After going seven days without comments, Kumiko has made an updated on what it’s like to have a blog that doesn’t allow comments. After laying out her findings, Kumiko contends that Cash Quests is better off without comments. While I respect that decision and reasoning, you won’t see me turning off comments on John Chow dot Com anytime soon. Here’s why I allow comments on my blog.
Your No. 1 Communication Tool With Your Readership
Nothing gives instant feedback like the comment system. Yes, you will have to contend with some spam and other negative stuff that comes with offering blog comments but those downsides are far outweighed by the upside. Without comments, the only way your readers can talk to you is via email and I get enough emails as it is.
A Blog Without Comments Isn’t A Blog
A blog is a two way communication tool between the blogger and its readership. By removing the comments, you turn off the number one way readers communicate with the blogger. Comments and blogging go hand in hand like peas and carrots. I dare say that a blog without a comment system isn’t a blog.
Without Comments, Your RSS Readers Have Very Little Reason To Visit
Kumiko said her RSS subscription increased by 5% since turning off the comments seven days ago. That’s great but the real money is made on the blog itself because monetizing a RSS feed is far more difficult. The best way to make money off the RSS is to get readers to visit the blog and comments are one of the best ways to do that.
Unless a reader subscribes to the comment RSS, he would need to visit the blog in order to check out the comments. If there are no comments allowed, there’s isn’t much reason to visit the blog. This will result in a page view decrease, which was exactly what Cash Quests experienced.
User Generated Content Means Less Work for You
I find that my daily page views is pretty constant whether I make one post per day or five posts per day. This is because there is always something new for the reader to check out. If there isn’t a new post, I can pretty much guarantee there’ll be new comments to read or respond to.
Content equal traffic and allowing comments means your readers are helping to generate that content, which mean more traffic for the blog and less work for you.
A Blog Is A Community
Despite what Kumiko believes, a blog is a community. A community doesn’t mean everyone has an equal voice. All it means is that everyone can have their voice heard and that is what the blog comment system allows. If you kill that, you kill the community and readers will no longer have a sense of belonging to your blog.
Comments Enhance The Value of a Review
When I ordered my review from Cash Quests, I wasn’t aware that the comments were turned off. That was actually quite upsetting because I wanted to hear the feedback from Cash Quests’ readership as well as Kumiko. Feedback from the readership can sometimes be more valuable than feedback from the reviewer.
I have received more than a few ReviewMe requests saying they are ordering the review because they wanted feedback from the John Chow dot Com readership as well as hear what I had to say. Getting multiple points of views generally allows for better business decision making.
In the long run, I believe that turning off comments will actually hurt Cash Quests’ chance of getting future reviews instead of help it.
It Doesn’t Take That Long To Read Comments
It takes me more time to delete the spam I get in my email everyday than it does to delete blog spam or moderate blog comments. Akismet does a great job at canning the spam and that frees up my time to read or reply to the comments left on the blog.
Getting Comments Is Very Rewarding
Whenever I talk to other bloggers, one of the biggest complaints is not that they get too many comments, but they get no comments. When they do get a comment, they feel absolutely great because it prove someone was reading their stuff and liked it enough to leave them a comment.
I look forward to reading the comment on my blog every time I get back on the computer. Getting comments on my posts is one of the most rewarding part of blogging and I will never turn it off. You can read another view on turning off blog comment over at Blogging Tips.
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{ 148 comments }
Blogs should definitely have comments in place, because, like you said, it provides readers with the instant ability to voice their opinion and/or provide feedback. Far fewer people are motivated enough to use a contact form or send an email than they are to leave a comment. For example, if there was no comment form in place here, I probably wouldn’t have bothered sending John an email.
And yes, getting comments is very rewarding for the blogger, because it gives a good gauge of the level of interest in each post. The number of comments is perhaps more indicative of interest than the number of page views.
You’re right Michael. Receiving comments is quite rewarding and does provide instant feedback. I do miss it, but the emails that I’ve received from readers have provided much more valuable feedback than 90% of comments.
