In moving my blog from Quick Blogcast to MovableType, I had a chance to revisit my decision to enable comments. Comments are always a mixed bag: the price of good discussion is eliminating comment spam—the blog's version of "broken windows." We've had decent success at it over at The New Clarion, but it took a long time to tweak the blacklist to get where it is today.
In the meantime, I had also started using Twitter quite aggressively. That is, essentially, a broadcast medium: you say things and people listen to them. There is some interaction but the key difference is that it's not exactly public.
That's the part about comments that I don't like. If you want to discuss some of my work, send me an email. If you want everyone to see your thoughts about what I've said, get your own forum. I don't care to host the opinions of those that disagree with me.
I have no regrets about turning off comments—I even did it over at Found on the Web. I spend zero time doing moderation and the extra work to send an email (while also not getting to vent in public) has severely limited the vitriol and bile.