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Why Comments are Important on your Blog
I came across a recent post by Pete Abilla where he calls out Seth Godin for not allowing comments on his blog. Its a good read but the post get’s even better in the comments where the conversation continues.
I’m not sure if disallowing comments makes me not trust Seth but I think Seth is missing the point of blogging by not allowing comments. Blogs are supposed to be conversational. You really can’t accomplish this without comments. When you don’t have comments its like telling your audience that their opinion on what you’ve said doesn’t count. It comes off as arrogant.
Some of my best posts were made great by the comments not by my commentary. Last August I called out CleanFlicks. There was a great debate about the merits and morality of this business in the comments. I’m still getting comments on the post. Just the other day I blogged about risk and Josh and Russ piped in on the comments with some great value add commentary that I felt really completed the post and complimented my points.
If Seth is debating whether or not to add comments he should just read Pete’s post. He should instantly see the value of comments in the comments of that post.
You may notice that I often end my posts by asking you your opinion.
So…thoughts?
Pete has correctly implied that if you read Seth Godin’s blog (and I do) you have to be willing to accept a one-way flow of information. Like the principles he advocates, Seth is also “telling a story” by the way he does things. I happen to like what he says, so I keep reading. And I’ve emailed Seth a couple times and received prompt (albeit very short) responses.
Read why Seth Godin doesn’t accept comments.
Other prominent bloggers (and maybe Seth too, if I remember correctly) have pointed out that it’s effective to enable trackbacks even if you don’t allow comments. Trackbacks require the discussion to happen on someone else’s blog, which increases the investment they must make and hence the quality of the discussion.
Left by Richard K Miller on 01/02/2007Richard:
I’ve read Seth’s response and I think its a little weak. I think Guy Kawasaki’s blog is bigger than Seth’s and guy allows comments. Guy obviously doesn’t blog for the comments either. Trackbacks are great but you loose the flow without the comments.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/02/2007I read Seth’s comments and I think they’re understandble and make sense. It’s simply a case of opportunity cost. The guy is clearly busy and moderating and responding to comments doesn’t rank high enough on his list of priorities to justify pushing something else aside. Is he missing out on an opportunity? No doubt. Is it worth missing out on another opportunity he has that would have to be put to the wayside if he chose to spend more time on his blog? We can judge for ourselves, but obviously he’s made his opinion clear.
I think sometimes we’re a bit too critical of people who opt to do things in a different way than we would prefer. If you find what he says to be of value then great, if not, don’t read it. Then again I think we’re often too critical of people being critical. I’m not advocating in any way that people stop complaining, otherwise we’d lose too many valuable ideas. Seth might decide not to take this advice, but he might take the next bit of advice and his marketing machine might be better for it.
Left by Joshua Steimle on 01/02/2007I explored the concept of Can a blog be a blog without comments? earlier last year. Ironically, it was the comments from that post that slightly changed my critical thoughts.
Shameless plug aside, I don’t think Pete understands the concept of A-list bloggers and the immense amounts of traffic they receive (and yes, Godin is bigger than Guy, Chris, at least in terms of total linkage). Therefore, a lack of comments in no way implies a lack of trust as Shmula alludes to. I can personally attest to the above comments that Godin promptly replies to (engages with) his audience via email.
Kudos to Pete for pushing buttons, but he doesn’t get it. A blog can be a blog — and trustworthy one at that — with or without comments. I can’t help but sense the envy of forgone traffic at the expense of a comment-less popular marketing blog.
Left by Blake Snow on 01/02/2007Seth says that comments fundamentally changes the way he writes — that’s actually a good thing: static writing eventually dies; but dynamic writing, especially the written word that addresses the needs and interest of your audience is engaging, interesting, and relevant.
I like how there is “life” in dialogue that takes place on your blog. It shows that you have an interest in your readers.
Left by Pete Abilla on 01/02/2007While I don’t enjoy one way blogs very much, think they have a purpose and if that is the format a person desires to use that is certainly their option.
On a related note… I find it interesting that many if not most of the truly great bloggers like Seth provide an easy to find traditional email address on their blog site for people to contact them directly. I am very impressed with that.