But that would still mean that you’re missing out on the 10% of comments that are actually useful.
True. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. I weighed up the advantages (and disadvantages)of both and went for emails.
You are absolutely right john. I can’t imagine how those people live without having comments from these lovely people
That’s why I’m 100 links to my commentators!
-SeeJay
And it’s that type of link-dropping that influenced my decision. While I’m guilty of doing it myself, I don’t want it on my own site.
I’ll agree with you there Kumiko. For my own blog, I let people say whatever they want, positive or negative, but I remove any blatant link dropping, unless it appears to be genuinely adding to the conversation.
Yup,i also agree..need listen to ppl comment,positive or negative also can….Feel free drop me a comment at my site!!!
I only link-drop if it’s relevant. I’ve done it lately on sites where the comments were on…well…comments, and I had just wrote a post on that. If you have good content and be patient, a top blogger will write a post related to yours, and if there is truly something missing or something that can add value, then you can drop your link in.
Don’t you find value in giving your readers a way to communicate with each other? Regarding the links, why not just delete these comments and make a rule about it?
If you want people to read your blog, then there has to be comments. If you are writing just to write and you don’t care who is reading it, then feel free to shut them down. At least that’s how I’ve always looked at it.
You’re so right there, Goob. If you care enough about what your readers think, then you should leave comments on. Comment moderation is one thing, but completely turning comments off altogether is another.
i just think it’s easier to leave a comment than to write an email about something minor
Yeah, and that’s why people rather do it. Besides – why pass out on all the spam-fighting fun?
I just can’t stand moderated comments.
Sometimes they do tick me off, especially if I really want the blogger to know how I feel about their post. But I don’t mind it as much as having no option to comment at all.
personally, i think kumiko’s doing this as a publicity stunt . . . much like her bold agloco statements . . the “going against the grain” way . . . . reminds me of this quote from that ol’ wise movie “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” . . . “a nail that sticks out gets hammered!”
That’s an interesting thought, he did get on John’s blog for doing it
I think it’s personal prefrence. If you wnat to interact with your audience then let them comment. My first impression of a no-comment blog is always fear on the writers part, for not being able to hanlde the negativity that inevitable associates itself with comments.
Besides, comments maintian variety on your blog, and everyone knows that variety is the spice of life.
your definately right about User Generated Content. I’ve wrote a lot of posts which came from comments on my blog and on others.
I get the impression Kumiko was finding dealing with comments a hassle sometimes so for her this may be a good thing.
JohnChow.com would be strange without comments!
I think that if your blog provides a service to people like mine does, turning comments off would be a mistake simply because that’s how I know what my readers want to see on my blog. I ask them to tell me what they want featured, however my purpose is to provide knowledge that seems obscure to the general public. Maybe in Kumiko’s blog that’s not necessary, it’s more one-sided…different strokes for different folks…
It would be a ghost town! Part of the reason why I frequent this site is that I’m just as interested to read what others think as I am with John’s posts.
Half the fun of reading JohnChow.com is in the comments! Without the discussion that comments bring, a blog is like a college professor who simply talks to themself at the chalkboard.
Would you still feel the same if that college professor was showing you how to quit your job and make a living online?
In a sense, yes.
A big part of university for me was in-class discussion. While the professor’s knowledge and opinions are infinitely valuable, it is also interesting to hear what everyone else has to say on the matter.
From a blogging point of view, it’s re-assuring to hear the experiences of people other than the original poster (blog owner), because it adds credibility. If one guy just talks about how much money he can make using XYZ method and no one re-affirms this assertion, you may have a hard time believing it. If the same guy says the same thing, and then a whole bunch of people comment on how successful they have been with this method too, that gives you some re-assurance. It’s also good to hear stories of people who did not succeed, because then you’d know what methods to avoid. A balanced viewpoint is usually better.
Agreed. Hence, I will always be aiming to provide both points of view in my posts and I would always encourage people to do their own research.
It also gives the writer a way to see what people think about his/her posts. Maybe they can contribute stuff you never though of.
