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Winer decides to turn off blog comments
This is the post that put him over the edge:
http://scripting.com/images/2012/02/19/somePeopleAreVeryVeryDim.gif
- larrys 15y agoThis is the comment that put him over the edge apparently: http://scripting.com/images/2012/02/19/somePeopleAreVeryVeryDim.gif http://scripting.com/images/2012/02/19/somePeopleAreVeryVery...
- davewiner 15y agoActually, that comment came in as I was turning off comments. It just verified that I was making the right decision.
- g-garron 15y agoI was thinking about doing the same thing, but then I've decided to keep them open, but just for 15 days after the publication date of the post. That way it is easier to moderate, and I can still have some valuable comments from the real followers of my blog. Just my two cents.
- larrys 15y agoYour strategy makes sense. He's also deleted all the comments today that were based on this story here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3609912 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3609912
- robryan 15y agoSeems like nearly everyone disagreed with him. Although the article seemed to not be directed at hacker types, or if it was maybe he was worried about looking out of touch.
- davewiner 15y agoThe comments are still there, I just changed my site template so they're no longer part of the rendering. If you have an account on Disqus you'll find your comments are just fine.
- kevinpacheco 15y agoScripting News has gone the way of Daring Fireball. It was bound to happen.
- tptacek 15y agoHas Daring Fireball ever had blog comments? I don't think it has. Neither, from what I can tell, has Kottke.
- idoh 15y agoKottke used to occasionally open up posts to comments but hasn't done it in a long time. http://kottke.org/plus/misc/opencomments.html http://kottke.org/plus/misc/opencomments.html
- unkoman 15y agoThe TapTapTap guys made this http://daringfireballwithcomments.net/ http://daringfireballwithcomments.net/
- rkon 15y agoAllowing discussion can only be a positive, unless you're trying to hide something or afraid of being proved wrong...
- rdc5003 15y agoI guess he figures people will just discuss the articles on sites like this, and he'll no longer have to worry about doing the moderation work. Lazy, but it could work.
- icarus_drowning 15y agoI'm frankly not surprised-- Winer has complained in the past about comments. From the perspective of someone who often disagrees with him, I've never really understood why he had them in the first place, as he simply does not tolerate alternative views well.
- hollerith 15y agoThe reason it took so long is probably that people who do not tolerate alternative views well do not usually like to think of themselves as people who do not tolerate alternative views well.
- philwelch 15y agoComments are often worthless, and the reason comments are worthless is because there's no identity invested in them. When sites like HN and Reddit work (which isn't all the time), it's because there's a community of identities which are invested in the comments. When a site like HN or Reddit grows too much, though, most of those identities disappear. Publishing your own blog post as a rebuttal, or emailing the author, are generally worth more, not only because of the identity involved but because there's a barrier of entry you won't bother crossing unless you're sure you have something to say.
- davewiner 15y agoI agree with this. A lot of it is people using your space to say random things that have little to do with the blog post they're responding to. At one point I realized that's just another form of spam. Why not post your screed in your own space? Because you have readers and I don't. Oh. Thanks soooo much. :-)
- spullara 15y agoSince the only time I have ever commented on his blog was to make a correction or help him out, I guess I've just been saved some work.
- davewiner 15y agoThose are useful comments, and I wish there was a way to just limit it to that. In any case, thanks for your offering of corrections and help. I still have an email address for that kind of stuff.
- riffraff 15y agosadly, if comments were open, I'd point him out he may want to hide the email of the guy who annoyed him.
- tristan_louis 15y agoThe amusing thing about this is that Dave Winer used to be quite vocal about comments being one of the defining criteria of what makes a blog. I guess his thinking on this has evolved. Sad to hear that he will be shutting down opposing viewpoints on his site.
- davewiner 15y agoYou have me confused with someone else. I often said quite the opposite.
- tristan_louis 15y agoDave: weren't you arguing, back in the early days of blogging, that a blog without comments available did not fit the definition of what a blog is?
- webwanderings 15y agoAgree with this. The best is to have once-a-week or something moderated Open Forum type post and solicit comment there on all or any given topic. We were living in the world of sanity in the days of editorial page with letters to editor, but blogging brought that model upside down. In the long run and collectively, the comments have not really helped other than where they are specifically appropriate (like link sharing sites like HN/Reddit etc).