Talking Heads.

Friday 29 August, 2008

I note there has been another instance of the justification of a commenter argument making the rounds again.

Charlie O’Donnell laments the following:

I hate commentless blogs. You’d never put up with that shit in person: “Don’t reply, just listen to me speak.”

In other words:

I hate blogs that don’t allow me to tell you how wrong you are — or what I think of everyone else’s comments — because I demand to be heard.

It’s an assumption on two levels. That all blogs are truly two way conversations — at best they are often just simplex communication — and that blogs should provide a forum for anyone to push their barrow or agenda. Then there is the assumption that everyone has the right to graffiti blogs as and when they see fit.

Attending a conference doesn’t typically result in the entire event being question-and-answer. Sure, there is almost always time allotted to such debates, but how can you otherwise learn, if you are constantly talking?

I can, perhaps, count on one hand the total number of blogs I read daily, where comments add to the overall flavour. That is a testament to the respective authors’ ability to shepard and nurture debate, more than anything else. When done well, it is truly something special. But it is still, well, rare.

I don’t have comments, simply because The Lab is an avenue for me to express and a place to experiment. You can opt out at any time. As for comment? I have more email addresses than a third world country, (ab)use twitter constantly and engage in many different forms of two-way communication almost daily.

So, rather than expecting folks to always have comments, one could, perhaps, stop being a lazy jerk and write a reasoned response via email, or one’s own blog. I strongly encourage feedback via email, because it provides a better avenue to respond. It negates the knee-jerk reaction and instead encourages a more reasoned response.

Now, this is not to say running with comments is wrong — it certainly isn’t — rather it should always be a based on personal choice and not the demands of those who seek the instant gratification of being able to see their views in print.