marco:

“The main reason I don’t allow comments is that I want to inspire debate. I think people do their best writing when they’re forced to defend their ideas on their own turf. It’s one thing to leave a comment on someone else’s blog, but quite another to put your argument in front of your own readers. It forces a level of consideration that, without fail, results in a higher quality exchange of ideas.”

— Alex Payne This is exactly the rationale behind using reblogs as a means of debate and discussion.

I keep going back and forth on this with my own blogs. Usually I’ve found though that when I do leave it open, at least on my sites, the conversations are always constructive and respectful. Perhaps when more and more people have their own sites, it would be OK to turn them off.