Comments vs. a Little Green Icon

Every time I turn around, there's somebody telling me (and the rest of the world) that a blog isn't a real blog unless commenting is turned on. Blogs, these commenting advocates insist, are all about conversation and, they conclude, you can't have a conversation without comments. While I love comments-and would never consider turning them off on this blog-I don't quite grasp the notion that the conversation is somehow inhibited without comments. Blogging godfather Online Journalism Review that dealt with blog spam, Winer suggested it's painfully easy to comment on blogs that don't support comments: Commenters should simply run their own blog if they want to comment. Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.