Frequent (make that almost only) reader Tulkinghorn approves our new approach, and references Andrew Sullivan:
In an auto-pilot, populist web, old-fashioned editors are almost chic at this point.
An additional advantage, of course, is that this way one avoids making quite as open a spectacle of how pathetically thin ones readership has become. So much easier to pretend to rise above.
There is an argument adrift in the b-sphere to the effect that a blog that is edited is not a blog, and neither is a blog without comments. Comments and interactivity are part of the form, the argumment runs, of the new medium itself. The boy genius who is constructing UCLA's new web site references studies (Studies! Blech!) that purport to show that users become much more committed and loyal to blogs that are "open" rather than "closed," that "make them part of the conversation."
Blgrs such as Michelle Malkin, who got tired of wading through reams of racist invective, still often feel the need to explain or apologize when their comments sections go dark. I feel no more compunction about it than a shopkeeper painting over graffitti---which was just about the level of some of the comments I was getting.
Life's too short. Hassles abound. My new motto is "Jhoom, barabar, jhoom."
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