Michael I fully agree with you.
Cash Quests – It seems that on John Chow, because he has a higher volume of comments than any other site I’ve seen, it actually encourages people to leave a comment. So I don’t think the 97% figure is completely accurate.
It really doesn’t matter if a blogger is teaching you how to quit your job and make a living online or a professor is teaching you the skills necessary for a career in Finance or Psychiatry. Discussion is essential to the dissemination of knowledge.
I think the long-term effect of not having comments will begin to present itself given some more time. I can’t imagine it will be a positive change.
My research tells me that 97% of those who read this post won’t leave a comment. Does that stop the information from being disseminated?
I admit that there will be some negative long-term effects, however I’m confident that they will be minor and I’m prepared to accept them as I believe they are outweighed by the advantages.
I agree with you, comments are essential to blogs and I think a blog without comments is just boring.
I’m not sure that I agree with this a “web log” is simply a listing of thoughts and ideas arranged in chronological order. In any case, I’m attempting to move my site away from “blog” and more to “site”.
I guess then you could just call it a content site and not a blog.
Perhaps this is a good move to start a forums or discussion page on your site.
or
Have people register to comment, if they really have something to say they’ll go through the pain of registering. That way you’ll have more serious comments and better ones at that too.
Also, If people were “Rich” they wouldn’t actually subscribe to your site feed, they’d be vacationing in the tropics.
P.S – I think if your writing from a personal perspective, some “personalization” of the site is a good call to make.
I don’t understand why people make BLOG sites without comments. That’s something only people are just all about making money off the site do. The fill it up with ads & hope to get rich.
Is this your site?
http://www.johncow.com
How do you explain Cash Quests which is all about making money but doesn’t display ads?
ad·ver·tise·ment – a paid announcement
“Sponsored posts” are advertisements. “Affiliate links” are advertisements.
Just because don’t have the telltale “ads by Google” under the links. Doesn’t mean you’re to making money off ads.
blah… typos…
you dont*
you’re not* making
there we are ^-^
John Cow isn’t John Chow — although sometimes I think the former thinks they are.
Thanks for you point of view. Whether I’m right or not, it’s definitely an interesting experiment!
I’m quite interested in your thoughts on monetization through getting your RSS readers to visit. By my calculations even if one of your posts receives 100 comments, that is only approximately 1.5% of your RSS readership and I’d predict that it’s less than 1.5% of your daily traffic. How much money would that make?
In terms of pageviews and traffic, you have to keep in mind that my site (not blog
) doesn’t display any advertising and is actually moving away from the little monetization that it does have.
I don’t believe removing comments is for everyone and definitely wouldn’t work on JohnChow.com, but I do believe that it is the right decision to achieve the long term goals of Cash Quests
Unfortunately, even with all your analysis and stats, I still believe that with comments on, it’s a better strategy for the long run.
Talking for myself, I can say that I prefer reading a blog with comments on. It’s just more enjoyable and that’s not something that you can calculate with stats, even if they go up.
And I don’t understand the analysis you just made with 100 comments being 1.5% of RSS readership. That doesn’t make much sense. The point John made is that your RSS readers will go to your blog to view the comments, the number of comments on the blog is irrelevant.
Succeed With This || Your Success Starts Here
True. It would be good if we could measure how many RSS readers visit just to read the comments. The enjoyment factor is indeed a valuable commodity yet if the statistics said that you could earn an extra $5000 per year with no comments, would you keep them?
Well if you can make significantly more money, you would opt for the better strategy of course. But are you sure your stats are THAT conclusive, I mean there’s 2 things here:
1)It’s been running for only 7 days.
2)The increase/decreases are in the range of 5-6%.
This kind of fluctuation happens all the time without any change at all. Unless your stats are in the millions, 5% is very regular and normal. Check your stats back when your blog was with comments and look at the stat from week to week, did they really not fluctuate at least from a few percent?
Yes, 7 days isn’t a long time in statistics and there are actually quite a number of other factors that come into play. The 7 days was compared against the weekly average for the past two months.
