There's Room For Difference

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "ASK and Ye shall not receive":

Cllr Buck, I'd like to respond to Mr Watts' comments:

"What I find "rather curious" 12:51 is your insinuation that a standard requirement of a login to comment on a wordpress site has "suppressed engagement" opposed to merely establishing the types of engagement that are allowed."

No, Mr Watts, no "insinuation" here - I plainly pointed out the incongruity of saying one thing and doing another. (BTW, apparently, certain WordPress settings allow 'Guest' comments as well as anonymous ones)

"If you expect all websites to adhere to the same comment policy you're setting yourself up for 
serious disappointment."

Oh, so there isn't a "standard requirement" for log-in, after all? Right, some do and some don't. No need to worry about the risk of "serious disappointment," though. I reserve serious reactions for serious matters; perusing the Internet doesn't count.

"I hear you, you don't want to login to comment on my site."

Yes, and I hear you - you don't want any feedback unless you can vet the commenter before any approval to publish. For someone always banging on about 'engagement,' you certainly don't encourage it. Don't you want anyone countering your criticisms or parrying your pronouncements? Judging from past episodes, that's understandable, I suppose. 

"You're the only one that seems to have a problem with that."

Well, since you can't prove that particular negative - you have no way of knowing how many people, wishing to leave a comment, may have balked at the log-in. There have, in fact, been mention made here on this blog about the log-in requirement of yours. If memory serves, the same unfavourable 
observation was expressed on the Aurora Citizen blog.

"The fact that Clr. Buck approved your comment here illustrates that engagement on your own terms was in no way suppressed proving that "engagement" doesn't suddenly ground (sic) to a halt because you choose to take your ball and go somewhere else."

Since we're discussing *your* blog, what does Cllr Buck's have to do with anything? Yes, she does 
'suppress engagement' in that she doesn't publish every comment, but this is an open forum, for the 
most part (and I thank her for that). Yours, however, is little more than a monologue. (Frankly, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with the ball analogy)

"What is even more curious is how you consider 296 comments "A dearth of comments"."

As most of your posts go uncommented upon, should I dispute that number? How many blog posts, over how many years, resulted in that total? Is that including your previous blog on Posterous? Are you somehow factoring in Twitter responses? What is the ratio of posts to comments, I wonder?

That being said, 296 is a paltry sum - yes, "a dearth." Just consider this blog (with a similar focus, so probably a similar potential audience); Cllr Buck published well over 200 comments in the last week 
alone. She doesn't approve all comments, and it is supposedly the 'summer doldrums,' with an 
assumed less attentive following, but that is a healthy number - that is "engagement"!

"By all means point us to your website that allows for anonymous commenting so we can judge your vastly superior level of engagement."

Again, we're discussing yours - well, one of yours; how's the AHA! one coming along? No, I don't have a blog, which means we're pretty well at the same level of engagement, doesn't it? It also means that when it comes to actually doing something versus just criticizing, parallels could be drawn.

Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 21 August 2014 11:53

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 I did not have access yesterday.. I ironed instead.

The above comment  refers to  difference between my Blog and Christopher's and differences there are.

 CW writes like a teacher  complete with  reading assignments. 

I'm a politician with the intention of sharing  my. experience . There's a lot to share and never enough time. Is don't have computer skills and I don't polish my writing. There's so much to tell and never enough time. 

I  do repeat....mostly by intent. Moderating comments  takes time . Engagement  is what it's about  and  we seem to be  getting better at it. 

Other than visits and views I don't check numbers. I am impressed by the figure given in the post
And it doesn't include the comments I don't publish for various reasons. None because of  disagreement with the comment.

The election is pending.  The blog will not be used by candidates or their supporters.

My observations will be judged . And that's a given.

My blog and Chris's are not the same because we are nit the same. There's room for both.

Blunt and emphatic references undoubtedly offend some people. No apology needs to be made. I know my rights.

I pay the going rate.

Always have .....always  will.