ARI HERZOG

My Personal Blog

Thinking About Disabling Blog Comments

By

I remember when commenting was a feature at the bottom of every newspaper and media website article. Initially, anyone could add a comment without a profile. That led to vulgarity and incivility, which in turn began moderation with publishers employing a mix of robot algorithms and human checkers. Readers grew frustrated with the lag between the time they posted their comments and the time the comments were approved. Readers turned to social media, especially Facebook. Some posted links to the articles and added their own commentary. Others found the original articles linked on social media and replied there.

The Boston Globe continues to accept comments. For instance, at the bottom of this article about Governor Baker responding to social gatherings, there are (currently 72) comments. Create a profile and write what you want.

On the other hand, NPR disabled commenting in 2016. If you like what they post on their website and you want to say something, you can share a link to your favorite social media platform and write whatever you want.

This brings me to blogs…

When I mentioned Seth, Dave, and Dan at the bottom of my post the other day about blogging every day, their blogs don’t enable comments. Some of them used to, but these days they do what NPR does. If you want to say something, say it wherever you want. (Dan goes a step further by linking to Facebook posts at the bottom of his posts. In this way, readers who want to converse with Dan and other readers can do it in the same place.)

My friend Julia Campbell continues to ask her readers to add comments on the blog. At the bottom of this post about nonprofit marketing techniques after the pandemic, there is an option to fill in some fields and write whatever you want her and other readers to see.

Bloggers in 2020 are a mix of Dans and Julias. Some bloggers prefer comments and eventual conversations on the blog. Others want the dialogue to occur elsewhere which carries with it more features (including less spam moderation, a greater desire to be civil because your full name and profile link is attached to whatever you write, and you can opt to “like” or “share” the original post from Facebook whenever you want).

Granted, asking would-be commenters to interact on Facebook implies readers have accounts there. But if not, they can comment on Twitter or LinkedIn or just send an email. I like email too.

Should comments remain on my blog or should I disable them?

Since 2007 when I started this blog, I approved over 11,000 comments! In response to people writing them, I contributed 2,500 of my own comments.

But since resurrecting my blog to focus on pandemic topics about four months ago, it’s hit or miss if people comment. I usually receive email responses instead of posted comments. I’m glad they want to share their opinions with me, and I always reply back, but why not share with others?

There’s no urgency if I decide to disable blog comments, but it’s something I’m thinking about.

As an experiment, I’ve disabled comments on this post.

If you want to share your thoughts, click here to chat with me.

Blogging Every Day

By

This is the 1,526th blog post since May 2007.

Granted, some of those were written by other people who contributed guest posts. The vast majority are mine. Suffice to say, I like blogging.

I appreciate that the pandemic arrived to inspire me to write on a more frequent schedule, whether I’m sharing my thoughts of the day or opinions about a researched topic.

Looking back at my blog archive, I recognize that years went by when I didn’t write much at all.

  • June 2020: 19 posts
  • June 2019: 0 posts
  • June 2018: 1 post
  • June 2017: 0 posts
  • June 2016: 0 posts
  • June 2015: 1 post
  • June 2014: 7 posts
  • June 2013: 1 post
  • June 2012: 5 posts
  • June 2011: 14 posts
  • June 2010: 17 posts
  • June 2009: 23 posts
  • June 2008: 13 posts
  • June 2007: 17 posts

I look at those early years and compare the monthly frequency of posts to this year; and I’m impressed. This is partially because I have more free time, but also because I enjoy the art of writing. I view my blog as an outlet for my creativity and capability. I can count on many fingers the number of jobs I’ve held that either developed or depended on my writing skills.

The goal is to blog every day.

For years, I’ve admired prolific writers including Seth Godin, Dave Winer, and Dan Kennedy who publish a blog post nearly every day, weekends included.

I don’t want to write a post for the sake of writing a post. However, I am writing blog posts on most weekdays. If I have something to say or share, I’ll find a reason to type some sentences and hit submit.

This Is My Last Post of 2018

By

I tallied the number of blog posts I wrote this year, compared it to last year, then the prior year, and all the way back to 2007 when I started blogging. The farther back I went correlated to an increased sensation of depression that I don’t write as much now as I wrote then.

I don’t need to tell you that social media is more prominent these days and there’s less of a motivation for me to write a long-form post such as this.

Which is to not say that I don’t want to write long-form, because I do, but because it’s silly to write out a rambling brainstorm such as this sentence instead of chopping my thoughts into bite-size portions on Twitter and other media.

