7 Days
You can thank Amy Kannel (Kaylor). She's brought up this dialogue most consistently. I have debated this off and on for a while. Initially I didn't like this idea simply because this blog is mine and me the traditionalist doesn't like the idea of others 'tainting' this personal, artful expression that is my blog. Because I want to be teachable. Because I want to pretend to be flexible...you now have 7 days. This is by no means permanent. This is a trial. This is a learning experience. About myself. About blogging.
Begin. Comment.
Begin. Comment.
6 Comments:
I feel that this post needs a persuasive comment to convince you that the comment feature is beneficial to a blog post and that in fact enhances one's writing not detracts.
I must applaud your view of your own blog as an "artful expression". Not many people hold this view of their own writing. Most in fact are afraid that their life is in fact unimportant and not worthy of being published on the Internet. These people instead publish long winded BS and try to convince us that they are smarter than the rest of the world. Their "revelutionary" ideas become pompous and bombastic, all the while condemning those who "have the courage" to publish what is REALLY happening in our lives. What REALLY matters.
What REALLY matters my friend is that we all pick our noses while we drive. Because of you, we are no longer ashamed to admit it. That my friend is the what I view as the reason for the blog - the exposure of humanity.
You go on to say that you want to be "teachable" and "flexible". We all know that's full of crap. (I would use another word but this isn't a private IM conversation) You admitted it yourself. Thank you for your honesty. Again, an exposure of humanity.
As a growing adult, as a student, as a Christian, you must be constantly sharpened by those around you. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 NIV) You must allow yourself to receive feedback from your peers if you want to remain on the right track with your weblog. You must realize that your touching people's lives when you right about picking your nose (or not picking your nose) in your Pontiac Vibe. How will you know this if you do not allow yourself to receive comments via the comment feature? IM? possibly, Phone? maybe, In person? doubtful. Comment feature? Most likely.
The comment feature is a useful mechanism for your audience to show their appreciation to you as a writer. Do not deprive us of this ability to show you our love.
*sidenote - turn on the comment word verification feature to prevent spammers from advertising. It's the cool thing to do.
hahaha...I'm laughing out loud (NOT "lol") at this:
"What REALLY matters my friend is that we all pick our noses while we drive. Because of you, we are no longer ashamed to admit it. That my friend is the what I view as the reason for the blog - the exposure of humanity."
and this:
"You must realize that your touching people's lives when you right about picking your nose (or not picking your nose) in your Pontiac Vibe. How will you know this if you do not allow yourself to receive comments via the comment feature?"
I remember that post...it still makes me laugh :)
Anyway, I'm with Jon on this one--one great reason to allow comments is not because you need validation (I think two years of blogging without comments, plus knowing your personality in general, has proven to all of us that that's not what you're seeking as you blog)...but because people like to express their appreciation for what you write. I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said, "The joy is incomplete until it is expressed."
In other words, Jeff, we, your loyal readers, read something on your blog that delights us, but you're stifling us because we can't express that delight ;)
Anyway, besides that, I think there are other good reasons for comments. I think our understanding of truth and life is fleshed out best in community. Other people bring perspectives to the table that we just haven't thought about--so, often a thoughtful post by a blogger can bring about an important and lively discussion where all different types of people weigh in with ideas.
For a great example of this, see Paul Kind's blog at http://paulkind.blogspot.com. He asks lots of questions and therefore gets people to think deeply--rather than just reading casually and moving on to the next thing. In other words, the ability to comment motivates people to really interact with him and his ideas.
Is that "prostituting the purity of YOUR blog"? Nah, I don't think so. YOU get the final say. Yours is the REAL post, the first thing every reader sees, and you even have the power to delete others' comments. The whole conversation is based on your thoughts and ideas. But...I dare to suggest...might it even be a little arrogant to operate as though yours is the only important opinion?
I'm sure you'd argue that others are more than welcome to their important opinions, just on their OWN blogs. And you'd be right, though it's easier to read the conversation all in one place :) Anyway, given the generally anecdotal nature of your blog, this doesn't apply as much in the first place.
Well, I've already exceeded my two-cent limit on YOUR blog...I better shut up before I taint your personal expression ;)
Here's another question: why don't you have links in your sidebar like every other blogger I know?
Because when I changed my format it deleted them, and I'm not HTML savvy enough to know how to put them back.
Plus, that then got into the 'who's blog to link and who's not to link' debate, which I'm admittedly probably over-dramafying, but, at the time wasn't something I wanted to ponder.
Short answer: laziness.
And yes folks, this my fir...oh crap, I did cheat once. I must be honest. I was seriously close to writing that this was the first comment post that I myself have contributed to anyone's blog, but I ashamedly remember contributing a comment to Matt Beck's blog about a month ago. That excuse being that I had now other means of contacting him. Hmmm...
Now there's another interesting question for psychoanalysis.
Why do you not comment on others' blogs? Because you feel they are secretly needing validation, and you refuse to feed that addiction? Or is there another reason?
if jeff timmer commented on my blog, i would die. just DIE.
oh yeah, and i'm going to have to say that if this top ten list of all blog posts you've ever written doesn't have the Booger Vibe post as #1, i don't think the list is valid.
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