Lesson No. 1

March 18, 2006 by Jeff Jarvis

Georgina Henry, an accomplished newspaper editor, makes the switch to blogging, heading up The Guardian’s week-old Comment is Free, and she takes away the most important lesson:

he randomness, that sense of never quite knowing who’s going to post when and what, is both the joy of the new site and slightly scary. It’s the lack of control you feel you have at times – and control, I realise, is the one of the hardest things for editors to cede.

I’ve been most impressed by the quality of discourse in the comments.

  • http://www.UH2L.com Atul

    Yes,

    As a relatively new blogger, it is interesting to see who pops in, but aside from some spam comments, I have had nothing but good contributions to the discussions. With random topics like I have, the only commenters I can count on are the ones in the Roundtable that I’m a part of.

  • http://highered.prblogs.org/ Andrew Careaga

    It’s an interesting blog, and I see that you’re among the contributors.

    AC

  • http://wakawaka.com Sally Maiser

    Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and signed in for Guardian Unlimited blogs.

    That’s incredibly ironic for a blog called “Comment is Free” when it is anything but that. Free “registration” is NOT free because I have to hand over info about me. Call me a privacy hound but guess what? Fuck you very much.

    Mr. Jarvis, you have to be the most hypocritical person in the blogosphere to go along with this crap. Did you not blast the Washington Post for their handling of a comment situation gone out of control where there was not a trace of quality in the discourse? WaPo didn’t then (and doesn’t now) require registration for commenting. You even balked at the suggestion that WaPo should start requiring registration to maintain some level of civility because “of the speed bump of having to register.” How come you didn’t consult the Guardian on this crucial point?

    Commenting SHOULD be free and I wish the Guardian (AND HuffPo for that matter) would get their act together and stop putting up walls.

  • http://www.buzzmachine.com Jeff Jarvis

    Sally: Everybody does commenting and registration differently. Don’t forget that most newspapers out there still don’t allow any commenting. So I will take whatever steps in the right direction that I see. I, too, don’t like walls. But to be honest, I will say that sometimes where I see walls, I do see a higher quality of discourse. I don’t want to believe that there is a connection and I won’t accept that there is yet, but I have to be open to the possibility and watch with interest. Is the discussion on Guardian forums more interesting to me because the sparks of conversation are also interesting or because of registration. I certainly hope and still believe it’s the former. I didn’t go through the process at CommFree (as one of my commenters there called it) because I’m a Guardian columnist (see my full disclosures) and so I was registered via that. I don’t know how much they require.

  • http://wakawaka.com Sally Maiser

    I regret I jumped the gun. Looks like they only require an email address and country location (postal code too but only if you live in US or UK), which all could be faked so I guess it’s not really a big deal. I’m sorry for speaking without fully investigating first. I guess that’s the blogger in me! :)

  • http://writingup.com/ashok ashok

    I thought that discussion we were having in the Iraq post was halfway decent. I also like the fight that I’m having with some people at Bookninja.

    Looks like I’ll have to fake registration for the Guardian to see these excellent blogs. I hope bugmenot works.

    Mr. Jarvis, I should say this: it’s fine to be a hypocrite. Moral purity can only be demanded of the young, who are innocent because they need not get their hands dirty in business or politics, those things which make the world run. Anyone who wants to treat people well and stand for something and get stuff done is going to be a hypocrite – it’s the inevitable consequence of wanting to live well and for others.

  • http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk Neil McIntosh

    Sally – it was my call to impose registration for commentisfree, based on our experiences with our other blogs (which do not require any registration, or even a valid email address). We found the no-reg option worked well until we hit a certain level of traffic. Then the trolls took over. I’m glad you find the reg reasonably lightweight in terms of hassle… I think the discussion on the blog is a little better as a result. Time will tell…

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