Here’s what’s really bugging me right now: Comments. Comments in blogs, in particular. There are two aspects to this that bug me.
1. A good blog attracts comments. Lots of comments, if it’s any good. The better the blog, the more comments there are. The more comments there are, the longer they take to read — and because I have no desire or intention to read them, the more commments I am refusing to read. But because I want to treat other people’s writings with respect, including comments, I end up feeling guilty because I’m not reading their comments. But that’s not my fault! I did not write the really good blog, nor did I write the dozens (sometimes hundreds of comments). Yet there that are, and here I am.
(Of course, there’s that part where if I add a comment, it’ll just be lost in the mix and how is anyone going to know what brilliant thought I had on the subject? I ask you: Is that fair?)
2. Comments on things I write. Over at BlueOregon, I can turn off comments. I do not have to give permission to anyone who comes along and wants to add (if you can call it that) to my brilliant writing. I can make my piece stand-alone. But I don’t. I leave my pieces open to comments. I don’t have my choice, not if I honestly believe in democracy and free speech. Which I do.
But damn! Some of these people; what the hell are they thinking? I write about religion, and the next thing I know, these people are talking about guns! Dear God, can they not stay on topic? Isn’t that one of the things we lefties get so wrong: we can’t keep to a simple topic?
There is, in short, no quality control. Either you allow comments or not. Disallow them, and your enter the world of Rove. Allow them, and you can enter a world of pain.
If anyone bothers to read this and then bothers to comment — please, spare me irony.
