a tiny dab of metablogging

Why do some bloggers moderate the comments left by readers?
Surely there's a good reason, as I see too many intelligent people doing this, but for the life of me I can't really see what point there is. if some raving wingnut decides to try and post a comment, does moderating really spare you any work? It seems to me that it creates work in that you now have to consider and deal with every message and comment rather than the one or three curiously moronic ones which might normally appear in a year's time.

The other odd effect it creates is (IMO) a sense of hand-wringing paranoia, as if the blogger just can;t handle the idea that someone might (gasp!) say something unflattering or off-topic and requires a sort of vetting process to protect the gentle eyes and sensibilities of their readers. I've deleted maybe 4 or 5 comments from my blog in three years. I very much doubt that anyone reading here even could be stunned by something so mundane as words on a screen, so my decision to edit (or delete) is usually based upon the question of "is this spam or not?"

I dunno. Maybe my abject lack of popularity and relevance here safeguards me from teh sort of abuse and spam which pushes others to use comment moderation, but for now... it just seems weird.

-=-=-=-

Does anyone even use sidebar links?
I'm linked to maybe two dozen other blogsites, but increasingly I wonder if the links I provide aren't about as useful and well-received ast the click-through ads on a search engine page. Yeah, yeah, people see them—sorta—but does anyone actually use those links? I find I use them a lot—I end up treating my blog page as a sort of home page from which to get to the blogs I want to check on—but I find I seldom use other people's sidebar links, and I can find little evidence to support the notion that anyone else is using mine.

-=-=-=-

Discussion of politics bores me
Yeah, yeah... freedom of speech and all that. "weeeeeee." I'm thrilled that there are people out there who feel motivated to talk about their favorite candidates or political positions, but I hate that I have to wade through that ceaseless stream of warm air just to possibly find some kernel of interest or amusement on some damned fool blog site.

Face it, kids—if you were really that interesting or insightful, you'd likely have a panel-based show upon which to appear, and you'd not need to slum with us land-lubbing locals.

Stick to subjects you understand and are competent to comment upon: recipes, movies, the weather. Leave the political snarking to people who both know what the hell is going on and who have demonstrated some prior ability to snark in an entertaining manner.

-=-=-=-

"Good comment"seems harder and harder to find these days.
I recall a time when there were loads of witty folks patrolling around eager and ready to leave useful interesting responses, but now I see a lot of folks for whom even a basic sentence seems a major effort.

-=-=-=-

I dunno. I was never a huge fan of blogging, but if I were tasked to start today, I'm not sure I would.
.
.
.
cranky B