minimalist life

Blog posts and news articles contribute information and spark discussions. The quality of discussion depends on the people who comment and also the content of the blog post. Comment moderation keeps spam comments out. Some times a low quality comment straddles the line of becoming spam. It is left to the moderator’s discretion to remove the comment. After this addition and subtraction of comments to an article, the net comments add content of the original article.

Imagine a time before the internet. Random people at a coffee shop or bar read a news article in the evening paper and start a discussion. Sometimes, that discussion gets loud depending on the sensitivity of the issue. This isolated discussion does not have the power to change the course of the topic by itself. It really depends on the people discussing. No matter what the outcome or volume of this discussion, one thing is apparent: each participant can see other participant’s face. They may even know their name. This exposure in identity helps maintain a level of honesty through accountability that anonymous comments in a blog post does not.

The anonymous commentator may or may not share their true views. It is the lack of accountability coming from their anonymity that adds noise to a new reader of the article. At least it adds to the noise when I read. Recently, I got into a lengthy discussion on Bikejax about segregated bike paths. I always sign my comments with my real name and a link to my website. My website shows you my face and gives you a way to contact me directly. The person I was debating with simply signed their name as David. There was no link and no last name. It might as well say ‘Anonymous#1′. I might as well have been talking to a wall!

My Policy

I will switch off comments on all my blogs. You may email me or find me on twitter to discuss each post. On posts not hosted by me that harbor comments, I will comment with my full name and link to my website. I will only respond to those commentators who show some kind of a link to their web presence. Commentators who are either anonymous or have a name that I cant identify personally will be treated as noise.

More Posts about Comments

Seth Godin – Why I Don’t have Comments
Everett Bouge – 7-ways-to-invest-your-time-besides-commenting-on-blogs
ProBlogger – Should Blogs Have Comments?

I went camping for the first time at Suwannee Valley Camp in White Springs FL. Car camping is fairly effortless since one has the luxury or carrying an extra blanket and pillows. The part of the camp ground was devoid of utilities and I had to rely on the main camp buildng for power, wi-fi and bathroom facilities.

AT&T has no 3G coverage in White Springs. Edge takes longer for data transfer and more battery life. Being on a minimalist overdrive,  I switched email from hourly push updated to manual only.

Friday through Sunday, I proceeded to immerse myself in the fantastic folk sounds of guitars, banjos and harmonicas at the Florida Folk Festival. I rode my xtracycle from stage to stage. Every time I used the phone to take a picture, check the weather or tweet (using twitterlink), the Mail app showed no emails (since it has to be opened to update). This kept the phone usage to a minimum. Feedtwit sent me mentions as text messages.

I checked and processed emails once a day in the evening while charging it. Life was uninterrupted.

Technology sometimes makes us do more things. We should hack technology to make life simpler. I am not going to change the manual email update setting. Life is more peaceful this way.