Yes, we were kidding. Obviously. But seriously:
We value the amazing community we have here, and look forward to reading what you have to say, even though we can’t always talk to each one of you directly through e-mail or comments (Anna previously linked to this great post Andrew Sullivan had about how trying to spend 1 minute a month interacting with 10,000 readers would take forty hours a week.) Patrolling the comments is an overwhelming job, so let’s also offer thanks to Hortense, who somehow, day after day, manages to keep things in line.
And for the newbies, let’s remember: Commenting on this site, as we have said before, is a privilege and not a right. So please. Behave yourselves. Read the post, and the article which made the writer want to post in the first place. No threadjacking. No super-personal information. No feeding of trolls. No getting catty in Snap Judgments, which are not there as a “set up” but as fun, breathing room between text posts. (If you want to make comments about the weight and anatomy of women, there are PLENTY of places to do so; this is not one of them.)
The posts which went up earlier today will gradually have their comments turned back on, so feel free to go back and revisit — and comment — on the ones you liked! And here are some of the responses to our prank:
A blogger from another site (via IM):
oh my god
you are amazing
no comments
I’m so jealous
Our hero Sarah Haskins Twittered about the comments outage!
From someone at a law firm:
I am not sure why I am writing this as I undoubtedly have billable work to do but it saddens me that you think Jezebel needs silence to grow. While many of the comments were incendiary and/or ignorant, there were also many supportive and insightful comments that frankly made Jezebel more than just the blog you go to for snap judgments. I realize that the blog might not belong to the readers, the public or the commenters but disabling the comment section will cheapen the experience. I understand that moderating comments must take the time of two full time jobs, and I have to admit I thought it odd when the site implemented a comment moderator. This may seem to disagree with my earlier statement but comments should not be given the power to take over the site. As an adult, you choose what to read and how to respond. Readers can skip over comment threads they find distasteful (especially with the new feature which neatly held comments and responses together). I guess my point is it would be a shame to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I don’t have a blog or comment that much on blogs but I always liked the fact that blogs were more about discourse than the traditional media outlets and I especially enjoyed the discourse at Jezebel. So just one of probably a million voices saying, I hope you change your mind.
From someone with a sense of entitlement:
As a loyal Jezebel reader, I just have to say that I think your doing away with comments is doing a disservice to the site and to your readers. Jezebel is a living and breathing organism and your loyal readers and commenters make up the tissue to the organs – especially the lungs and the vocal chords.
I think it’s awesome that Anna had a moment of clarity in her “walkabout”, but I don’t believe that the application of her own personal epiphany is appropriate for the thousands of people that enjoy commenting on Jezebel.
Being able to comment not only gives us the ability to give feedback on items that the editors/writers/contributors post but it gives us the ability to bounce ideas and experiences off of one another so that we may see another side of the argument – that may not be yours or our own. It also gives us the opportunity to put the editors/writers/contributors in check every now and then – because eeeevery blue moon, you guys will go way out into left field and post something that was not well thought out.
And now what do you expect us to do? Just sit back and take what you say as law?
Well, yes, actually, because we work here? But. Moving on.
This person had a tone of resignation:
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