At this stage a lot of it is still theory, but I spent a lot of time looking at other blogs without comments and spent even more time doing a discourse analysis to judge what type of readers leave comments. A lot of my theories can’t even be measured with available software so I’ll have to wait for the final verdict.
I’m one of those who ordered a review from John Chow at ReviewMe. So, will I have the privilege?
One more point regarding paid reviews – while many reviewers may be interested in receiving commentator feedback on their site, let’s not forget that I still send targeted visitors at less than $0.20 per click! Beat that AdWords!
I hate blogs without comments, especially better blogs with thought-provoking posts. Even on my newspaper’s website, we are trying to work comments in because user feedback is SO important. But hey, to each his or her own. I guess it’s a personal choice.
The posts that are thought provoking are what make the comments worth it…
I don’t hate blogs without comments per se, but they’re definitely missing out on a lot by disabling it. A blog SHOULD have comments for it to be considered a blog, as John mentioned. But since Kumiko said she’s working toward making Cash Quests more of a site instead of a blog, then I guess everything is settled then.
If people think they have such pressing comments on Cash Quests, they could always hit that contact tab.
I agree, blogs should have comments, otherwise it’s just a website. Nothing wrong with websites without comments, but you loose out on the immediacy of comment making. Oh yeah, and spam.
It’s funny, because even keeping an open mind when I clicked over to Kumikos site, after reading her latest on turning off comments – I wanted to comment!
I feel that if I don’t have a chance to say anything (and I’m not a comment whore), then I feel like that little sense of ownership I had is gone, and I lose interest. Not to say her blog doesn’t have great articles, because it does…but the one thing that keeps me coming back to most other blogs is the ability to voice my thoughts, give praise, or even give criticism if necessary. Without that, it’s like any other website.
I’m trying to understand her reasons for this, and I respect them, but overall I think this isn’t the greatest move, especially in the long run. Her main goal, as she states obviously, is to make money. While it’s still possible, I think she’ll make significantly less in the long run with comments turned off. It seems that for a blog to thrive monetarily, it needs a community to back it up. Look at the “big dogs” in our niche – not many have comments turned off…if any.
I think I speak for more than just myself when I say that I’m not opposed to viewing her site, but my interest will definitely wane as time goes on – especially when a post comes up that I would really like to comment on and want others to see.
In conclusion, I think turning off comments should be nothing more than a case study – at best.
Best of luck to her though.
Exactly – it is just a case study and I’ve never said that they’ll be off forever.
Both Seth Godin and Steve Pavlina have removed comments and still maintained their level of success.
My greatest concern from your comment is that you feel “a sense of ownership” on a site because you can comment. Don’t forget how easy it is for the webmaster to delete your comments forever!
Does your interest wane in TV shows when you can’t comment and share your thoughts?
Seth Godin and Steve Pavlina are on different planes of existence. I’d be really curious as to when they actually turned off the comments…
As far as your concern -I disagree, when you write something, you’re selling it – whether you admit it or not. In order for me to read what you’re writing (on a consistent basis) being able to comment on it is part of the deal. That’s why 99% of bloggers have a blog. They want the feedback. For comparison, when I was going to sell someone a car, the first thing you do is take them on a test drive, and let them drive. That’s called “sense of ownership”, and it’s the first step for them to become my customer. I’ve given them a taste, and usually they’ll come back for more. See what I mean? And yes, comments can be deleted, but if they’re relevant and pertain to the article, then deleting them is very bad practice.
As far as TV shows- hell no my interest doesn’t wane, because we were raised on watching a show, it would end, then we watch another. We were never given a chance to “comment and share our thoughts”. We’re used to it. See where I’m going with this? With blogging, we were all “raised” on commenting and sharing thoughts after an article, so when that’s taken away, then yes, interest will wane!
This is a great reply. TV doesn’t lose your focus without comments because most TV is crap and most of the comments that you would see would also be crap.