This got me thinking that I want to write more and keep people here. I suppose I should also incorporate grammatical structures that WordPress allows and that social media does not.

For instance…

Wouldn’t you rather read a simple block of text on your mobile phone via your favorite social media platform than scrolling down a blog post to ascertain if the person has a point?

What if I wrote in bold letters?

What if I underlined my words?

What if I wrote in italics?

Would your attention span increase? I’m not going to write in bold or other formats merely to increase your attention because that’s a silly reason for me to write and for you to follow along.

  • Ditto for bullet lists.
  • There is a reason for using bullets.
  • This example is not that reason.

I’ll use lists to make a point, not for the sake of using them.

This is what I know for 2019…

I’ll write more.

I’ll write with a purpose.

I’ll incorporate visual features to capture your attention.

And I’ll end my posts with a request for comments, social shares, and/or mental memories to return here for more.

Goodbye Feedblitz, Hello WordPress Feed

By

If you want to read many blogs and don’t want to remember to manually bookmark and visit them in a browser, you can opt to subscribe via email or RSS.

Subscribing by email is easy: You submit a form with your email address, confirm you want to opt in, and you will receive an email message every time your favorite blogger publishes a new post.

Subscribing by RSS is different: You use a web application and add the blog’s feed to your app. Here’s a 2018 Wired article about RSS readers.

—

Here on AriHerzog.com, over 500 people choose to receive my posts by email. Here’s a link to the signup form.

Another 500 receive my posts by RSS. I wrote in 2011 about paying Feedblitz to deliver my posts to your preferred reader. But, due to that company now charging pricing tiers that don’t fit my needs, and cognizant that WordPress has a built-in feed address, I’m leaving Feedblitz and you can add this feed instead.

I’m guessing the majority of you reading this sentence would prefer an email subscription. But, if you’re into RSS and feed reading that way, you now have a new feed. Thanks again for participating in my online community.

Trump Administration Hires Official Bloggers

By

A funny.

In response to the rising tide of fake news and misinformation, senior White House officials are approaching bloggers who may not have necessarily voted for the President to nevertheless work for the administration, counterpunch the naive, and promote verified stories.

Tim DeGolden, a senior advisor to President Trump on new media and citizen journalism, believes this is a positive step.

“Bloggers are influencers,” DeGolden said on Federal Online News Radio this week. “They have existing distributions and social media relationships. It’s irrelevant if someone voted for the President. What’s most important is the person acknowledges that Trump is the President and that there is willingness to serve as a full-time consultant of sorts, but as a W-2 employee. I think it’s a great idea.”

The President is supportive. He’s very familiar with blogging.

It’s unclear who will be hired or whether they’ll be allowed to work remotely. Some of the junior bloggers for The Onion expressed interest. I’m willing. All that’s known as of April 1 is the 45th White House wants to swing back at swingers and accurately represent the online American people.

P.S. April Fools. This is satire. Happy reading.

Activism Through Blogging

By

Women marching in London in 1911.
Women marching in London in 1911

Activism is defined as “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.”

Looking back over 1,700 blog posts spanning the past 10 years, I’ve written my share of controversial issues. I wrote about Facebook censorship and Foursquare scare tactics. I shared when Twitter removed transparency. I opined that social media doesn’t connect us and explained why social media sabbaticals are healthy.

My activism is not limited to blogging.

When the U.S. Supreme Court debated the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act in 1995, I was in college and joined an email listserv through the Electronic Frontier Foundation — both to learn the latest news and also to share my opinions.

Over the years, I volunteered with political action committees, public interest research groups, and state election campaigns. Perhaps my activism is most evident in my six years of public service as an elected city councilor, promoting initiatives in clean energy, fiscal conservancy, and open government.

I don’t know where the Trump Administration is going in economic, military, and foreign policy. I accept that President Trump will reverse Obama’s presidential actions. But, I’m not OK with him reversing decades of US policy. I’ll blog on these pages when inspired to share commentary.

Whether you choose to engage in activism or not is up to you. Whether you hold a sign, march in an organized movement, volunteer, write a letter, run for office, share internet content to your social network, or pray; or even if you choose to do nothing — you’re nevertheless participating in something bigger than yourself.

I anticipate blogging a lot in 2017 about political and current events. I hope you stay with me, comment when inspired, and tell your friends to subscribe. Wherever you live in the world, we are in this world together. Here’s to whatever’s next.