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With one caveat: blogs with the stated intention of creating community/being a community gathering point has to have comments. I run a blog that helps independe
by shadowsun7 16y ago
With one caveat: blogs with the stated intention of creating community/being a community gathering point has to have comments. I run a blog that helps independent writers publish their work online. I tried Gruber's advice, once - and it backfired, badly.
So, in a nutshell: soapboxes are good, but not when you want to create community.
- leviathant 16y agoComments on a blog do not a community make. I run a news site about a band, and I've never allowed comments. However, the site is closely affiliated with an entirely separate message board, which our staff are regular contributors to. I see it in kind of the same way Gruber sees it, but without nearly as much hubris and ego. To me, it's my website, and I prefer it to be an editorial publication. I select who writes for the site, because I want a higher quality end result. That said, some sites benefit from public comment. I remember being ticked off when News.com got bought out by CNet because they eventually turned off comments, and often times the comments helped balance out the ridiculous spin in the articles posted to the site.
- shadowsun7 16y ago> Comments on a blog do not a community make. Agreed. Perhaps a better generalizing statement to make would be: community cannot exist where there is no channel for user feedback. You have a forum, I have comments. Both are mediums for reader expression.