A new year means a new blog design. In January I’ll be upgrading to the latest WordPress version and creating a different look for the blog. I’m partial to a three-column layout so I can run ads and post more information in the sidebar.
The new blog may also be re-tooled. I’m seriously considering doing away with commenting while retaining the trackback feature. I think I’m reaching the limit of tolerance.
Even when commenters are pleasant and agree with me (Yes, I think that’s pleasant, strangely enough.), sometimes flame wars ensue when tempers flare, causing ordinarily reasonable people to act like children. I feel like a mother trying to referee the disputes, then I suddenly remember I don’t have any children.
In other words, it’s becoming too much trouble to deal with. Some bloggers take a hands-off approach, but I like to preserve a certain level of decorum, which means I have to monitor the comments. It’s also taken me awhile to figure out that some commenters don’t actually want to challenge my arguments in a meaningful way. I waste a lot of time responding because I’m compelled to answer even the stupid ones. The solution is not to ignore them but to not allow them in the first place.
To be honest, sometimes I don’t want to hear what somebody else has to say. Blogging takes up a lot of time as it is, and I don’t like spending even more time moderating comments, deleting trolls, etc.
Regular blog readers who don’t have their own blogs can’t appreciate the time that goes into dealing with comments. Bloggers who don’t get a lot of traffic or commenters can’t appreciate it, either.
One reason I allow commenting is to encourage visits, but bloggers like Ann Althouse have no comment or trackback features enabled and still get a decent amount of traffic. Another reason is to encourage feedback, but people can always e-mail me, although my incoming e-mail would probably quadruple. If I decide not to enable the feature after the redesign, all previous comments will remain.
It’s sort of ironic that I’m soliciting your opinion on whether I should enable commenting on my new blog, but I ask: What are the pros and cons of a comment-enabled blog? Would you be discouraged from visiting if you couldn’t comment publicly or interact with commenters?
High-profile bloggers with trackback only:
High-profile bloggers with no commenting or trackbacks:
