2012-09-02

Signs of the negative social mood: blogs close the comments section

More blogs are closing their comments section as the desire to retreat from society advances. Here's Walter Russell Mead's exit:

The End of an Era: Comments Are Closed
We apologize to the readers who participated in or valued the comments section on the blog, and especially to the well mannered and thoughtful contributors who never tried to hog the microphone, launch flame wars, smuggle hate speech into the comment page, rant about personal pet peeves repeatedly and predictably, let partisan or ideological animus run wild or otherwise abuse what at its best was a forum for reflection and thoughtful debate. To such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven, and your insights were appreciated, your praise cherished and your thoughtful censure was a cause for reflection. You know who you are, and this would be a much poorer world without you.

For the rest, we wish you well, and are confident that you will find many opportunities both in cyberspace and in the meat world for the kind of exchanges and conversations you seek.
Comments are an essentially free service for a website to provide. Of course there's a lot of noise in the comment section, but the point is that people go to that site to discuss the particular ideas of a blog. If there's no place for the conversation, it might take place elsewhere, but most likely, it won't take place at all.

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