Is requiring log in for comments a good idea?
This morning I found a great article over at mashable regarding the new API LinkedIn is working on to allow for the development of user applications. I was keen to jump in with a comment, so I started typing away and after three paragraphs, hit submit and waited for the confirmation.
But instead of seeing my comment appear on the story, I was taken to a lengthy page requesting information for my new “user account”. Why on earth do I need a user account to comment? I don’t want, nor do I feel the necessity to have an account on a blog that I read everyday and do just fine without one.
I closed the window and left the site. And I left the site feeling frustrated that I had spent time writing such a lengthy comment only to be taken to a page requesting multiple fields of information.
Yes, I’m one of those bloggers who refuses to sign up for an account just to comment. I simply won’t do it. I just don’t have the time nor the patience to go through with it. You either give me a simple and quick way to get involved in the discussion, or I’ll move on to the next blog/topic.
This came up in a discussion with a colleague last week. Both of us felt the same on the subject, and we couldn’t figure out why smaller sites do it. I guess I can understand a site as big as mashable making the jump because they have readership that is large enough to make it work. But smaller blogs that do it are just begging for less readers.
I read hundreds of blogs every day, and there are many that never visit again simply because of their “closed door” policy on comments.
The bottom line is that in blogging, especially with a smaller blog, you need to make it as easy, fast, and convenient as possible for your readers to get involved. Otherwise, they’ll just move on to the next blog.
Food for thought…
-Eric Odom
