An interesting conversation has been going on these past days on different blogs about fractured blog comments, how bloggers are losing control and how content is becoming more and more of a commodity these days.
Here are some selected quotes about this, the first by blogger Steven Hodson in which he worries about the devaluation of his brand:
“We are being told that once we have written our posts we no longer have any say over what happens to them. In effect we are having to give up the vary basis of what gives our brand its very worth…So as we watch our pageviews and revenue streams decline because it’s now okay that the conversations can either be taken over by other services…It’s okay that someone else can build a brand off of our now non-important brand. It’s okay that any conversations over our original thoughts can take place anywhere because the home we have worked hard to build for our brand isn’t worth anything anymore.”– Steven Hodson, What Are My Words Worth?
and the second by Sarah Perez, over on ReadWriteWeb, in which she explains what it all means for us bloggers:
“What this means for us as bloggers and new media creators is that the very technologies that we have grown to love are the same forces that are turning our efforts, be them our words, our videos, our music, our photos, or anything we create, into a commodity – something that has little monetary value on its own, but in aggregate, can become something of value.”– Sarah Perez, Content Is Becoming a Commodity
Finally, I go back to a quote by Louis Gray in which he advocates adapting to where the conversation is being held:
“As a blogger, I am a content creator. I don’t want my content stolen, or reposted without attribution or under somebody else’s name. But I am also a huge advocate of RSS and continuing to adapt where the conversation is being held. Just as my blog’s RSS views have undoubtedly eclipsed my blog page views, I would not be surprised to see that more comments on my posts might eventually live outside of my blog. It would behoove me and other bloggers to be aware of the other places the conversation will be taking place, and to engage there, in my opinion, rather than railing against the continued evolution of how we’re consuming content and engaging online.”– Louis Gray, Should Fractured Feed Reader Comments Raise Blog Owners’ Ire?
What do you think?