On Why I Don't Have Comments On This Site
Protecting my peace.
…to the extent that comments interfere with the natural expression of the unedited voice of an individual, comments may act to make something not a blog…. The cool thing about blogs is that while they may be quiet, and it may be hard to find what you’re looking for, at least you can say what you think without being shouted down. This makes it possible for unpopular ideas to be expressed. And if you know history, the most important ideas often are the unpopular ones…. That’s what’s important about blogs, not that people can comment on your ideas. As long as they can start their own blog, there will be no shortage of places to comment.
Joel Spolsky, also in 2007, talking about Dave Winer’s original post:
Dave is absolutely right. The way to give people freedom of expression is to give them a quiet place to post their ideas. If other people disagree, they’re welcome to do so… on their own blogs, where they have to take ownership of their words.
A couple of things of note here. One, I disabled comments on this site before reading these quotes. But, I feel every bit of them and wholeheartedly agree. I’ve had a couple of comments on here from one very nice fellow, and that’s great. It feels good to know when you’ve connected with someone.
However, I named this site A Calm in the Chaos because it’s a break from the rest of the internet for me, a place where I can quietly post my thoughts without the in-my-face influence of other people’s thoughts. A set of nice comments now could easily devolve into something stupid once toxic individuals find this space. I talk introspectively here a lot, and that’s not the space for someone to be a shithead.
I mentioned in the past week that it feels good to make a connection with folks through this site. I’m really happy I’ve connected with my personal friends over it. But, in order to maintain those good vibes, I’m controlling what I can control and keeping things quiet on the surface.
But, that comes to the second note. If you really disagree with me on something, then post it to your own site and own your words. I stand on something here. Do the same for yourself. That’s all.