You ever have an idea for an article or even a set of articles and decide not to write about it? Or perhaps you wrote the article and decided not to publish it? This happens to me a lot, more often than I’d like to admit. An example, in my last article I said:
“If you notice I still disagree with Bill but I didn’t comment again over there. Next week I’ll explain why….”
It’s next week and I don’t feel like talking about that anymore. I turned comments off on the article because I was tired of talking about it then. Then guilt set in. I said I was going to write about it, I should write about it, but I’m not feeling the topic anymore. At all. I opted not to write it because I’m not a fan of putting up “something” just for the sake of putting something up.
This is an interesting dilemma for me because I can pre-write articles and when it comes time to publish them, I have no enthusiasm on the topic anymore. Looking at this in-depth (it’s 2009, the year to face the truth!) I realized it’s not the topic per se…
It’s the talking. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Once I write it most times (at least lately) I don’t have anything else I want to say. However, if I publish the article and leave comments open, I need to monitor and respond to comments…about a topic I don’t have any interest in talking about anymore. On top of talking about it in comments I also talk to those who contact me via email, AIM (instant messenger), text message, phone, Skype, etc.
This begs the question: is it that I’m “really” not into the topic in the first place? Am I becoming anti-social? Or is it as simple that once I write an article I’m ready to move on to the next thing?
Yeah, that’s it. The last one.
Yes, I “could” keep comments open and not respond but I detest that. Why start a conversation if the writer intends for it to only be a one-way conversation? What I might do is have one “big” topic and keep comments open on that. I’m still figuring it out.
Feel free to keep emailing, texting, AIMing, etc. I don’t feel a drain in those areas at all. Just when I go to publish an article. Interesting, eh?
My point…don’t be afraid to do what is best for you on your site. The social media people will tell you that you must keep comments open because (insertstupidassanswerhere). In the end, you should do what you feel comfortable doing. Make it easy for people to contact you so they don’t feel the only option is via comments.
