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Showing 17 posts tagged comments

If Apple release an iPhone 5S, then 1. They are fools and 2. They are doomed. Also, you should stop saying or using the work 'shit'. It's classless IMHO.

Asked by Anonymous

This comment is just so perfect in so many ways.

They are right though, swearing is technically classless. Everyone does it. 

Letters To The Author

Tomasz Tunguz:

Whether on-site or off-site, comments aren’t the right communication vector. Instead, a redesigned, curated section for Letters to the Editor or one step further, Letters to the Author might cultivate a reading community much more effectively than the commenting platforms in use today. 

This is a part of what I like about Tumblr’s “Ask” functionality. It’s not that I don’t want to hear from my readers, it’s that typical blog comment systems are a horrible way to facilitate any sort of meaningful discourse. I much prefer to straight-up publish insightful comments sent my way and respond to them as necessary.

BGR Kills Comments Too

Continuing the trend, BGR has decided to shut down comments as well — at least temporarily until they can come up with a better option. 

Ever notice how everyone is always in search of the “better option”? At some point we’re probably all going to have to recognize that the actual problem is a part of human nature.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Josh Constine has a few ideas for how to fix commenting on the Internet. 

None are bad, but all have been tried to varying degrees before. They don’t seem to fix the underlying problem of some people just being sketchball idiots. 

I actually think number 3 — dedicated comment pages for each post — is the most interesting. Some sites, like MacRumors, seem to use this to good effect. It turns your comment section into a forum. 

I’m reminded of Coffee Talk. “Talk amongst yourselves.”

Macstories Goes Nuclear On Comments

Wow. When I read this post by Cody Fink talking about comments and the future of Macstories I was not expecting this:

In consideration of the reader, how we want the site to look, and due to the amount of time we can spend keeping an eye of this stuff, we will be removing comments from the next iteration of MacStories. And yes, it’s the nuclear option for keeping the site clean. Removing comments also means that we’re doing an incredible disservice for the readers who’ve already left great comments, and we hate having to remove those from the discussion. Decisions like this are tough because we have to do what’s best for us while minding our reader’s thoughts.

Good for them. I love Macstories and the bottom line is that the removal of comments will do nothing to change that whatsoever. I’m sure I’m not alone there.

Still, this is an impressive stand. It’s one thing for a single person site (like this one) to make a call to remove comments. It’s another for a larger team blog to do so. In fact, I can’t think of any without comments. 

Right or wrong, the mentality is that to build a next generation media publication on the web, you need comments. That’s why we never got rid of them on TechCrunch (believe me, plenty of us wanted to — Facebook comments were a compromise). 

Even more interesting is the psychology behind “needing” comments on big sites. Let’s be honest: most of these sites defend comments because if they don’t, it will seem like they’re taking a shit on their readers. It’s along the lines of “the reader is always right” — even when only half a percent are commenting and the vast majority of those are trolls.

So good for Macstories taking a stand and doing what they think is right for their site. This is ballsy and I hope it works for them. If it does, it could be the first real step towards the reinvention of online feedback and discussion that the space desperately needs.

Bile

Last night I came home after watching Michigan’s most excellent Sugar Bowl win and read Matt Gemmell’s follow-up on why he turned commenting off on his blog a month ago. “It was definitely the right move,” he writes. And I agree with all of his points, so I linked to his post from here and followed up with a few brief words of my own on the topic.

This made some people mad.

Above, Fred Wilson says I’m missing out by “dissing” comments, commenters, etc. Not stated in that tweet is that Wilson is an investor in Disqus, a leading blog commenting system (though they view themselves as more — more on that in a bit). I don’t fault Wilson for not mentioning this very vested interest because a) 140 characters is 140 characters b) I know that he really believes in Internet comments or he wouldn’t have made the Disqus investment in the first place. Still, context is important.

Wilson’s blog, A VC, is a testament to the best of Internet commenting. It shows that on a case-by-case basis with some work, commenting can be productive and perhaps even useful. But I still disagree with Wilson that I’m missing out on anything by not allowing comments here. Because, as I wrote last night, the vast majority of the time, comments are bile. Or nonsense. Or useless. Or some combination of the three.

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Comments Still Off

Here’s the thing: while some try to paint comments as a form of democracy, that’s bullshit. 99.9% of comments are bile. I’ve heard the counter arguments about how you need to curate and manage your comments — okay, I’m doing that by not allowing any.

I welcome feedback. Just do it on your own site or on Twitter, Facebook, etc. That small barrier alone removes most of the idiots. 

Let’s be totally honest here: anyone worthwhile leaving a comment should do so on their own blog. Very few read blog comments anyway. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Commenting is a facade. It makes you think you have a voice. You don’t. Get your own blog and write how you really feel on your own site.

Earn your voice.

Update: Bile.