Comments Are Back: Why a Blog Without Comments is Not For Me
by Jarkko on April 14, 2011 · 8 comments
Back in January, inspired by
this post at Think Traffic, where Everett Bogue and Pat Flynn debated over whether a blog should have comments or not, I decided to turn off commenting on this blog.
Now, a couple of months later, I am turning comments back.
What made me think running the blog without comments would be good idea in the first place? And what made me change my mind and turn them back on? This post is my attempt at explaining what blog comments mean to me -- and maybe we can even have a short chat about what they mean to you, at the end of the post...
I have been missing your voices.
Why I thought it would be a good idea to turn comments off
Some people become obsessed with checking their RSS stats, some go nuts over the number of visitor they get every day. For me, the number one blogging related obsession became the number of comments. I couldn't stop checking if I there were new comments to a post I had written.
When I realized what was happening to me, I didn't feel so good about it: It was as if I wasn't writing for the sake of sharing my thoughts and trying to understand the world better, but just for comments. I was like that small kid who keeps telling his parents to cheer for him every time he does something even the slightest bit out of the ordinary.
I didn't want to be that kid.
I wanted to write because I had something to say or because I wanted to understand something better. Somewhat along the lines of what Jon Foreman has once said about his songwriting:
"I write about things I don’t understand, so mostly God and women.”
This was the personal reason for why I turned off the blog comments.
A couple of other reasons that affected the decision were ideas I got from reading that discussion at Think Traffic:
- Responding to comments can take too much time at some point in the future, so if I might turn comments off then, it's better to do it already now when there aren't that many readers who might get angry at me.
- Not having comments brings the content in the center.
- A blog post is more powerful than a comment, so it would be better if everyone just wrote blog posts discussing each other's ideas. I still like this idea but in practice I don't see it happening almost anywhere on the internet.
- Maybe Twitter could take the role of the comments as the main channel for discussion?
While all of these ideas hold some truth in them, I found out that they are not that relevant in my small, humble blog's case.
Why my blog needs comments
Let's face it, with about 700 RSS subscribers and about 60 to 100 daily visitors, my blog is far from A-list.
- If this blog became so popular that responding to comments would take hours, then I could save time by turning off comments.
- If I was Seth Godin and had a never-ending pool of interesting anecdotes and educational stories to share, putting my content in the center would make my posts even more interesting.
- If all my readers had blogs, there might be posts about my posts online, and we could have a discussion through blogging.
- If all my readers were using Twitter, then we could discuss through it. (Although 140 characters is quite short for a blog comment!)
None of these conditions apply to me and this blog.
And that's not all. Without you guys commenting on my posts from time to time, I am just shouting here on my own, with no one telling me when what I write is complete crap.
Someone wiser than me once said that we write to clear our thoughts and publish to test our conclusions. I couldn't find who it was who said it but I agree.
And that is why I turned comments back on today.
Most people won't comment. But the ones who do will give me something new to think about. I don't expect you to comment right away (I am sorry for shutting our communication channel) but I can't wait to hear your voices again.
From now on, this blog will be a two way street again, for the rest of its lifetime.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
As a reader without a Twitter account, I’m happy to see you turned the comments back on. A while ago I would have liked to comment on an article, and was sorry when I wasn’t able to.
As you obviously wish to have a dialogue with your readers, I think re-enabling comments is a good decision, too. Some A-list bloggers set a great example in many ways, but we shouldn’t be afraid to manage our blogs in a way which feels right for us. I don’t think comments should be turned off just for the sake of turning them off. After all, there’s no “right way” to blog – which is actually quite a relief!
Yes, I love the dialogue that can happen through a blog! With my limited time for focus (kids take up my mind almost completely from 8 AM to 9 PM) I’m not sure how deeply I can engage in the discussion myself, but I will definitely read every comment, and learn from all of you!
Nice surprice :) I read lot of you blog entries, but was to lazy to get a Twitter account to share my thoughts. Now the excuse is gone ;)
Looking forward to chatting with you!
Getting a Twitter account is still a good idea, but after this test period, I do agree with Rob’s comment below: Twitter is not that good for commenting on blog posts. 140 characters is quite limiting…
Jarkko,
Comments on or off is always a tough choices – plenty of pros and cons for each. I am glad to see them back on though. Twitter is a great place to discuss things… but for commenting on a specific article? Nothing beats right there on the page, in the comments.
I agree. After these three comments, I’m already very happy with my decision to enable commenting again.
“A blog post is more powerful than a comment, so it would be better if everyone just wrote blog posts discussing each other’s ideas.”
I don’t get this logic, even as a principle. “More powerful” isn’t better — if it were, we wouldn’t need volume knobs on our audio devices :) There’s a place for lower-profile statements, and comments fill that role nicely.
.
Hi Jarkko, I only just discovered your blog today and am glad you’ve turned comments back on.
As you say in your last line – having your blog as a two way street is a good way to go. My own blog is still relatively young at around 6-7 months and I really appreciate every comment I get.