That being said, think back to when the first batch of reality shows started. The people who were talking about it around the water cooler formed their own community. That’s how blog readers feel.
I felt the same way. Right after reading her post on turning off comments, I felt really compelled to scroll to the bottom so that I could say something…. and then I realized that I couldn’t.
It’s somewhat ironic that the one post where I really wanted to read comments was about turning off comments.
Shouldn’t all your posts be written so people are involved and want to read/write more?
If I wasn’t going to have comments on my blog I’d at the very least have a forum, like Steve Pavlina does. At least it gives people a place to discuss the topics and read each other’s ideas.
That’s an interesting thought and while I doubt there will be a Cash Quests forum, I am looking at alternative routes for discussion.
See, I like comments more than a forum, because you get the same feedback and a user doesn’t have to sign up for anything. And then that’s another piece of software on top of your Wordpress or whatever platform you use.
Forums are a good alternative if you can get people to join it and post regularly! Nothing sucks more than a dead forum.
I understand where you’re coming from. Comments help build communication with the readers and also are a good form of social proof. If individuals are concerned with spam in which they should be, then they simply can just take the time to moderate the comments on their blog, and if they feel that something. Comments are also good because individuals help add more content to a site; the more unique content equals the more traffic.
make money online
You pointed very well. Comments also motivate you, increase your satisfaction, make you see that your work is appreciated.
I have to agree with You, I’m very happy when people comment on my blog
.
Yeah, I just set up a blog for a company and they didn’t want comments on it. I was like, what’s the point of having a blog then. They just looked at me, eyes all glazed over.
You make many good points- nicely stated!
One Man. One Year. One Goal. Can he do it?
http://www.oneyeargoal.com
It’s interesting that you’d agree with having comments on this site and then use half of your comment to promote your own site. Perhaps the term should shift from “user generated content” to “user generated advertising”?
Your last comment made me a Cash Quest reader! Why not allow comments but delete advertising?
Cash doesn’t have advertisements on the site, at least that is what I thought he said in a comment up above.
Why didn’t you just write “great post” and leave it at that?
This One Year Goal guy has really been spamming this blog lately…. it’s because of people like this that I can start to see why Kumiko would be motivated to remove commenting.
Yup I know what you mean. People leaving comments like that are the reason I switched off the ‘dofollow’ plugin.
It’s pretty easy with wordpress to moderate all comments with links in them. I just make sure no of those that I don’t want get through. It also acts as a deterrent if the post doesn’t get posted instantly (or at all).
Don’t even think of closing them now that I am starting to see some real traffic
Great post! The conversation that comments provide often inspire new ideas for blog posts, as well as letting you know which topics people are actually interested in reading.
Comments, both positive and negative, are such big ego boosts, too. People react to what you say and somehow you feel reassured that your post wasn’t in written in vain.
I fully agree with this post. Even if you think it will be too much of a pain on your site give it a try.
I totally agree with this post!
me too lol. comments are a must. this post has over 141 comments OMG :O
You’re right without comments it isn’t a blog. How will you know if you’re reaching your readers or not if they can’t tell you? I tend not to comment on moderated ones either. I want it up now and want to read others now, not maybe a day later when the author gets back and it’s no longer relevant. Part of the reason I come here so often is i like reading a post and then having 40 comments of which to sift through. It’s also another something to throw in your procrastination site circle.
You know if you’re reaching them because your statistics software shows that they’re coming back.
I swear I’m not trying to argue here…well, maybe I am!
7 days of stats is no measure, by any means, of how this will pan out. Prove us all wrong and show us the stats after a couple of months or longer. Plus, I’m sure you’ll have more traffic from this post alone, so that will likely skew any solid results.
Even though I think it’s a bad move, I also think it’s a very ballsy move for someone who wants to make money online.
If it ends up being the best move you ever made, you have my apologies. But if I had to bet cash right now, I definitely wouldn’t bet on this strategy.
Again, good luck!
