Lyons in beta

Comments on blog comments on comments on blog comments on

I've had a bunch of websites over my life. When I was a kid I made some fan sites, I've had nameplate sites of various flavors, all the great shows, and of course, several blogs. Any blog I had on a platform that came with comments built-in (wordpress, blogger) had the comments left on, and any platform that didn't (hand-crafted HTML, static-site generators) didn't. I never thought too hard about whether comments are required for something to count as a blog, but that is apparently one of the discussions happening around #blaugust2025 right now.

There is no shortage of posts or threads I could link to about it but my introduction to the debate came from Jayeless's post blog comments. In short, some people believe a blog has to have comments to count as a blog and others disagree. (That post, and the posts it links to, etc. are worth reading! It's a more nuanced subject than you might think.)

I've always viewed blogging the same way I view journaling: it is a way for the writer to think. Thinking by writing. (I can't find the specific source that first exposed me to this idea, but Farnam Street has a solid anacdote about it.)

But what of comments? Talking to people is great! I actually feel most comfortable thinking by talking, and I really cherish the people in my life who will co-brain out loud with me. At the same time, I have zero interest in maintaining the tech or moderating the spam of anyone anywhere being able to put words on my website. Reply-by-blogging isn't really a thing I can allow or ban so while it may have cultural relevance in the blogging community it isn't relevant here. Outsourcing the comments section to email and social media is one of the more contentious options for some people in the debate, but it is the right set of trade-offs for me.

To that end, I've added links below every post for you to be able to get in touch with me, and I hope you do!



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