'Comment-gate'
I found out about a Safari extension that allows for comments at Daring Fireball from a link at Daring Fireball itself. I’m not sure if that counts as irony, or merely happenstance.
In any case, I could hardly wait to try it out, because the site’s owner, John Gruber, is one of the most successful independent bloggers on the Web, and is also famously opposed to having comments on his site.
His reasoning, as I understand it, is that he wants his prose to stand alone, unsullied by what others have to say. If we want to rebut or dispute, we can do so on our own platform.
Some say he commits the same sin as Apple — creating a “closed” system. They say he should be “open” to the conversation. My opinion is that he makes a good point, and is entitled to run his site as he sees fit.
Out of curiosity, I installed the extension and checked out some of the comments. Most of them are thoughtful, some are pointless and some are crude. On top of that, the extension adds “with comments” to the site’s logo in the Marker Felt font that Gruber is known to dislike. It’s like adding insult to injury, much to the merriment of commenters who get the inside joke.
I allow comments at thriftmac, because I often get useful information — such as when someone tells me about a dead link, or lets me know that a certain app is no longer free. They also point out spelling or grammar mistakes, which I appreciate. Plus, they give me an idea of what programs people like the most. (Bomberman, anybody?) And, of course, the comments often amplify points in the article.
The difference, though, is that I’m in control. I can delete offensive remarks and block spam. With Gruber’s site hijacked by an extension, he is left to open to all sorts of mischief. That doesn’t seem fair.
What, then, is he going to do about this? I figure he’s up to one of five things:
a) Sweating bullets.
b) Steadfastly ignoring the whole thing.
c) Quietly working on a way to block it.
d) Preparing a press conference in which he demonstrates the whole thing is overblown.
e) Having a good laugh, because he was the one who created the extension in the first place and the joke’s on us. (Plus he can pull the plug at any moment.)
I hope it’s e.
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2010 in Opinion
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