I don’t care as much if the comment is interesting or even whether or not it’s in opposition to my point of view. My main criteria for accepting comments is relevance. Some of my most controversial posts have brought me phone calls, emails and some comments that are in direct opposition to what I posted about, but it was on topic and so I think it’s valuable to visitors. I approved them.

Thanks for you comments.

I think the opposite is true as well. Just as bloggers shouldn’t be afraid to moderate comments, readers shouldn’t be afraid to submit them.

It can be a little intimidating, especially when a writer overtly states they’ll only accept comments that make a substantive contribution, and it’s easy to doubt if what you’re thinking will live up to the standard. Plus, who wants to end up wasting time if their comment is rejected.

But to bring it back to your comparison to public conversation, we risk rejection every day. We hear a conversation, and we share our thoughts. Sometimes it’s well received, other times ignored, and every once in a while we crash and burn. If you crash and burn enough, you stop getting invited to parties.

So, this is your party.

Am I still invited?

-Eric Dobson