Wow. It was me who originated the whole discussion. I never thought my comments would be honored by a full-blown post here.
To clarify things a bit: to me, everything about this blog suggests that its post are of a professional nature. Their frequency, length, style and the overall site design imply that a post here has some weight, that it's a professional mini-article intended for a specific, focused audience.
The design is classy, book-like. Each post has a TOC-style teaser. Clicking on one feels like opening a hardcover book or an elegant, glossy magazine.
I don't know about everyone else, but to me, all this combines to suggest that all posts have equal, considerable weight, and all belong to one category. And this is why personal comments stand out like a sore thumb.
Make no mistake about it: I don't mind their presence.
Now let's go past the "it's your blog, you post whatever you want" argument: that's so obvious that it need not be stated. However, as a reader, I can and will exercise my right to comment on the contents of the blog, and it's up to the author to deal with my comments in the fashion he chooses to. This is obvious too, but apparently needs to be stated. So please don't call me a troll or suggest that it takes "audacity" for me to express my opinion on this blog, thank you very much in advance.
So again, I don't mind the offtopic posts themselves. Heck, even if I didn't like them, so what? I can choose what to read, and I can choose not to read what seems offtopic.
But I think that the offtopic posts on this very blog ARE, or CAN BE PERCEIVED AS, or APPEAR TO ME, out of place.
Please understand one more thing. I'm not complaining. It's not that the blog is bad for me, or it doesn't make me happy enough, or I wish it to be changed or anything like that.
This is CRITICISM. I'm saying that I think the blog has a problem. It doesn't appear to be well-suited for offtopic posts, and now that they appear, they seem strangely out of place in it. The blog's consistency, cohesion, integrity are compromised.
The more I think about it, the more I find that it has to be a design issue.
Knowing that Scott is a perfectionist, I'm only posting this so that he may be come up with some improvements.
by random joe — Oct 13
To clarify things a bit: to me, everything about this blog suggests that its post are of a professional nature. Their frequency, length, style and the overall site design imply that a post here has some weight, that it's a professional mini-article intended for a specific, focused audience.
The design is classy, book-like. Each post has a TOC-style teaser. Clicking on one feels like opening a hardcover book or an elegant, glossy magazine.
I don't know about everyone else, but to me, all this combines to suggest that all posts have equal, considerable weight, and all belong to one category. And this is why personal comments stand out like a sore thumb.
Make no mistake about it: I don't mind their presence.
Now let's go past the "it's your blog, you post whatever you want" argument: that's so obvious that it need not be stated. However, as a reader, I can and will exercise my right to comment on the contents of the blog, and it's up to the author to deal with my comments in the fashion he chooses to. This is obvious too, but apparently needs to be stated. So please don't call me a troll or suggest that it takes "audacity" for me to express my opinion on this blog, thank you very much in advance.
So again, I don't mind the offtopic posts themselves. Heck, even if I didn't like them, so what? I can choose what to read, and I can choose not to read what seems offtopic.
But I think that the offtopic posts on this very blog ARE, or CAN BE PERCEIVED AS, or APPEAR TO ME, out of place.
Please understand one more thing. I'm not complaining. It's not that the blog is bad for me, or it doesn't make me happy enough, or I wish it to be changed or anything like that.
This is CRITICISM. I'm saying that I think the blog has a problem. It doesn't appear to be well-suited for offtopic posts, and now that they appear, they seem strangely out of place in it. The blog's consistency, cohesion, integrity are compromised.
The more I think about it, the more I find that it has to be a design issue.
Knowing that Scott is a perfectionist, I'm only posting this so that he may be come up with some improvements.