Brian Alvey: The master linkbaiter

Jason recently turned off comments on his blog, linking to a Joel on Software post about Dave Winer's opinion that comments are not so important for blogs. In fact, he argues they can bring the usefulness of the conversation and overall editorial quality of a blog down, if that's possible.

He also links to me when he says:

I wish someone would make a new platform to end all platforms. One that could be invite only comments and one that helped me express myself better.

I'm not sure that it's something I'm heading towards -- and I'm not making a joke about helping Jason express himself better.

I agree that dealing with lousy comments and constant comment policing can be a drain for even the best-staffed team blogs, but turning them off isn't the answer. Having an invitation system is one kind of solution, but it makes a barrier to entry for new people to add their comments. In fact, I'm adding anonymous moderated comments into my new platform because I want to eliminate these kinds of barriers and increase participation. The downside is that there's more work for the team, but that can be solved with great tools.

So maybe it is something I'm heading towards.

Comments (3)

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andy fox 957 days ago

i dont leave comments that much, but not allowing comments makes me want to leave them. like when you like someone who doesnt like you i guess
Mike 956 days ago

User moderation has seemed to help a lot so far for the Engadget/Joystiq teams.

I must admit, making people link to you and give you google juice just to disagree with you is a great way to silence your detractors.

But is going through your stats every day to find those people worth reading really any better than moderating comments?

Regardless, the conversation is the nature of the environment (a blog). If you've created the kind of environment where you don't like the conversation, isn't that a beast of your own making, Dr. Frankenstein-style?
Manuel 955 days ago

Seems to me, that you are the choosen to introduce that new platform ;)

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