… but no one leaves a comment… does it make a sound?

I was listening to the most recent This Week In Photography Podcast (which if you have any interest in digital photography, I highly recommend it) and in one of the offshoot conversations, they were talking about where photos are best shared.  One of the hosts pointed out that the Flickr community generally provides copious amounts of positive comments but very few critical or negative comments.  Another host quickly retorted that silence may be deafening, and the lack of comments on something may be indicative in itself.  This also calls into question whether or not negative comments have value.

I don’t gauge a posts popularity or worth based on the number of comments it receives.  I have in fact been known to shut comments off altogether on a post.  Ironically I am vehemently against closed comments when talking about personal blogging in general.  Whereas I close them on one or two posts a month, some bloggers may only open them for one or two posts a month.  I don’t really view that as blogging, because I believe ultimately a blog post is a catalyst to conversation, but I view that mainly as pontification which the world has plenty already.

I also don’t gauge a comment, even a negative one, as having no value.  I think that every person has something to contribute should they choose to.  I think every comment has value to promote conversation, even the negative ones that may incite a reaction from the blogger or its readers.

So really the big question is, does comment count matter?  Does comment tone, positive or negative, matter?  Is a blog post receiving no comments because comments are not allowed truly a blog post?  Is a blog post receiving no comments when comments are allowed truly a blog post?

I just want to thank everyone who turned out last night for the Lick. Slam. Suck. TalkCast.  The Second Suck Show Notes are up if you missed it, and the audio is available to be listened to on the TalkShoe site or through iTunes.