The Tipping Point

Letters of Note, one of my favorite blogs, has gone comment-free:

All complaints should be directed towards a section of society to whom the concept of even vaguely civil discussion means nothing. This collective waste of flesh, bone, and dangerously limited brain function have caused me to dread opening each and every “New Comment” notification I’ve received over the past twelve months or so, to the point where I now cannot continue justifying the moderation of these imbecilic, repugnant grunts when it takes up such an inordinate amount of my willpower and, more importantly, time. I’d rather spend my hours happily expanding the archives of Letters of Note than clean up after a keyboard-wielding gaggle of cowardly, dim-witted, knuckle-dragging reprobates who have nothing better to do than gleefully splash their fetid saliva all over my efforts and then roll around in the puddle until I’m able to press “Delete Comment.” I refuse to waste another minute.

I think sooner or later there’s going to be a tipping point on the comment system as a whole on the web. It won’t disappear from everywhere, but will be featured less and less from places that matter and care about their content. News sites and link farms that depend on revenue from clicks will be the last holdouts.