Yes, you can click New post, register and post on this blog. It’s an open blog. I like this to be a place to discuss, and blogging happens to be a great way to start conversations. You already know how easy it is to track comments

Here’s how it works. New posts are held for moderation. Unfortunately, some people decided to post spam, we all know how the Internet works. If your post is about co.mments and in good taste – criticism is ok, being abusive is not – it will get published. I’m not going to edit your post, so watch your spelling

Start a discussion on whatever you like. If you keep it short, interesting and to the point, more people will read it. If your bring up an interesting topic, people will respond.

Posting images is ok, as long as you own the copyright or can do so legally (Creative Commons, public domain, etc).

The short answer to that question is : a lot. I mean that in a positive way. co.mments has such a huge potential that much of that is as yet untapped. Growth potential from this point is huge and impossible to properly define. Here’s are a few things which I think would be pointed in the right direction:

• Harvest comment metadata. You’re pulling in data from the blog page already — why display the metadata as just part of the comment body? At very least the permalink to the comment should be harvested — this would be a huge improvement by itself because we could click from co.mments to a specific comment and not just the whole page. Author data comes next, and then timestamp. It’s all there, you just gotta get it out.
• Track Main/Archive/Category pages. This works, but it’s really ugly. If I enter a non-post-page URL on which there are comments (such as http://singpolyma-tech.blogspot.com/) I expect a similar result to having entered all of the posts on that page. Instead I tend to get each comment section as a comment. Not that cool.
• I’ve said this already, and I know it’s in the works, but a RESTful API. XML or JSON(P) (or both!). You’ve got my data! Give it back!

co.mments is one awesome service with huge potential. All you’ve gotta do is tap it. Incidentally, one of the reasons an API would be cool is that then you can harness the larger sphere of programmers who will be writing code working with it. They will write code so that you don’t have to. The more you open your site to us, the more we can do for you and save you the work!

I just got hold of a Mac G4, ran a few quick fixes, and as of today, co.mments work with Safari.

If you’re curious to know, I’m testing co.mments with:

• Firefox 1.5 (my main browser)
• IE 6 (the other browser)
• Safari 2.0
• Opera 8.5
• Konqueror 3.5
• Lynx 2.8

Mathew Ingram sums it up best:

Web 2.0 — or whatever we’re calling it nowadays — is supposed to be about the conversation, isn’t it? It’s not much of a conversation if you’re the only one talking, a point I have tried to make several times in the past, including here and here. In fact, a blog with no comments is more like a traditional media vehicle, in the sense that it’s a monologue, one that sends a subtle message that the writer has all the answers, and you the reader are simply a receptacle, a passive audience with nothing to contribute.

This in response to Seth Godin’s earlier post in which he explains why he doesn’t allow comments on his blog. TechMeme has more about the controversy that followed.

Kent Newsome posted an economic explanation for why some A-list bloggers refuse to comment or link. He calls it Agoraphobia in the Blogosphere. I love reading about the economic models behind human interaction and media, and I recommend checking this post.

I counted 12 trackbacks to that post. I wonder how many comments Seth would have received if he allowed them on that one post? How many would support his point of view?

I found one comment (on a responding post) that rationalizes his decision, and a few that call it condescending.

A blog without comments is still a blog, but it separates the blogger “in the know” and the masses of readers.

I don’t blog because I want readers on my blog. I want to meet you all and talk in person. But I can’t. Blogging and commenting is as close as we’ll get to stay connected. That’s what blogs are all about: conversations at a distance.

At the end, it’s a matter of personality. Some people are marketing out and out. I blog so I listen and talk. What about you?