Comments… off

Yesterday, after some code-editing and plugin work (there should seriously be a global switch that comes with WordPress for disabling this) I disabled comments on Very Tired Brain, following suit with other writers that are doing the same and never looking back (Matt Gemmell, Shawn Blanc, Stephen Hackett, etc.) and even MacStories who turned their comments off yesterday. At first I didn’t really understand why these awesome writers wouldn’t want comments on their blog- after all, they encourage conversation. I understood later.

• Comments are unnecessary baggage slowing down the overall speed of the blog post, which readers ultimately want to look at first. Now that mine are removed, everything loads so much quicker, allowing any reader to see what matters to them most- the content. Nobody reads the comments, typically all they care about is the content.
• Even though I don’t really get that many comments (if any) anyway, moderation becomes a burden for any writer, because people lack the basic honor to respect the rules of the Internet.
• Comments get in the way of a smooth, clean flow happening in a post. Makes life messy. People don’t seem to have much time to comment, either.

I’m not trying to discourage conversation, in fact by disabling comments I’m trying to encourage it. If you want to start a discussion over one of my posts, you have a ton of options!

1. Twitter is arguably one of the best networks to start a discussion on any blog post. It’s so much more modern and powerful than the traditional comment system, and I’d love to start something over it! I’m @matthewmascioni on Twitter. Soon I’ll have Tweet buttons on all my posts.
2. Write a reply on your own blog. That’d be really cool. Also very thought provoking.
3. Email me! I love email, and I reply quickly.

Keep the conversation going!