I write completely for the comments, as I really like the interaction. I know that at times I pick things to write about not because I have some urgent knowledge to impart, but because I know it will spark conversation.

When entries are written in encyclopedic style, there may be no need, or room, for comment. Sometimes the best knowledge transfer takes place that way. When the grey areas are involved, the probability of interaction is high.

That is really sad. I have noticed though it is occurring on a lot of levels, not just blogging. I think it comes down to a lack of personal confidence in a lot of people these days, they just do not feel what they have to say is worth anything. I used to run a few different groups, and I ended up shutting down most of them due to lack of member participation. I found that on average, about one in every hundred people would participate, so you had to really get a lot of members to get any participation. A large amount of people have become very complacent in themselves and in their lives, so it only makes sense it would bleed over into the blogging sphere. It would be so cool to have a revolution of action occur, and everyone would get up off their asses and actually be a part of the world they live in. How cool would that be?

I think that comments are effective. I write largely for myself but I like to hear from my readers about what they like, what they don’t like - and even some banter every now and then about what we find important or useful.

I wish I had time to reply to every single blog post I think is cool or interesting, but there’s just too much information out there

It’s probably just due to summer, everyone is just out and about instead of being on their computers.

“I just don’t think that any of these plugins (or social networking buttons, for that matter) are worth the space or effort.”

Amen!

If all you’re looking for is hits, they (especially the social sites) might or might not be of some use, but if you’re looking for serious readers who are interested in the material, all that stuff seems to make little difference.

I don’t run ads with my blogs and, frankly, I don’t care how many of my links turn up on FaceBook. Given what I blog about (Buddhism and Politics), what do I care if some fifteen year old, or porn wannabee, wants me as a buddy — or whatever they call them? If he or she has a brain in his head, they’ll come back — if they’re interested. I don’t write for lightweights.

Ditto links from other sites. I have one link on one blog — from one magazine that I respect — that means more to me than all the fluffbunnies on MySpace. I never trade links for the same reason: who cares? If you want to link to me on my merits, fine. But I’m going to link to you for the same reason — or not at all.

There — I said it, and I’m glad. :p

How do I unsubscribe from this mailing list ?

I agree comments are dead, not that my site generates much traffic. I wish there was a simple solution, it seems ‘clickcomments’ is a small step in the right direction but for me it seems like a valuable option. Any feedback is good feedback at this point in the game for me.

In general, I’m afraid I’m guilty of not posting my own comments on your site. I try to comment on your youtube shows but I have started to be more active in the commenting on the stories in your lockergnome newsletters.

The first thing that struck me about ClickComments is that ALL of the choices are positive feedback. Oh, give me a BREAK! 99+% of the blogosphere is crap (probably about time to revise Sturgeon’s Law), and they don’t even have one negative comment choice? Furrfu!

I am one of those people who don’t usually comment to a blog unless the subject matter really fires me up. Why? Maybe it is because I have a life away from the keyboard. Maybe it is just sensory overload from trying to process too much information. Maybe (and no offence meant to you, Chris) I just don’t hang on the blogger’s every word as if they were some Jim Jonesian character, and I don’t feel the need to bolster their ego by responding to everything they post. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for some of us to work, eat, sleep, interact with our families, AND take time to comment on every tidbit we choose to read on the internet. Get over it. Be happy SOMEONE is reading and/or watching your content!

OK Chris, you’re on. This is my second post to a blog. My first was a couple of weeks ago in response to Diana Huggins’ article on saving pdf files from MS Office 2007,
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/windows/2007/06/29/save-a-file-as-a-pdf-in-word-2007
This was one of the rare posts that got a lot of feedback, mostly because we thought she was off the mark in her advice. Since she was asking for feedback I thought she might publish a retraction/correction/clarification to set the record straight. I haven’t seen anything yet.
If you want us to give you feedback, show us that you’re listening. Personally, I’m going back to passive mode.

Linden