In the response to Monday’s post, a better blog, some folks asked me why I didn’t want comments. I did not intend to imply that I don’t value the opinions and thoughts of my audience. Rather that blog comments are a poor medium for discussion.

Firstly, commenting generally has a low barrier to entry. It is easy to belt out a hurried, flippant, or poorly considered response. By moving the comments off the site the barrier to entry is higher; The responder is more likely to invest time in the reply.

Related to this, the reply has a stronger attachment to the author’s identity, and “…they’re forced to defend their ideas on their own turf…” It forces a level of consideration that, without fail, results in a higher quality exchange of ideas.”

Thirdly, comments are a ghetto filled with second class citizens. Your opinion is less valued than that of the post’s author. This is why I added the miscellany (the now removed wiki) to my site. Every user has as much power there as I do, including the ability to edit their own and others words.