Barrier to Entry

Sorry Robert, if people have to create and log into their own blogs just to leave comments on other blogs they are reading... you'll lose at least 90% of the feedback.  The barrier to entry is just to high.  I have to:

1. Read your post

2. Create a blog if I don't have one. (The 90% case)

3. Open a new window to my blog

4. Cut and paste a link from your blog to mine... or at least somehow effectively reference your blog.

5. Post my entry

 

Compare this to two steps required to post a comment on most blogs that support comments effectively.

1. Read the blog.

2. Stay on the same page and post a comment. 

I guess the basic problem is that not everyone in the world has a blog... nor does everyone want one.  But I DO want to get feedback from people who don't blog.   I do want to engage them in a conversation. 

Sure, the five steps don't seem that complicated, but take a listen to what the social computer users of tomorrow, bloggers of last year (not of this year :-) ), and easily distracted/discouraged from technology teenagers from the Social Computing Symposium had to say

Two steps is too much of a barrier to entry for most people today to leave comments. Why complicate things by requiring that we all have blogs? I know there will be more than a few people that disagree with me on this one... but blogging without a comment Field is not blogging to engage in a conversation.  Want to know who a bad blogger is... ones that restrict comments to only other bloggers. :-)