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08.02.07
Do Comments Add Value To Your Blog?
 By
Steven Bradley
Do you comment on blogs? Do you read blog comments? Do you think comments can add value to a blog?
Dave Winer doesn't think comments are necessary and may even hurt a blog. Joel Spolsky takes it even further calling comments an infringement on the freedom of expression of the blogger. Rand takes the opposite point of view and sees comments as incredibly valuable. I side with Rand here, though I will offer the it depends caveat and also say that both Dave and Joel make some very valid points.
How Comments Can Detract From A Blog
Dave's main point is that the blogger's voice is what makes a blog and that comments have the potential to stifle that voice.
If it was one voice, unedited, not determined by group-think - then it was a blog, no matter what form it took. If it was the result of group-think, with lots of ass-covering and offense avoiding, then it's not.
If, as a blogger, you allow your voice to be changed because you are pandering to your comments then I agree it's not a good thing. However, it's not that difficult to maintain your voice in the midst of dissenting opinion. If a blogger allows his voice to be altered by comments I'd argue that voice wasn't all that strong to begin with.
Dave further thinks the appropriate place to comment on another's blog is your own blog. If you have something to add write your own post and say what you want.
As long as they can start their own blog, there will be no shortage of places to comment.
Joel agrees and takes it even further saying about comments:
They are a part of the problem, not the solution. You don't have a right to post your thoughts at the bottom of someone else's thoughts. That's not freedom of expression, that's an infringement on their freedom of expression. Get your own space, write compelling things, and if your ideas are smart, they'll be linked to, and Google will notice, and you'll move up in PageRank, and you'll have influence and your ideas will have power.
He points to a blog post from a real estate site and notes that within a few comments they degenerate into first noise and then an all out flame war. He admits it's an extreme example and continues to say...
Continue reading this article.
About
the Author:
Steven Bradley is a web designer and search engine optimization
specialist. Known to many in the webmaster/seo community by the username
vangogh, he is the author of TheVanBlog, which focuses on how to build
and optimize websites and market them online.
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