I completely understand your points. I agree that 7 days isn’t conclusive – but it’s a start. In the end, it all works towards making money online as it may serve a lesson to others on what *not* to do! It’s all part of a quest and every quest contains a number of mountains – but mountains also have valleys!
Look how many comments are here for Cash Quest! Of course it’s worked. I bet that there will be comments on there by August.
Isn’t Kumiko just great link bait from a guy in Australia?
Haha! I’m Australian!!
But seriously, if you’re going to put something like that out there, at least have the decency to post your name or url or something.
I thought I read on a blog that some guy who had a comment from kumiko checked his log and saw the isp was adam internet in australia. Maybe I was wrong Great link bait if its true.
Hi John,
I could not agree with you more. The #1 thing I love about my blog is reading the comments. Sometimes the comments can have more overall content than the blog post!
Comments definitely creates a sense of community, otherwise, it’s not a blog, but just a daily newsletter.
Very great points John. I love comments, and I love to comment. Receiving and responding to comments on my blog keeps me going. It’s SO rewarding.
Comments are good in my opinion. Coolest comment i ever got was from an olympic snowboarder who was mentioned in one of my articles. I didnt get many visitors so i would go weeks without comments.It looked pretty legit. I guess he was looking himself up on google.
but do this commentors make you more money interms of adsense?
or this is only important for review me ?
More readers means more money. If people feel involved with a site they will be back. Look at how many times John gives back a link if you’ve written a great posting or posed a good question.
First, we had email listservs (I loved the out-of-office replies!). Then Newsgroups (remember USENET?). Then Forums were the way to go.
Now Blogs and comments are “in”. What’s next?
One thing for sure: the “comment whores” out there exists as in the Forum world, just to bump up their number of posts. And for what? to become a “Senior Member”?
In the Blogs, you award them with a spot on the “Top Commentators”. Some deserve it, and some don’t!
I think that this is perfect for all bloggers, because we can see two opposite sides in a topic such leaving or not comments on, I see what John is saying but I cannot let escape the oportunity of what Kumiko is doing, so, I am going to watch very closely cashquests to see the results of the case study . . .
We all have great expectations from Cash Quests now, don’t we…
A blog without comments… Isn’t that an ordinary website? I have to agree that “A Blog Without Comments Isn’t A Blog.”
Blogs may have started out as online diaries, but they have evolved. Interactivity through comments is one of the things that makes a modern blog a blog. Without that kind of interaction with readers, a blog is just a website with a content management system.
What it comes down to is whether a blog or a website is the best way to present and promote your content. I have blogs and I have websites. I also have websites with blogs.
Weigh the pros and cons and go with what works best. But, don’t call it a blog if you don’t allow comments. In that case, it’s a website with a CMS.
I’ve only just begun blogging and though I’ve not yet gotten any I can’t imagine not giving people the option to comment. That would be like owning a store and telling people they can’t talk while they are in it. I suppose it could make someone’s life easier, but I’ve never known anyone’s bottom line to grow (unless we’re talking about bodies) from an easy life.
My Blog is only two days old and is hungry for comments! I swear to never turn them off for eternity.
One thing I’ve wondered, is do comments appear in search engine results? If so, isn’t it worth having other people adding to your content?
Yes, they do. The links left may be nofollow (unless the blog has the anti-nofollow plug-in), but the actual text is still spidered by Google. I know that I’ve found my name in Google from a comment I left on someone’s blog.
Hey John,
Just had a quick read of your ebook “How to make money online with John Chow dot com”, and from the small bits that I read it is great. It is full of great tips, ideas and suggestions that I am going to try out for my blog, which if anyone is interested is @ michael-makemoneyonline.blogspot.com
I will be taking up your advice on getting my own domain as the above addy is just too long.
Any suggestions on what I can call the new site??
All suggestions welcome.
Thanks,
Mike
Why not just use your own name as your domain to start?
Andy
Yeah I was thinking of that Andy. People usually call me Mike folan, so I was thinking maybe mikefolan.com or dot whatever is avaiable.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Mike
michael-makemoneyonline.blogspot.com
thats right john, u have a great idea on how important comments in blogging, thats why blog is not a blog without it. comments open to all suggestions and widened your site because of different cultures worldwide exchanging ideas! aside from that, i also benefited from the back links in your site!
