, or whether it's interesting or has useful information. Walt Whitman and John Keats don't invite us to have a conversation with them; does that mean their poetry is no good? If Beethoven had a blog would it be not worth visiting if he didn't allow comments?

We're talking about 'blogs' here - as you just mentioned, a blog is a unique medium, it allows interaction - that's one if strengths. Perhaps even it's biggest strength. To not use it is to chop it off at the knees.

[fortunette]

I agree with plnelson. There are some blogs, like Joel on Software, and ScottGu's blog that I read just for the writing, and never look at the comments. They have other advantages over books, newspapers, and magazines, like instantaneous, free accessibility, an lack of censorship (or, more likely, getting cut for more ad space).

But there are also blogs that I read almost exclusively for the comments, because that's where all the action is (like "I am Facing Foreclosure").

If a blog is more socially oriented, it should have comments. But if it's more 'expert' oriented, it might mot be as important.

[onlycodered]

I really enjoy leaving comments on blogs. I'm not sure if I'd continue to visit a blog if it didn't allow commenting anymore. On my own blog I love it when people leaves comments. It gives me some sort of connection with my readers that way.

[plnelson]

Originally Posted by Golgotha

We're talking about 'blogs' here - as you just mentioned, a blog is a unique medium, it allows interaction - that's one if strengths. Perhaps even it's biggest strength. To not use it is to chop it off at the knees.

But that's just an assertion. What's your proof that it's a requirement?

Newspapers and magazines "allow" photography but many great award-winning, well-written magazines and newspapers rely on their writing to reach the peak of their profession. The Wall Street Journal is one of the greatest newspapers in the world and regularly walks away with Pulitzers and routinely runs neck-and-neck with USA Today for #1 in daily circulation, but they hardly ever run photo's. Also the Atlantic Monthly and the New Yorker have historically relied on attracting some of the best writers in the business, and only occasionally run photos.

And while we're on the subject of photos, many blogs don't have photos, at least not original photos, even though they're allowed. And keep in mind that vidoes and audio are also allowed but very few blogs have them (thank the gods!).

Just because something is "allowed" doesn't mean it's necessary or even desirable.

PS - and BTW, I'm a photographer - pnArt.com - but that doesn't mean I think everything needs photos. And as you can see, I'm a "sitepoint addict" so I obviously like to make comments, but that doesn't mean I think they're a necessity, either.

[Gamermk]

You guys are right. You don't need comments.

You also don't need air in your tires.

But.

If you want to get from point A to point B. I bet that air in your tires will get you there faster.

[Hartmann]

So I am interested Gamermk, why do you not have comments on your blog?

[Golgotha]

@plnelson: no one ever called it a requirement. I called it a strength - that's what it is - doesn't mean you have to use it; never said you did. People buy Hummers to drive on highways - I don't get that either, but that's just me.

[iFroggy]

Originally Posted by Gamermk

Why? I couldn't comment.

I don't even know if it should count as a blog if I can't comment. (Ironically, one of my sites is this very same way and labels itself a blog) That being said, this blog has missed out on an RSS subscriber and ultimately a regular return visitor simply because I couldn't say "Hey, Great Post!" (or something just as generic)

Was there no e-mail or contact us page?

[Gamermk]

Originally Posted by Hartmann

So I am interested Gamermk, why do you not have comments on your blog?

Because it didn't start as a blog, but spiraled into one. I'm currently in the process (for months) of overhauling the whole site. Its just tough to find the time/motivation to do work outside of work. I do have a 2nd blog though that does in fact allow comments, but since its niche likely doesn't relate to many people here I don't clutter my sig up with a link to it.

Originally Posted by iFroggy

Was there no e-mail or contact us page?

To be honest I don't know, but the real kicker of this site (which I really should have mentioned in the OP) is that it used a wordpress theme so at the bottom of each entry it said "no comments" underlined. Naturally, I clicked the link to comment since it was an excellent post and alas I found that "commenting was not allowed".

I then noticed that there was "no comments" on any of the pages. I can't recall the blog, but it was one of the ones listed by the New York Times in a recent article as the one of the best blogs this year. (think it was some kind of top 50 list)

[joebert]

You want comments, start a forum, a blog isn't for you.

[dakine]

I just use a captcha and pre-moderate. Good ol wordpress, as bad as it is its pretty good....

[dakine]

Originally Posted by joebert

You want comments, start a forum, a blog isn't for you.

You start a forum for different reasons, I wouldnt start one so that I can post articles and have people comment. pffft.

A forum is a discussion board.....not a 'post-an-article-and-comment' board although some people start a discussion with a article-like post.

A forum is too open, a blog is about one or a small group of "authors" who post and people who comment, comments are a big part of blogging but you can have a blog without comments.

I would find a forum with articles pointless. It would be better to use some web application that is better suited.

Notice how on sitepoint the articles are posted in either the articles or blogs section....

The main difference between a blog and a forum is that in a blog the main content is a at the top where as in a forum normally the main content is spread throughout the comments.

[HAWK]

Originally Posted by joebert

You want comments, start a forum, a blog isn't for you.

Not necessarily... they both serve very different purposes. So different, in fact, that I am going to assume that your comment is tongue in cheek.

[Simon Mackie]

Blogs don't need comments to be successful. For example, Boing Boing and kottke.org are two extremely high traffic blogs and neither have comments. I guess it depends on whether you want to have a discussion with your readers or not.

[geosite]

Originally Posted by joebert

You want comments, start a forum, a blog isn't for you.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

At the present time, I have neither, but I hope to launch a series of blogs AND forums after I get my websites squared away - still a couple months away at least.

I'm very active politically, and I scan the news daily. I'd also like to be able to post my opinions daily. I would probably create a WordPress blog for that, but I doubt that I'd have time for moderating comments.

I'm running for public office right now and was invited to write a "guest blog" for a local newspaper. I knew it was basically a scam (media corruption), but at least I got to offer my views. Look at the overwhelmingly stupid comments people posted...

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/e...ves/116873.asp

So if I created a political blog, I'd have to somehow filter out an endless barrage of crap from stupid people, operatives posing as stupid people and on and on. Some of those creeps would probably also sabotage any non-political blogs I created.

Thus, I think of a blog as a medium for quickly putting information or ideas on the Internet, with or without comments, while a forum is better suited for debates or comparing ideas.

I suppose one could also combine the two, inviting people to comment on blog entries on a forum, for example. But you'd still have to find the time to moderate it.

[iwonder]

Accessibility & Annoyance

I prefer having a website with easy navigation, surfing should be easy. Even the small things like tab order can get annoying, say while filling a comment you press tab from "Name" and it goes to "Search" field :/ .

There are blogs with lots and lots of widgets coming up "maps - where am I", "recent countries", "my site stats" etc. etc. Most of these use Javascript codes and it might take a lot of time to load up the page if any one of the source host is down or not supported by our IP.