Deciding to Allow Comments on Your Site
Some blog users say that a blog without comments isn't a blog at all because the point of having a blog, in some minds, is to foster communication and interaction between the site authors and the readers. This belief is common in the blogging community because experiencing visitor feedback via comments is part of what's made blogging so popular. However, allowing comments is a personal choice, and you don't have to do it if you don't want to.
Positive aspects of allowing comments
Allowing comments on your blog lets audience members actively involve themselves in your blog by creating a discussion and dialogue about your content. Mostly, readers find commenting a satisfying experience when they visit blogs because comments make them part of the discussion.
Depending on the topic you write about on your blog, allowing comments sends the message that you, as the author/owner of the site, are open to the views and opinions of your readers. Having a comment form on your site that readers can use to leave their feedback on your articles (such as the one shown in Figure 5-1) is like having a great big Welcome to My Home sign on your site — it invites users in to share thoughts and participate in discussions.
Figure 5-1: Readers use the Leave a Reply form to share their comments.
If you want to build a community of people who come back to your site ...
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