Totally agree with John Chow
It makes sense to not allow comments if your sole purpose is to make money. No comments, means no extra links from ‘commenters’ which means less ways of leaving your site without clicking on an ad or affiliate link.
On the other side of the coin though, it kills any sense of community you may have built up.
You’ve hit the nail on the head! It all comes down to:
money vs community
I know what side I’m on but I also think it’s perfectly find for someone to take the other side. It’s all about matching your goals with your actions.
You can do both though. Many successful bloggers have.
I’m with Casey here. John, for example, has money AND a pretty solid community — LOTS of them, if I might add.
thats great john, its really nice to have comments in your blog, like a country where democracy is in place.
Right, I wanted to give my 2c on the whole situation. This is what I believe, and it’s not a personal attack on anybody.
I have never thought Cash Quests was a particularly well written blog. The money making posts were at times pointless, and the constant eroding of the community with “Because I want to make money!” attitude just didn’t sit well with me.
But I still read it. And so did lots of people.
It has captured the hearts and minds of bloggers like no other, mine included. I have no idea why, though my ex girlfriend, herself a prolific blogger (though more for the social side of things rather than monetization) said she was “The Blogging Equivalent of a Car Crash
Waiting To Happen”, that someday she’d annoy a section of her readers so much that they’d leave, or she’d annoy an A-List blogger so much that
they’d turn on her. It a horrible reason to read a blog, but the more and more I think of it, the more and more I fell into this category. There was part of me that wanted her to fail, and I don’t know what psychologically made me think that way, maybe jealousy (I perceive her
as a bad writer, yet she’s been more successful than me within a year of blogging than my five), I don’t know.
After the switching off of comments, I no longer read this blog – and unsubscribed from the RSS feed, and I don’t know whether my unsubscription was just a drop in the ocean or whether more people did so (I unsubscribed mainly for the “lack of commenters means I got more money and more RSS readers!” comment, I just felt insulted by it).
However, I am genuinely surprised at the passion showed by myself and a lot of other people into one blogger, who we will never meet or even receive a comment off. Psychologically she has captured the hearts and minds of her readers. If she blogged about how she achieved this feat, I may resubscribe.
So maybe, if she can evoke a post from John Chow and nearly 100 comments just by switching comments off, she may be a great blogger, after all.
This is very interesting indeed. You’re not the first ex-commentator to come out and say that they never liked Cash Quests. It makes me wonder why you and others left so many comments on my site in the first place? User generated advertising??
I never said I never liked it, I said that I didn’t think it was particularly well written. You can like something and admit that it’s not compositionally as good as something else. You wouldn’t say TV shows such as Soap Operas are particularly well written and acted, compared to the works of Shakespeare performed by classically trained actors, but in the UK at least – Soap Operas are more popular nowadays.
I give you credit, you did achieve something that a lot of bloggers would dream of, a successful blog that was popular. Lord knows if I switched off comments nobody’d care.
My mistake! I will consider changing the name of the site to the The Bucks And The Beautiful
That’s an awesome name. Go for it
At time i want to leave a comment at cash quest, but couldnt find the comment button, at time i want to think to forget this blog, but it just kept me coming back though feeling frustrated but still i love the contents within!
Kumiko, when you were on blogspot, did you have any problems with your comments, how you actually attracted so much comments which i saw…any secrets to share..
true that!!
Personally, I’m not going to be disabling the comments system any time soon, either.
Steve
I think every blog should allow comments, because without comments, the blog is sowewhat “without life”…
Getting comments is one of the best parts of blogging – depending on the topic its often the positive reinforcement that you needed to keep you going.
Real quick. Comments don’t hurt nor do they help. Leave them on or off, if someone has something to say they will do it via email or telephone if provided. Maybe you guys should read http://www.useit.com/alertbox/articles-not-blogs.html.
