Comments Off ⇥

Amongst many other reasons, this is the primary one as to why comments are typically terrible, as put by Matt Gemmell:

Comments encourage unconsidered responses. You’ve just read an article, you feel strongly about it, and you have a text field just waiting there. When disagreeing, people tend to be at their very worst when writing comments. They use language and tones which they’d never use in email, much less in person. If your blog allows comments, you’re inviting people into your house – but sadly, some of them don’t conduct themselves appropriately.

When I had comments, most were knee-jerk responses. Occasionally I received something of value, but there’s no reason that should be on my website. It isn’t my opinion, and I don’t necessarily support or agree with it. As Marco said, having your own blog is easy and can be free, with services like Tumblr. Short responses are best through Twitter. That way, it’s clear whose opinion it is.