In any case, I think it works far better as satire than it does as actual reasoned argument against comments. Someone has already said it — a blog without comments is called a column, and we have plenty of those already.

In blogging, let’s learn a few editing skills and just scrap the rubbish. Sacrilege, I know, but it would lessen the overall bad reputation of blogs.

And Seth Godin’s site is there to sell his books and his consultancy, not as a sounding board for every nutcase and time waster.

But I’ve come to realize that I have been doing it wrong- and I would say that a “blog”, in its pure form, is only a “blog” if it has comments turned on. So until I open up all those sites for comments, I really shouldn’t call them “blogs” at all.

In conclusion, here’s a vote from the 33% jumping fence to the 26%.

But, again, this is a silly question. One might as well ask if the sausage-like thing in a bun is a wiener or a hot dog.

web1.0 – read only (no comments, not a blog)

web2.0 – read/write (comments, yes a blog)

we are in the web2.0 world by the way peoples

Like it is for any other writer, a blogger’s first responsibility is to his or her readers, not to the people who want to post a comment.

Since comment spam is such a problem, it might be better to ask if there’s a better way to do them.

Just fixed that Akismet spam flag on your comment.

See, how can readers communicate amongst themselves in the blog without these comments?

I’ve had the same experience as you, Scott, even with my most polished piece, that folks bring insights to the comment box that add new light to what I wrote and what I thought. They expand and enhance the thinking. Sometime they point out what I’m missing. It’s excellent for progess. Not so good if you want your words enshrined.

That way, they would argue, it is a true equal conversation, not one of publisher/reader.

Funny thing is, I never consciously know why I post a comment (like this) or link to and post from my blog, which I have also done with Scott’s articles.

Hmmm.

To me – blogging isn’t about comments – it’s about the software – and being able to post things instantly to the internet without the aid of a webmaster or geek or tech guru. You can use blogging software (like wordpress) for non-blogs too you know. You can even have comments on the site, like a guestbook. Does that make that site a blog?

Personally, I’m surprised that ONLY 73% were in the top two categories of that poll, considering that poll itself was on a post that has over 125 comments. I thought it would be higher.

Speaking of comments, I think I get more frustrated commenting at a site and it being lost in moderation or pickup by spam plugins – than another site that just turns off the comments.

Having said that, I can see the value of having a no-comments blog – if you actually have a following already and actually have a continuous supply of startlingly apposite things to say.

Comments? :P
Vince

A more practical notion is this — people are having conversations about you ANYWAY; if you host them, you’ll have a modicum of ‘control’ as to how you moderate that conversation.

Arrington’s point is also valid, in that there is substance to any conversation that follows a written piece; sometimes, its even more important than the piece itself.

It all depends on what you want blogging to mean. If blogging is to be a simple method of presenting articles and news — like the old notion of what ‘news’ was — then that’s fine. All a blog is then, is a CMS.

If blogging means conversations, then by that definition, you MUST open up your comments.

My personal opinion is that to blog means to have a conversation; not a one-on-one affair — that’s instant messaging or email. Blogging is a one-to-many conversation, and for that reason all large corporations / institutions / blogs that open up their comments are really to be commended. ValleyWag, Yahoo, TechCrunch, for example.

Others that don’t — Seth Godin, Digg (that is, Digg’s blog), and others — no matter what they explain away, don’t want to relinquish a typically ‘command-and-control’ type mentality that traditional news sites have grown up with.

And to me, that’s simply not what a blog is about.

Cheers
t