According to BWHGeek, there are over 152,000,000 blogs on the Internet.
Even more fascinating, additional data from BWHGeek found that a new blog is created somewhere in the blogosphere every half second.
That, friends – is a lot of blogs.
Although the reasons that people blog are as varied as the blogs themselves, they all share the same core purpose – to express thoughts or opinions. The Internet gives them a global platform to do just that so it's not surprising that blogs are so popular.
But are some bloggers missing the point?
Many blogs engage in comment moderation or have comments disabled. While this may prevent spam and other nefarious stuff, it also prevents readers from sharing their opinions, points of view or thoughts on what they have just read.
That's not nice.
Imagine attending a public forum where a speaker is speaking on a subject of great interest to you, but you can't ask questions, share your thoughts or voice your opinion on anything that was said because, before coming through the door, you were fitted with a muzzle.
How likely would you be to attend another one of their public appearances?
It's the same thing in the blogosphere.
When bloggers disable comments or engage in comment moderation, they are essentially telling their audience, “Your opinions are of no value to us. We don't want to hear them. However, if we DO have a change of heart and actually let you speak on our platform, we're going to censor what you say to be sure that it's in total agreement with our point of view. Otherwise, your words will never see the light of day.”
Bloggers who engage in either form of comment censorship may want to reconsider.
Your blog isn't the blog.
It's only one blog out of a million and a half other blogs.
If you make it clear (by employing these tactics) that you have no interest in the commentary, thoughts or points of view of your audience, why should they have any interest in yours?