This really is not a post directed to my regular readers here at Spinning, but rather in pursuing further some points brought up at this site regarding the post and the comment purposes of a weblog. Steve says:
I’m not a big fan of comments on weblogs and I try to avoid them as much as possible. No, this doesn’t mean that Mary Ellen should stop writing comments into this space. It means that if she finds something interesting to comment on or add to, hence the above title, she should respond in depth on her own weblog or in long, well argued comments and let trackbacks or whatever provide the network exchange.
Well I suppose that comments are a personal preference, and I personally like them, both to receive and give them. It shows that not only is someone reading the post, but something has sparked either simple appreciation, agreement, disagreement, or, as Steve puts it, "something interesting to comment on or add to."
Aside from personal preference, I believe that sometimes all that is asked for is an Amen, brother!, which would not necessitate a post entry on another weblog (although quite a few weblogs are dedicated to this principle of linking only, and that’s fine too). Some people don’t have weblogs, maybe because they just aren’t natural initiators of discussion.
I would think it’s also true that some weblogs attempt to restrict themselves to topic, thus, a science blog author may have an opinion on but wouldn’t post on a Monet.
To me, if someone is attempting to infuse the classroom with the weblog mentality, discouraging comments is heading in the wrong direction. I know that I commented on other weblogs prior to starting my own (and here I’d agree with Steve, it’s best to use up your own space if you’re going to go into any depth on a subject rather than go nuts in somebody else’s (web)space. But the weblog is best serving a two-way communication. If you want to speak without fear of reprisal or contradiction, then turn off the commenting feature. Some folks do. It would also appear that while you can set your own ideas in place as to what comments should be, or how a weblog should be used for communication, there are always other tactics to employ. That’s what is so great about this means of interaction; you have choices.
What prompted his post was a prior post on the nature of the increase in writing, and his defense of the quality of writing found on the web in reply to a visitor’s comments. Here again, I would agree that while so many more people are writing in taking advantage of the internet opportunity and the weblogging phenomenon that there are some damn fine writers out there. This is not just folks who wannabe writers as such (and many of those, just ain’t) but people who would otherwise just pick up the phone and tell Aunt Sadie or their best friend Jody about an episode that they can share with tons of folks. And often, many of them are like me; can’t speak for shit but can articulate in writing quite well.
One thing I would say in response to the suggestion of responding this here way, on my own turf, is that it does build a network of links (yay, rah-rah, hypertext). How many people do bother following links though? It’s easy enough to click open a comment box and read on a related page. Easier, to read comments via a feed. I frankly don’t see any more activity from direct linkage than I do from a well written comment where what you’ve said can be immediately read and other commenters will follow you back home if they’re intrigued.
Lastly, I’d like to address the question of quality commenting. Very often, comments are made on the fly-by of morning blogroll visiting. The thought that comes to mind is immediate and if typed in, permanent; warts and all. A few weblog services allow the second thought via a preview button. But often it’s after that submit button is clicked that you spot the dumb error. Sometimes a kindly weblogger will take pity and fix the mistake if it would cause embarrassment. Otherwise, you’re not in a classroom with a term paper, but in the real world with time ticking by. On the good side, the more you comment, and better yet, the more you regularly post on your own weblog, the better you’ll get at grammar, spelling, and punctuation (except for the semicolon; no one ever really learns the semicolon).
Feel free to comment or not. Trackbacks are no longer allowed here because of the spam jam as well as the fact that it can easily be done by copying the url and pasteing that for a link.
And adhering to request, I did ramble on in my own little space of the internet.
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