Recently, I had a friendly exchange with a subscriber named Cosima. She had some helpful feedback about my comments section.
You see, I don’t always have the time to fully and consistently engage with all the good folks who comment. This can sometimes lead me to either feel bad or reply too hastily and thus not be at my best.
Also, as some of you may have noticed, I’m a strong believer in boundaries. When a commenter is rude, I will not tolerate it. And when the point of my post is missed or purposely derailed, I tend to chime in to correct things.
Well, here’s just some of the input Cosima gave me:
“When I comment on Substack and YouTube, I’ve noticed that the creators often are hyper-focused on themselves and think that every comment is solely about them and their content and it has the effect of shutting down discourse. It is quite vulnerable to pour one’s heart out on the page or in a video so I understand them, but it may not be the best way to involve readers.”
With this in mind, I’m doing a new thing as 2024 commences. Firstly, if someone is rude, I will try my best not to engage. Their comment can sit there as a testament to their lack of self-control. If others choose to respond, that’s up to them. (However, anyone who is downright bullying or abusive will be rebuked and removed.)
More importantly: I’d love for all of you to interact more with each other — without the dynamic of me trying to be a part-time “moderator.”
I’m blessed that so many awesome folks have chosen to be regulars here. I think everyone would benefit if conversations between you guys were more common — with no pressure on you to stay on-topic or wait for me to add my two cents.
Such an approach allows you to foster meaningful connections and allows me to have some days where I simply can’t be active — without feeling bad about it. Furthermore, I can post slightly less often and give comments section conversations more time to develop.
Any thoughts?
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this will also get easier when there are more people visiting, which will come in time I think. Large groups like on Jeff Childers and Eugyppius, already have more of an exchange, and we walk WAY off the path LOL. I have been able to give some herbal tips and received quite a bit of very useful feedback, which is the greatest pleasure of Substack - here you actually can change this information, where somewhere else, it is not so easy to give what is considered misinformation (read - anything that does not make bigharma or govt money). Thank you for opening the possibility !
Makes sense to me!