So many of you might know that I am relatively new to the blogging world. This blog was started in 2007, and really didnt get started until the fall.

I have read again and again that blogs are conversational media, not single points of information, like an online newspaper. So, when I see a post that is interesting to me and feel I can add to the conversation, I comment on the post.

Rarely is that comment responded to. So, I installed Intense Debate and I have seen a slight increase in conversation in comments, but not very much. There is definitely a ton of value to the system around reputation and threading.

Earlier this year, I read a post by my friend Gwen Bell about her thoughts on Startup Weekend which is a project that I have participated in both as a member of the community and in the discussions of “what could it be.” I felt I couldnt respond completely in a comment, so I wrote a post that (I felt) existed to continue the conversation.

Instead, it has the unintended effect of hurting a friend.

So, I began to question, if blogs are supposed to foster conversation, how best to do it?

Jason Calacanis wrote about turning comments off:

At the end of the day this blog is a conversation between me and the people I care about. It a place to share ideas and discuss them. It just doesn’t feel like that any more. It feels like the comments are a place for the same five wacky folks to use sockpuppets to debate themselves and spew bile while linking back to their adsense honeypot.

Dave Winer wrote that comments may make a blog not a blog:

Do comments make it a blog? Do the lack of comments make it not a blog? Well actually, my opinion is different from many, but it still is my opinion that it does not follow that a blog must have comments, in fact, to the extent that comments interfere with the natural expression of the unedited voice of an individual, comments may act to make something not a blog.

But, on the other hand, there are many times when I learn more from a blog’s comments than from the post itself. More often than not, this occurs when the post is a request for information (but then there is the argument that its not really a post)

Chris Brogan opines differently (sort of) about the use of his content:

Collaboration and sharing are the building blocks of what most people call Web 2.0. Sites like mine are made better when YOU take a post of mine and riff off it on your own site, or when I come along, find something cool you?ve written, and reference it here.

But he writes that he will reference good content on his site. Makes it sound like that he too doesnt put much value in comments. (UPDATE: Apparently, I didnt read Chris’ blog as closely as I should, given his post (and comment below) to the contraire, mon cher bear.)

So, I have decided that I am going to do five things:

1. Write my weekly Friendly Intelligence post;
2. Periodically write an Around the Web type post;
3. Write a post in response to a post, when warranted.
4. Only comment on posts if its short and valuable.
5. Leave comments open, but ask the commentor to think if its better to respond via a post of your own. I want to be part of the conversation, not hoard it here.

UPDATE 2: I have removed Intense Debate from my site. It was a hard decision, given I think very highly of the Intense Debate team. Given my new conversational model, the lack of trackbacks reduced the value of the Intense Debate system. I plan to re-install as soon as that is resolved. (Also, I dont care about the SEO value of trackbacks, etc. its really an indication of the flow of conversation.)

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Snoopy used to always start his stories with the line “One dark and stormy night…” and so in homage:

One dark and stormy night, a few days before Christmas, all was quiet in the house except for the tap of my keyboard. Instant messages, tweets, and web surfing was going on, whilst in the other room, my two dogs, Billie and Taylor, played together given they were staying home from school.

At first, there was a small squeak and then a large tear. I heard a grumble, and what only could be considered a cheer. I quickly ran to the other room to see what had transpired, and with no dogs in sight, I came across:

The Pink Flamingo had not a chance. I looked for Billie and Taylor, both say next to the door, with an innocent look in their eyes. I could almost swear Billie pointed to one of the cats as she walked away.

I returned to my desk and my typing, slowing becoming engrossed in blog posts. Another scream arose from the bedroom. Followed by the quickly scampering feet (8 in all) of Billie and Taylor exiting the room at a high rate of speed.

A quick peruse of the room uncovered victim #2: Christmas Moose

Poor Christmas Moose, we barely knew you.

Now a bit frightened, I returned to my office. Seeing that the pooches were on a Christmas Wave of Destruction, I decided to quietly go back to work. I continue to pretend that nothing was going on, while squeaks and crunching and other non-Christmas sounds emanated from the front room. Knowing that Billie and Talyor were now in the HamSwords practice spaceit was time to see what they were doing.

When their latest victim, Christmas Monkey, lay in my path, I fell to my knees and wept. Thats right, Micah Gabriel Baldwin, wept.

But not because Pink Flamingo, Christmas Moose and Christmas Monkey were dead, but because they cost me almost $75, and lasted less than 3 hours. Stupid dogs!

The Culprits:

Taylor

Billie

UPDATE: When I took the girls outside to use the restroom, I noticed that there was a full moon…perhaps I have were-pooches?

One of difficult parts of travel is not keeping up with the 50+ blogs my friends post to. (If I am missing your blog, and you know how to properly pronounce my name email me your blog URL to micah [at] currentwisdom [dot] com).

On to the blogs:

Twitter Goodness on Your Mobile Device - Kevin Cawley, who might be one of the smartest crazy people I know (he often rides his bike from Boulder to Denver or vice versa), wrote TinyTwitter which is the best blackberry twitter application by far.

New Zealand Videos - I have gotten to know David this year, and among the many things people are impressed with or inspired by (TechStars, etc.), for me its his willingness to share openly. Or his geekness for posting videos while on his honeymoon. Its a hard choice.

Book Review: Simple Prosperity by David Wann - I met Eric this past week in NYC, where he runs Business Development for BuzzFeed. He is one of those guys that I know I want to figure out a way to work together more often.

Interesting Things You See and Hear at Chinatown Starbucks - I met John (JFC3) at StartupWeekend DC. So often I meet people and they dont stick in my brain. It is 100% because I suffer from a rare case of ADDD. (Attention Deficit Disorder Dickhead). John, a developer, reminds me of why I loved living in DC.

Gathering of Useful Thinkers: San Francisco - Peter Shankman called me a couple of weeks back and said: “If I have a dinner in SF on the 19th, would you come?” To which I replied (after some pointed questions, like “whos paying?”), “Yes.” If you ever get invited to a dinner Peter puts on. Go. Period.

The Three U’s of SEO - I have a love/hate relationship with SEO. I love that it got me where I am today; I hate that it has become so messy. Brian quotes Seth Godin in this post, which everyone doing SEO should print and tape to their monitors.

Blog Post Titles - While I do think its funny that a post about titles would have such a vanilla title, Jeff makes a great point about the importance of post titles.

Yes - I Know My Blog is Painfully Slow - This post by Brad reminded me that if I dont want to see my words in print, I need not to write them down. And I think he snuck in a fat joke.