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Should I re-enable comments on Silicon Florist…?

There was a time when comments were a robust form of discussion Silicon Florist. Where people would show up, read some posts, and share their opinions. Or maybe highlight what they were working on. Or ask questions that led to other posts which led to other comments which led to… well you get it.

With the popularization of social media, those comments and conversations moved to platforms like Twitter. Where it seemed much easier to interact with others and to share opinions. And for a while, that seemed to work well. Especially as comment spam was on the rise.

But with the growing fragmentation of social media — and with those conversations occurring all over the place — I’m beginning to wonder if now might be a good time to re-enable comments on Silicon Florist. To provide a central spot for folks to discuss topics. Or share opinions. But I’m not exactly sold on the idea. So, I thought it wise to ask. Because folks always have opinions.

Do you think that’s a good idea? Or has the time for commenting on blogs long since passed?

I’m interested in your opinion. Please comment below.

  1. If people aren’t commenting, there’s no dialogue so no sharing of ideas. To reference a post you made in Jan, https://siliconflorist.com/2023/01/19/wtf-is-wrong-with-the-portland-startup-community/#more-25601 :

    “But for all of our talk about collaboration and connection and collegiality, that does not exist for Portland.”

  2. Sorry for the tardy reply. Ironically, this comment was flagged as spam 😂

  3. My sentiments exactly 🙌

  4. Awesome. Appreciate all of this. As always, an incredibly thoughtful response ❤️

  5. If your comments remain helpful, courteous, and Akismet catches most of the spam, I think leaving comments on is great. We have kept them on Cloud Four’s blog because the signal far outweighs the noise. We get comments that inform and help.

    I know others whose comments turned bitter or full of spam. I applauded when Oregonlive turned off their comments because it was a cesspool.

    I don’t remember what comments were like here previously, but if it wasn’t a cesspool, bring them back. Maybe add some rules about courtesy and delete comments aggressively that don’t foster the type of community you want.

  6. Yes to comments. I was super bummed when they disappeared since I don’t do the socials. Considering all the other craziness happening on the socials as well it seems that blogs and comments are back baby!!!

  7. Thank you! Really appreciate the feedback 🙌

  8. I am quite in favor of comments. I am interested in what PDX folks have to say about the topics here on SF.

  9. Yes — I know it doesn’t come for free (spam, moderation) but for a focused community like this I think local comments are better vs. disconnected comments off-site on different platforms. It provides more of a nexus for participants, and isn’t subject to the privacy issues, lock-in, etc common with social media.

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