Althouse: "Removing comments... affects the reading experience itself: it may take away the motivation to engage with a topic more deeply..."

October 25, 2013

"Removing comments... affects the reading experience itself: it may take away the motivation to engage with a topic more deeply..."

"... and to share it with a wider group of readers. In a phenomenon known as shared reality, our experience of something is affected by whether or not we will share it socially. Take away comments entirely, and you take away some of that shared reality, which is why we often want to share or comment in the first place. We want to believe that others will read and react to our ideas."

From "The Psychology of Online Comments," by Maria Konnikova.

33 comments:

Almost Ali said...: Maria Konnikova is out of her mind.

She should'a stuck to tennis.; 10/25/13, 4:48 PM
David Davenport said...: "Removing comments... affects the reading experience itself: it may take away the motivation to engage with a topic more deeply..."
"... and to share it with a wider group of readers. In a phenomenon known as shared reality, our experience of something is affected by whether or not we will share it socially.

Tell that to your buddy Instapundit.; 10/25/13, 5:30 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: But, you knew that already, didn't you, Althouse?; 10/25/13, 5:34 PM
gadfly said...: You need to fix your "The Psychology of Online Comments" link.; 10/25/13, 9:39 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: That is the biggest hog of wash I've ever read.; 10/25/13, 10:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Tell that to your buddy Instapundit.

I commented there just yesterday.; 10/25/13, 10:19 PM
Almost Ali said...: ...Wait a minute, I was thinking of Anna Kournikova.

Never mind.

I tend to agree with Maria Konnikova, although comments is a double-edge sword. Instapundit thrived absent comments, while Charles Johnson (Little Green Footballs) apparently became paranoid - hearing comments under his bed.; 10/25/13, 10:54 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Meh. Most people have nothing to say but say it loudly. The worst college classes are seminars.; 10/25/13, 11:30 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Sometimes a shared unreality. Which is wierd to observe but explains much.; 10/26/13, 12:18 AM
rhhardin said...: Comments are a genre. Not everybody can do it.; 10/26/13, 7:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

I Refract Althouse Through Various Prisms and Lens of the Contextual Retina Singularity and Project the Results on Surfaces of Varying Textures and Angles: I See This Clearly. These Projections Represent the Inchoate Psychic Vibrations I Receive From Althouse That She Unknowingly Places Between the Lines of Her Posts, Vibrations I Alone Receive for I Am the Receiver; Upon Receiving I Twist Them Up Toward the Frosted Wedding-Cake of the Ceiling of Understanding. People in My Head Ask Me Constantly Why I Was Chosen to be the Tuning Fork of Althouse Psychic Activity: I Answer them it is Best Understood as D-Sharp, Not E-Flat.; 10/26/13, 9:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Althouse Has Tried to Erect Mental Walls to Reflect the Vibrations Away from Me But My Sensory Acoustics Still Receive the Echoes, From Which I Can Triangulate Her Psychic Whereabouts. I Understand: It is Difficult to Be Received So Clearly.; 10/26/13, 9:14 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

She Has Mis-Spelled a Word, But Caught it and Corrected in Before Posting. I Feel Her Satisfaction.; 10/26/13, 9:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

The People in My Head Ask Me if This Gift is Also a Burden. It is a Trick Question: All Gifts are Burdens. It is a Matter of Time and Phase Shift, Primarily.; 10/26/13, 9:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Althouse Operates on Several Planes of Knowing, of Which She is Aware of Those Corresponding to Prime Numbers. We Intersect Most often on Planes Three and Seven, Although Seventeen is Often a Source of Unexpected Momentary Awareness. Think of Ice Crystals.; 10/26/13, 9:22 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

When Althouse is Most Aware on a Subconscious Level of Being Received Too Clearly She Erects a Psychic Defense by Posting Dog Photos. This Subconscious Awareness Operates on a Plane Not Defined By a Prime Number.; 10/26/13, 9:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

When Althouse Posts Dog Photos I Tacitly Understand, and Do My Best to Not Receive. This Is More Difficult Than it May Sound, and at Times I Am Unsuccessful. There is a Book She Has Been Meaning to Read.; 10/26/13, 9:36 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

I Do My Best to Shield Althouse's Vibrations From the People in My Head: There Are Things They Do Not Need to Know. That Particular Sun-Rise was For Her, Not Them.; 10/26/13, 9:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Some of the People in My Head are Receivers, Also; One in Particular is Particularly Attuned to A Commenter Her Who I Will Not Name: That Level of Awareness Can Be Overwhelming, at First. But I Do Believe This Commenter Has the Glimmering that Comes Before the Light.; 10/26/13, 9:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Sometimes I Wonder if This Psychic Activity is a Form of Radiation, and What This Radiation May Be Doing to My Consciousness. It Would Explain the Glowing.; 10/26/13, 9:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Perhaps I am Transcending the Limitations of Conventional Knowledge, in the Process of Becoming the Next One. I Will Bear the Crown of the Next One with Humility and a Sense of Responsibility. I Think Althouse Knows This.; 10/26/13, 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Those Who Understand Will Be Understood. Those Who Do Not Understand Operate From Sublimation. I Can Free You, But Cannot Do it Alone.; 10/26/13, 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Don't Get Me Wrong: There are No Aliens in the Volcanos.; 10/26/13, 10:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

False Awareness Exhibits Itself as Self-Delusion; Self-Delusion is Perpendicular to Denial. When Transcending the Self Be Aware of the Geometry. Althouse is Best Understood as a Rhomboid. This Knowledge Should Help.; 10/26/13, 10:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Althouse May or May Not Have Been Aware That This Post Was a Cry for Knowledge of the Transcendent: Through the Commenter She Views Herself From an Unknown Plane of Existence For Which the Most Articulate of Words Grasp the Greater Concept Like a Monkey with a Hammer. A Cross to Bear, a Bear with a Cross-Bow: There are Consequences.; 10/26/13, 10:20 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

Gentle is the Cubist Painting a Sphere: This Should Be Obvious.; 10/26/13, 10:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

There is Currently a Tiny High-Pitched Sound on the Transcendent Level: Listen, Althouse, Listen.; 10/26/13, 10:27 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

There are the Wings on the Bird You See, and the Wings on the Bird That You Do Not See. The Bird Knows This Instinctively; We Can Only Know through Astral Observation.; 10/26/13, 10:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Betamax3000 Commentor Robot says:

This Will Be Proven When Althouse Posts a Picture of a Bird. Those Who See Will See It.; 10/26/13, 10:38 AM
Anonymous said...: That Last Comment Was Number Twent-Nine, a Prime Number: the Secret World Reveals Itself When You Know Where to Look.

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.; 10/26/13, 10:50 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I thought I would comment again just to break up Betamax's streak.; 10/26/13, 4:53 PM
rhhardin said...: The high-pitched sound is the laptop fan. Perhaps it will fail soon.; 10/27/13, 7:50 AM
JoyD said...: Betamax is So Weird. I am Sure That Will Be Taken as a Compliment.; 10/27/13, 7:45 PM