Sorry for the confusion.

One note: It’s not my 90:9:1 rule. I think it comes from one of the internet gurus, as does the 990:9:1 variant.

And my note on capchas is a little misleading: They tend to change just a few seconds after reaching the comment box (yours included), but can still wipe out a fast comment.

For WordPress blogs, I suspect either Spam Karma2 or Akismet does a good enough job that none of the intrusive measures–capchas, accounts, moderation–are necessary. Too bad they appear needed elsewhere.

And yes, I’ll go read the full article…

First of all, I must say that I understand both points–they are valid ones, in my opinion, for not commenting or blogging itself. It is understandable that we as individuals might not feel that our opinion counts, but ironically, if we always felt that way, no blogs, much less comments, would exist. I feel that if you have something to say and it means something to you and possibly others, you should say it–if not, don’t bother blogging or commenting, simple as that, I think.

As for reprisals, again, this can happen, as I know of many people that did not get a job, a promotion, a place on a sports team, etc., because of comments that they made public that would have been best kept private. However, I think there is a simple solution for this, maybe overly simple–you should just trust your instinct and values: don’t make public via blog posts, blog comments, email, text messaging, letters, etc., that you don’t feel like talking about in public, in person. If you are not immoral, unethical, or illegal in your communications (text and graphics), then I think that you have really nothing to fear. People will have their opinions, and that is OK. But you don’t have to express all of yours in public settings. Continue to choose wisely what you put your energy and time into (what you are committed to), and it will serve you well, especially when you care–and I know that you do, because I know you. If you did not care, you would not have commented to this post (the 10th comment, by the way) as you did. Stay honest to yourself, protect your privacy as you see fit to do, and speak out when you feel it necessary, and then, you will be happy with yourself. Maybe fear of reprisals for comments stop some from hitting “enter,” but it doesn’t have to always be that way. Pick and choose what’s best for you and be content for now. Experience will be your guide, as will your friends like me in the blogosphere.

Thanks for commenting and blogging at Library Garden, and being open about all of this–you are what good employers are looking for, and I wish you the best in your professional and personal endeavors.

One of my biggest barriers to commenting is the number of previous comments. I figure my voice will be lost in the crowd or simply repeat something said before me when the numbers get high.

My second biggest reason not to comment is fear: as a job hunter, I don’t want to say something that will hurt me at a later date. Therefore, I would say it is less than 1% of the time I write a negative comment.

I worry that this fear of reprisal causes blogs to have mostly ‘yes’ answers, and not much give and take or critical analysis (not mean flames, but real dialog). Are we loosing ideas and input because someone in the field has a performance review or interview soon?

It is a small world here in library land–seemingly smaller due to things like blogs. Does this have a chilling effect on communication via blogs or social networking sites?