Yeah, I stand by what I have said before: blog comments are bad. First of all they make it all too easy for people to respond without really thinking too hard. Posting a comment can be anonymous and gives people the opportunity to just attack you if they don't like what you said. So yeah... if anyone wants to respond to my blog, there is AIM, there is email, and there is good old-fashioned face-to-face talking. This system works well. People who might otherwise write mean, brainless things are thwarted because they lose their anonymity and it is too much effort. People who have an honest opinion they want to share will take the time to go out of their way and share it.
Second of all, I don't believe it is anybody's business to butt in and respond to my personal feelings and opinions anyway. This is my blog. It is my personal space. It belongs to me. If you disagree or dislike or have an opinion about anything I said, you can write about it in your own blog. Those who really feel the need to comment can contact me in one of the aforementioned ways, but, this is my space and as such should be respected. Likewise, I generally refrain from commenting on other people's blogs, because that is their space to state their opinion and I respect that. And yes, there have been a few times when I've read something that bugged me on someone else's blog and I came back and wrote my thoughts on it in here. ;)
As of today, I have seen a prime example of reason number three that comments are a bad idea: they are a popularity contest. Someone with many comments thinks "wow, look how many people read my blog! I rule!" Someone with few comments, like my friend, who is already depressed and seeking comfort most of the time, post pathetic entries about how no one reads their blog because no one ever comments on it. Pathetic I tell you. That was an exceptional circumstance where I actually DID post a comment, a long drawn-out message that he is being stupid and needs to get over it. Note that I have also returned to my own blog to rant about comments... again.
Personal blogs are supposed to be just that: personal. It's yours, it's about you, and you do whatever you want with it. You should write in it because you feel like writing in it, and not because you want people to read it. Write for me, and not for my readers. I have been through this with myself so many times! I honestly have no idea who reads this stupid thing anymore, and I really don't care. Not knowing is liberating. I can make up my own audience with each entry. Sometimes I ponder a thought and it's not meant for anyone, just something that goes off into the abyss from whence it came. Sometimes I write to Joe. Sometimes I have in mind that I'm writing to an audience of people that agree with me about something, and sometimes I come off as trying to explain and sell my opinion to people who might not agree (Exhibit A: this entry). Sometimes my audience is just me. Those are the entries I look back on a year or two later and think "Hey I forgot about that!" -- just me writing a memory so I can look at it later. I don't know who my audience is so my audience can be anyone I want. I think that is the point of having a personal blog. Not to get people to read it -- simply to have a place where you can say whatever you want, to whomever you please.
So yeah, I am on my soapbox once again, and the fact that I'm writing this in my own blog which has no comments, means that Skippy can't steal it. ;) (Read Wyl's blog [AND the stupid comments] to understand that one.) Comments are stupid. People are stupid. Blogs are stupid too. Life is full of stupidity. But comments for personal blogs are just a dumb idea.
I could write more but I'm just too sick of thinking about it. :P