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The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

Interact

2 comments on Interact

Interact
: I’m not whether to hug him or hire him. Well, I don’t think I’ll do either. So instead I’ll just link to this post about interactivity from a VC, Fred Wilson:

I know a lot of bloggers who turn off comments. They don’t want to have to police all that reader generated content. I know how they feel. I’ve had to delete at least 10 vulgar or hateful comments from my blog since I started blogging in late September.

But I blog because I want to stimulate thought. I want that feedback. And I get a lot of it….

My point is this. The Internet is a two way medium. That’s a big deal. Don’t ever forget that. Your audience aren’t just your readers; they are your knowledge base, your customers, your vendors, your supporters, your antagonists, and most everything else.

So leave the comments on. And listen. And learn.

Amen, blogging brother, amen.

2 responses to “Interact”

  1. Scott Ott Avatar
    Scott Ott

    What he said.
    The well-mannered commenters at ScrappleFace actually draw readers to the site, and maintain a lively dialog that occasionally has something to do with what our ‘vast editorial staff’ has posted.
    The commenters are typically more intelligent, witty and relevant than the ScrappleFace staff. We actually have a feature that allows commenters to subscribe to comment threads under particular stories. At last count, ScrappleFace had received 42,250 reader comments since its inception in 2002.
    Another benefit of comment sections is that poorly-spelled search engine queries often lead to ScrappleFace thanks to typos by commenters who have not the luxury of editing their posts.

  2. hugh macleod Avatar
    hugh macleod

    How come Fred’s pal, Nick ‘Blogger God’ Denton, won’t allow posting on Gawker?
    I bet if Gawker showed a big, obtrusive pop-up ad (the kind you get when you click to Nerve.com articles) every time somebody went into the comment section he’d make a fortune.