As I have been viewing various blogs on the ZList it occured to me that many bloggers on that list don’t provide an email address for people to contact them.
I am amazed at all of the bloggers that don’t provide any method of direct contact other than the comments section of the blog. Others provide just a contact form so that they don’t need to reveal an email address and don’t need to deal with spam. …that makes you feel like a second rate citizen trying to gain entrance into a gated community.
Again, that is their option if that is how they desire to engage people….
But if people like Seth Goodin and Mack Collier and Mark Cuban are willing to provide a hotmail or yahoo email account and wade througlh all of the SPAM in order to give prople the dignity of communicating with them via a public email address… I think the bottom feeders that are trying to increase readership should highly consider inconveniencing themselves as well.
By the way.. I noticed that you are not above providing a traditional email address for people to contact you directly… good for you! I would be curious to know your thoughts on this.
Do you get many replies from blog readers? Is it worth filtering through the spam in order to gain new relationships with people?
Left by Cory on 01/02/2007I’ve tired of Godin’s blog because it is a one-way conversation. I guess it’s what he wants, but I’ve the same impression of his latest book. I have a half dozen of his books and like his message in general but it seems to me that he is in a repeat mode…
Left by David on 01/02/2007Weak or strong, I don’t think he has a responsibility to jusify to us why he does or doesn’t allow comments.
The only reason it’s really a “blog” anyway is because he uses blog software and it gets posted in a dated order. He could quit calling it a blog, still write the same stuff and still give us the same experience.
Left by Russell Page on 01/02/2007This is why I love comments. Look at all the great thought here.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/02/2007@Blake,
Hey, thanks for the feedback.
I actually know a few A-List bloggers and several have linked to shmula.com and shmula is in the blogroll of a couple; I have an idea of what they deal with (in close proximity, anyway).
My point was about community and dialogue. Community is about a group; email conversations is a one-to-one dialogue, which is helpful, but, 3rd party observers don’t have the benefit of reading the conversation that happens in comments. Again, my point was about community.
Left by Pete Abilla on 01/02/2007Blake, I agree with you about the trust issue but I side with Pete on the conversation issue. Other “A” listers have comments and seem to do just fine with it. Seth should follow their lead.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/02/2007@Pete
Word. But your post implies a lack of trust by those who prefer one-to-one dialogue to open dialog. That’s just absurd. (DISCLOSURE: I do not subscribe to Seth’s blog).
And who doesn’t know an A-list blogger? It’s in best interest of B-, C-, and D- listers like you and I to know them. I was simply suggesting that A-list blogging is a whole new ball game and it appears you feel the same rules apply across the board.
See also: The blog haves and have-nots (excellent read)
Left by Blake Snow on 01/02/2007[...] Update (01/02/2007): There is a nice conversation in the comments section of Chris Knudsen’s blog. Nice job, Chris. [...]
Left by shmula » I Don’t Trust Seth Godin : Business, Technology, and Stuff in Between on 01/02/2007p.s. on Seth.
I’ve emailed Godin a number of times, and while his responses are short, he always responds.
Left by Russell Page on 01/02/2007My first question to myself is whether or not you will approve this comment at all.
Assuming you do, I have to ask you this in light of your post about comments being important. A week or so ago I noticed that Russ Page called your post about Ben Stein “nailing it” was one of his favorites of 2006. I clicked on all of the posts Russ named, including yours on Ben Stein. I noticed it immediately as an email hoax that had been going around for awhile. Ben Stein DID say the first few paragraphs of your post (and the email that goes around), but the vast majority of the commentary is not his. Someone made it up. While I too agreed with what was said, the fact of the matter is, Ben didn’t say it - some weirdo who likes to get their fake email forwarded (or, in your case, posted on their blog) sent this out into the world.
Anyhow….I commented on Russ’s blog (which got posted) and yours that the Ben Stein post you wrote, while compelling, was based on the aforementioned fake email. You did not approve the comment. Why? In light of your post today, it sounds like comments are important to a blog, and you are arrogant if you don’t allow them. So I don’t get why you wouldn’t approve it. I wasn’t taking a shot at you - I just hate when email hoaxes get pushed around as the real thing and was merely trying to squash it.
