Flashforward
Comment boxes aren’t the problem. “Any old jerk” is the problem. Yes, most YouTube and MySpace comments suck. I had a private blog in the past where only authorized people could see and comment, and it was fine/fun for the years that it lasted. The comments showing up on the same page only improved the value of the posts and the experience as a whole.
——————
I picture myself in the future. My hair is gray even though I’m in my 30s. I’m telling stories to teen-agers about the early days of the web; that strange transitional period where it morphed from a nerd haven into a mainstream platform that all people used.
“Oh yeah, it was wild. Every page had a comments box at the bottom, where any old jerk could write whatever they wanted! It turned each creative person into a public servant, building this communal discussion forum where all men had an equal voice. Yup… some called it ‘community’, others called it ‘democracy’… what’s that? Eh? …. NO! No, no, none of us realized we were a bunch of filthy communists. It didn’t quite click that we had been negating our property rights, by default, on almost every single site, for ten straight years.
“Back then most people were talking about Facebook Apps, MySpace Widgets, and YouTube BingBongs. Ha! Can ya picture life without your precious BingBongs?!”
— jakoblodwick
