applematters

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The Great Comment Count

Jason Kottke has a piece about stories that get record numbers of comments. In my experience writing and running Apple Matters there is a great thrill in seeing stories take off with a ton of comments. Indeed, the thrill is so good I sometimes found myself thinking about it while writing. I could also tell that some of the other writers on Apple Matters were doing the same thing. This is dangerous. Trying to write for commenters leads to stories that aren’t genuine.

So I decided to set a policy for the site and make it clear to everything. As a publisher I would much rather have a well-written piece on Apple Matters that doesn’t get a lot (or any) comments than a story that is just inflammatory.

That said, the site is as much about the readers (and commenters) as much as it is about the writers. Building community is important, and if stories aren’t getting any comments (with the occasional exception) I feel like we aren’t engaging our reader base.

Not sure though, care to comment!

Posted by Hadley Stern on 03/18 at 07:30 AM
applematters • Blogging • community • (2) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
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