Why would you turn comments off?

29 Replies Christopher Roberts

Why would you ever turn off comments?

There is the question for today. I can see no valid reason. I have already written about how comments are the fire of the blogosphers, how they are (in most cases) vital to success.

Technology Bloggers readers, I ask you why would you turn off comments and prevent people from broadcasting their opinion via the medium of commenting?

Technology Bloggers LogoWhen I find a blog that has turned off comments, it really annoys me. I can’t work out why you would turn them off.

Do you turn of comments? Why?

Do you know someone who has turned off comments? Ask them why.

The real juicy content in this article will hopefully be in the comments!

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Categories: Blogging
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Written by Christopher Roberts
Founder and editor of Technology Bloggers, Christopher is passionate about sustainable technology and environmental initiatives. He wants to popularise critical thinking, promote responsible innovation, and excite you about the world around us.

29 thoughts on “Why would you turn comments off?”

  1. DiNaRa

    Maybe such bloggers don’t know how to turn comments on? It can be an issue because some people start blogging having no idea about some mechanisms.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I do turn of comments on things like that, but they aren’t really blog posts are they, its more of a page.

      Reply
  3. Joshua

    I would never turn comments off. Of course, if it’s your blog/site, you may “rule” it however you like, but i believe in a rather “libertarian” rule rather than an authoritarian one, and this means allowing annoying comments to exist even if they are… well, annoying.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I totally agree with you Joshua, I think it’s always important to let people voice their opinion, no matter how much you agree with them or not.

      Reply
  5. Chadrack@Making Money Blogging

    Hi Christopher,

    I think this is really a big issue because I’ve seen some bloggers do this and I wonder what their motive is.

    But like DiNaRa mentioned, it could be out of ignorant of what they are doing. Personally I do not turn off my blog comments, not even in old posts! However, I had an experience some time ago. I published an article and never cared to see how it showed up before running off to do other things. A couple of days later when I checked I discovered there were no comments on that post and on looking very carefully I discovered the comments were off. I wondered what happened since comments were on by default. It was only after I opened the post on edit mode I discovered I mistakenly turned off comments on that post before publishing! So if the blogger did not really know some of these things he could be closing the door to comments.

    But besides that, there are many people who are using a blogging platform not because they are “bloggers” but because they needed a place to put down their thoughts. People like these may want to shut out the comments.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I see your point Chadrack. It is possible people do it by accident.

      If you just want to jot down your thoughts, why not do it in a diary, or if you don’t want to do it online with no comments (beats me why you would, you must be writing for a reason!) you could just create a website…

      Thanks for the thoughts m8 🙂

      Reply
  6. Jakk from Technology News

    A good example of a technology website with no comment form is t3.com. They turn off comments because they would rather people connect through social networks and not use their site as one. It also requires no management.

    If you recieve over 1000 comments a day, and have limited resources, turning them off is the only thing you can do.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I can’t believe a site like that would turn comments off! They should have really tightened up their comment policy. Made sure only really really valuable comments got through. Or forced users to create an account, that would have slimmed down the numbers… Turn it off? Bad idea!

      Reply
  7. Anna

    I know one case when I would like to turn comments off – when I have something to say and wouldn’t like people express their opinions on this issue. For example, when it is the message to some spammers 🙂 I don’t want to see their comments – in all other cases, comments are welcomed.

    Reply
  8. John Soares

    I’ve seen a few top-level people who turn comments off, with Seth Godin being the prime example. They may feel they don’t have the time to read and moderate comments, let alone answer any.

    That said, turning off comments puts a barrier between the blogger and the reader — the communication is only one-way.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I knew about Seth John, but I don’t understand his logic…

      If you don’t have the time to read comments, don’t. When you get time do, but if you don’t, other commenters will often reply to peoples comments – I do it all the time!

      “That said, turning off comments puts a barrier between the blogger and the reader — the communication is only one-way.” – I completely agree with you on that John!

      Reply
      • John Soares

        Overall I agree with you. It can happen that people start arguing in comments, or there are some problems with spam.

        I’ve read a few bloggers who say they get hundreds of spam a day. The spam mostly gets caught by Akismet, but the bloggers feel honor-bound to check the spam for any caught in error.

        And yes, they should use the Growmap plugin that you have!

        Reply
        • Christopher (admin team)

          I use Akismet and Growmap together John. My spam?
          Well the blog has way over 150 comments, and so far I have had 0 automated spam comments, and around three user submitted spam comments. GASP stopped automated spam comments, and Akismet filtered the rest!

          Reply
  9. Elephant's Eye

    I recently came across a blog about finding the balance in life. Her own solution was to turn off comments – because she doesn’t have time to visit blogs, or reply to comments. She does workshops. Her blog has become just a commercial website. Come, book your workshop, and go already.
    It makes her blog somewhat dead. Curiously, her Last Post With Comments, only HAD 5 comments!

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I can see where you are coming from, but as I said to John If you don’t have the time to read comments, don’t. When you get time do, but if you don’t, other commenters will often reply to peoples comments – I do it all the time!

      Thanks for dropping by and adding a comment Diana, great to see you become part of the community!
      Christopher – Admin Team

      Reply
  10. Barbara

    Hi Christopher!
    Turning off comments in a blog is like refusing to speak to your partner in a real relationship. Who would do this?
    I will not ask you to check out my blog for any, but you are welcome to leave a comment!
    Have a wonderful day!

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Turning off comments in a blog is like refusing to speak to your partner in a real relationship. – What a great quote!!!
      Who would do this? – Oh I know a few people… 😉

      Barbara please don’t ask me to check out your blog, I will if I want to. In fact before I even read your comment I checked out your blog and left a comment, so there was no need to ask!

      Reply
  11. Symfony

    Hi, Chris
    I agree with the point that most valuable information is in comments. I always read all comments just to see new ideas and compare with mine. By the way, some bloggers often write controversial posts just to arouse discussion – that can be a real brainstorming session.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I would agree, writing something controversial can be a great way to stir up a debate, that is if you have comments!

      Well done for finding our blog, and welcome to the community!
      Christopher – Admin Team 🙂

      Reply
  12. Josh

    I do hate those blog owners who turn their comments off. It seems like they are not open to more responsibility in maintaining the quality of comments in their blogs that’s why they are turning their comments off. Really much more on that side than the reason that they don’t want to tolerate spamming behavior.

    Reply
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