Feedback on open comments

I’ve received a number of encouraging notes about not having open comments here. Here’s one example –

I’ve found it interesting to read about why you don’t accept comments on your blog. I find it interesting because as a young (32) software developer who spends a lot of time online and in some online communities, I’ve been amazed at how inappropriate the internet can be as a conversation mechanism for things as deep and personal as faith and spirituality. The anonymity of the internet provides a place for people to behave and act as they never would in a face-to-face conversation. Also, as with other mediums, when you read words on a page, you miss all the context of personality, body language, eye contact, etc. — things that make a world of difference when trying to communicate sufficiently complex, deep, and personal thoughts.
Of course, not that it’s a bad thing, I love the internet and I love books — but that is one-way communication and it isn’t a real-time (or close to it) conversation and I think that everybody would be better off if it stayed that way. 😉
I have observed, and have been guilty on more than one occasion of engaging in an online conversation on facebook regarding these topics, and my anecdotal evidence is that they rarely end well, unless everybody sees eye-to-eye from the start.
So thanks for providing excellent conversation starters! I hope you continue to encourage people to continue the conversation by engaging in their local communities where they can know and be known by others, and not anonymously (or semi-anonymously) participate in pure information sharing on the internet.