The encouragement to engage visitors in conversations with one’s blog or website could deliver an embarrassment of riches to the publisher – or a rich embarrassment. Few publishers will shun feedback from their site visitors.
There can be great value to be gained from responses to an article from a few thoughtful people.
Steve Outing advocates creating conversation with one’s website in his article on Editor and Publisher. Conversation means “is that the news story when completed no longer ends with publication.”
Substitute “blog post” or “product release” for “news story” and the statement is equally valid. Conversation should be the logical followup. The demand from visitors for such followup should be viewed as a good thing; it validates the worth of the original content.
The problem with such rich conversations comes from their management. For each well-crafted response from an intelligent visitor, scores of less-thoughtful comments, spamming, or complete misunderstandings frequently accompany them.
That kind of feedback can be moderated off the site without difficulty. In fact, junk comments or ones that do not merit a response aren’t the problem with conversations. It’s actually the good commenters who create a problem that can lead to an uncomfortable situation.
Starting out with a few posts online, and a measured posting pace, managing comments and building those conversations can be rewarding. Done well, they greatly enhance a site’s reputation.
As the number of posts increase, and visitorship rises, and conversations grow in number, a site publisher, especially a solo one, will feel the crunch. What happens then? End comments and eliminate the conversations like Yahoo’s Russell Beattie did? Shut them off for a thread that could generate some hostile comments as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did?
It takes a special kind of thinking to plan not just for one’s ascendancy, but one’s downfall. Before starting a number of conversations on one’s site, it is best to plan for the time when those conversations may end. That may mean bringing on more writers, or ending conversations on certain topics after a period of time since publication.
Maybe Dave Winer’s approach, a suggestion that those who want to comment do so on their own sites, may be best. Managing conversations could be a task that some may not wish to do after a certain critical mass is reached. Just make sure the visitors understand that.
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David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