I would have let it go as I really didn’t mind you censoring my comment for whatever your reason, but your blog on the subject compelled me to comment here again.
Let’s see if this gets posted and what your reasoning is behind not allowing my comment to be seen by others.
Left by Alex Lawrence on 01/02/2007Bravo! It’s a good start that since you blogged about comments being important you have changed your comment format from one of requiring your approval to one that allows them to be immediately posted. So the question of whether or not my comment will be posted was immediately answered by your blogs new default comment settings. My only question now is why didn’t you approve it when your settings were not set that way last week (i.e requiring your approval before being viewed by others)?
Left by Alex Lawrence on 01/03/2007The comments on this post attest to the value added to a blog by allowing comments.
Left by Thomas Bowcut on 01/03/2007On the topic I would like to throw out a couple questions in hopes of feed back from some of the experienced bloggers who read this blog: Aside from writing a post about the importance of comments, what other ways would you recommend for stimulating comments on your blog? What point in your blog maturity did you begin getting comments?
@ Alex
I believe your comments were caught in my spam filter. However, if someone comments on my blog and I don’t like what they have to say it is certainly my prerogative if I don’t want to post it. Having comments at all and what you do and don’t allow to be posted as comments on your blog are two different issues to debate.
Also, allowing comment to be immediately approved is a factor of convenience for me rather than openness. Maybe I’ll set a rule to approve anything that comes from you before it get’s posted to my blog.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/03/2007@ Thomas
I started getting comments from day one. I find that when I ask people their opinion at the end of a post they are more likely to leave a comment.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/03/2007@all
I just sent the following email to Seth. Let’s see if he replies.
—————————–
Dear Seth:
There is a great debate on the merits of having and not having comments on ones blog. The debate was touched off by this blog post:
http://www.shmula.com/285/i-do-not-trust-seth-godin
Then it rolled over to my blog here:
http://www.chrisknudsen.biz/229/why-comments-are-important-on-your-blog/
I’d love to see you pipe in on this if you have the time.
Thanks,
Chris Knudsen
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/03/2007Hi Chris
Thanks for the note. And thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post such thoughtful comments.
I’m actually not asking ANYONE to trust me. That’s not the point of the work. The point is to give people something to think about. So I think Pete’s headline is misleading. There are plenty of institutions and individuals I trust, by the way, who don’t enable comments…
The bigger issue is about “should.” I have a problem when people say what a medium should or must have. A novel must not have pictures, or a blog must have comments. If you think that Boingboing, Cuban, Winer and I have misnamed our blogs, you’re welcome to, but I’m not sure it’s worth all the letters spilled over it.
So, I guess my takeaway is that a few people would really like all blogs (including mine) to have comments. My post about why I don’t have them stands… I just don’t have the constitution. I read my email, I read my trackbacks, I listen to my readers more than almost any successful author since Gutenberg got into publishing. If that’s not enough, I guess I have to shrug and acknowledge I can’t please everyone.
Left by seth godin on 01/03/2007Seth:
That was a fast reply. Thank you for weighing in!
Left by Chris Knudsen on 01/03/2007[...] Here is Seth Godin’s response to this post and to your comments: [...]
Left by Chris Knudsen on Utah Business and Entrepreneurship on 01/03/2007[...] 4. Your blog needs comments: A friend Chris and the blog minions have spoken “authoritatively” about the superiority of a commented blog. If you don’t allow comments? Well then, you are a community crushing, egotistical, anti-web-2.0 maniac! [...]
Left by Technology, Business, and Doritos » Blog Archive » Arrogance of communities on 01/03/2007@Alex
I hate fake emails as well. (Sorry Chris, I’ll have to find another “favorite” post).
Left by Russell Page on 01/03/2007[...] Most viewed post: Why comments are important on your blog [...]
Left by Chris Knudsen on life, business, and entrepreneurship » One year anniversary on 04/10/2007