John said “Without Comments, Your RSS Readers Have Very Little Reason To Visit”. That’s far from the truth. I know there are tons of people who subscribe to RSS feeds for robust information and will not even leave a comment. Does John Chow read the comments to his post? I rarely see him dropping in and posting his opinion to comments. This is interaction with the people John, let us know what you think from time to time.
I totally agree with Kumiko. I am sure your Blog will grow based on your content and not the comments. Keep up the good work.
Yes I do read all comments. Whether I reply to all comments is another thing.
John, you have so many comments so there is not much free time in your life…
I read all the comments on John’s blog, too. 100+ comments looks like a lot, but it’s so easy to skim through all of them in one seating actually.
Ironically, I think I spend as much or more time reading comments as I do reading actual posts. So it is possible that by turning off comments on a blog you are eliminating 50%+ of the readable content of the site.
Agree that we should allow comments on our blogs. All we need to do is to check through every few days to remove spammy posts!
This is so true – a blog without comments is just not a blog. I avoid visiting blogs that don’t allow comments as the blogger usually comes over as egotistical.
Comments are good but I would be scared of Spam.
Don’t let spam get the best of you, WM — they are, after all, worthless.
I believe Akismet takes great care of your spam problems…
Until now, Akismet has not make any mistake on capturing spam comments on my site, because I don’t really have as much comments as John Chow.
So, my question is, does Akismet make any mistake at all?
You gotta have comments. There is no two ways about it if you are going to run a blog. Not to mention the fact that comments are a great way to communicate, make friends, etc.
I think you should do what makes you more comfortable. Some like not having to deal with replies, some prefer to have lots of interaction. Overall I don’t think it really has a great enough impact on your earnings, so the only thing that does matter is how having them or not having them makes you feel.
I agree John. A blog is a form of two-way communication whereas a website is generally one-way. But, how will the comment landscape and the decision to allow comments change with start up companies such as BuyBlogComments?
Do you plan on purchasing comments?
http://www.impaul.com
Do I need like I need to purchase comments?
If you’d also purchase comments i won’t be able to find my browser’s scroll bar anymore
Comments in blogs bring up conversations. There great.
What happened to Kumiko’s cute photograph and pink design?
Well written. I definitely agree.
It’s great to see productive conversations within the comments.
Also, you get to sit back and do nothing, while the valuable content on your site grows.
I personally think blog comments are not that good as it is presented over here.
It brings in trouble and it brings in spam. All it can bring in is content which is seldom good enough and we have to scan through 1000 of comments and approve – disapprove the good ones from the bad ones.
This thus wastes time and the blogger is not able to make descent posts as all his time is just spent in deleting the spam comments.
Comments as discussions would also be somewhat bad idea. As forum is the word that I would use for discussions not the blog.
Sorry friend if I sound offending but it is not the case. It is just some of my opinions if you consider them.
Thanks.
Allowing comments is the best thing since, uh, sliced bread? Commenting on blogs is a good outlet for those of us who have more… violent tendencies? Commenting on John Chow’s blog is more fun than kicking my dog, and the neighbors are less likely to give me dirty looks! Hooray!
Yes, I strongly feel that allowing people to comment is the best thing you can do to your blog. I know it becomes an extra task to see the spammers and removing those comments, but it is worth!
I don’t see why anyone would want to turn off comments. It lets me know people are actually reading my posts.
It’s the same with me. And they notice if I made anything wrong (broken link for example), so I can fix it quickly!
Having just started another blog – although mercifully I’ve paid for a domain and Wordpress – I fully endorse the use of comments!
It’s one of the things that can give a blog a unique character.
Jim
What happens when you get 1000s of crap comments for every post?
For someone who disabled comments on her own blog, she’s sure enjoying making use this blog’s comment facility!!
I don’t know what to offer next without comments. I love them. I cannot imagine coming up with a hundred or more articles per year without input from readers.
I think the no-comment adherents are wrong, wrong, wrong.
Who cares if some are crappy? Most of mine are right on target.