On the Transmigration of Comments

Oh dear, someone actually commented on an article. I'm not completely sure how to feel.

On the one hand, it is natural I suppose to feel a marginal amount of self-importance; after all, someone read something one wrote and felt strongly enough about it to comment. It's a mildly euphoric feeling. I recommend it for those who need a brief pick-me-up.

The problem is that it becomes addictive, like a mild euphoric. Sure, at first it's just nice that people are reading. Then it becomes more. You feel down if enough people aren't reading. You develop an attachment to your work, and if people disapprove of it, you wind up feeling worse than if those people had simply not commented at all. You sit by your computer day after day, wondering why people don't comment more.

Or you start answering back to commentary. Sure, it's innocent enough to begin with; you want to have a conversation with your readers. But the your blog turns into a forum, where the comments are at least as important as the articles. You get into arguments with readers, start Internet wars, visit their sites and comment on them, plot massive denial of service attacks on their servers, and get elected President, pass sweeping legislation to outlaw your enemies' websites, get caught in a closet with a German Shepherd... you see where this is going.

I made a conscious decision a while back that I would hold off from commenting on other people's opinions on their own websites. I will occasionally leave throw-away comments to express general approval, or longer, nonsensical comments because I am bound to do so for religious reasons, but I try with all my might not to be involved in on-line conversations. There's something which is missing when all you see of another person is text, and I also have not anywhere approaching enough time to personally respond to all the opinions on the Internet with which I disagree. It's just not worth it to me.

So someone cared enough to comment on something I wrote. I'm flattered, and I'm even so flattered that I have devoted an article (I wish that sounded less pretentious than it does, because these aren't really articles, but I hate the term "post") to commenting on said comment. But don't feel rejected if I don't start a conversation. I left comments active because it's flattering, but flattery won't get you everywhere.

Thanks for your comments. Or lack thereof.