Do blogs really need comments ?
I often hear friends of mine say that they hate blogs that don’t support comments.
Charlie’s tweet sums up the pro-comment camp well. Some would go on to say that blogs that don’t support comments aren’t blogs in the first place.
And then there are others that believe that comments are a waste. The argument goes like this: most people don’t get comments and then there is the YouTube comment problem where the noise is difficult to sort thru, never mind the spam.
My thoughts?
Aside from splogs, there is no wrong or right way to blog.
I enjoy commenting on blogs. I’ll either reblog or comment depending on the subject matter. And I dont’ have any stats to prove it but I mostly comment on sites where I personally know the author.
I also love getting comments. I love hearing when people like my music posts of the day. Or when they disagree about some position I’ve taken. Or when they simply say “nice post” or when they have also been to a place I’ve seen or someplace I want to see. Or when a comment teaches me something. Or all of the new friends I’ve made thanks to your comments.
Yet it doesn’t bother me whatsoever that folks like Seth Godin or Marc Andreessen or Tumblr doesn’t have built in comments. I’m happy that those bloggers and others are contributing in any way they feel comfortable and works for them.
I am thrilled that Tumblr & Disqus make it crazy easy to add comment support if you want them.
Disqus is doing really interesting things right now with comments and offering a ton of features on top like spam control, email support, profiles and reblogging.
But the best part about personal blogs is that they are personal.
They are 100% controlled by the author. And that is how they should be.
