# Why I use comments on my site
*Published: 2013-11-07*
*Tags: wordpress, marketing-communications*
*Source: https://chrislema.com/comments-on-my-site*
---![capetownstadiuminside](https://cms.chrislema.com/api/media/file/capetownstadiuminside.jpg)## I spent the day at WordCamp Cape Town

Today was the culmination of my time in Cape Town, South Africa, as I spoke to about 400 people here in one of the interior rooms of the stadium. The event was one of my all-time favorites because there was no room-switching and only a single track.

The sessions were great and the stories told were amazing. But the best highlight, without a doubt, was the pair of comedians that [WooThemes](https://chrislema.com/woo) brought to emcee the day. They're famous on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/wearethesundayblues/videos?app=desktop). Known mostly for music videos (like the one below), they did an amazing job the entire day!

## "I don't use comments"

While at WordCamp Cape Town, I heard one or two speakers mention that they don't use comments on their sites. They declared, with some amount of pride (my interpretation), that they'd turned them off.

This isn't a new debate. Even amazing sites like [Popular Science](https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/why-were-shutting-our-comments/) recently turned them off.

So I thought I would explain why, on this site, I still use (and plan to keep using) comments.

## The "Why" behind my comments

So, this post isn't complicated. It's really simple. I use comments. I like them. I embrace them. Even when they're not great or kind (as long as they're not rude or bothersome).

But maybe there's more to it. Maybe there's a tiny bit that could help tip you to my side of things if I just explain how I came to decide that I wanted comments on my site.

It was really simple. Ready?

I wanted to buy a new home theater receiver, so I went to Amazon to look for one (and do a bit of comparison shopping). Guess what I found?

![Onkyo](https://cms.chrislema.com/api/media/file/Onkyo.png)I'm sure you agree that this one is the best, right? :)

But that's not what I saw when I landed on this page. Want to know what I saw? This is what I saw - **497 customer reviews.** That's a serious number of comments. And guess what I did?

I read about three pages of them.

I found that the comments were more useful and valuable to me than the page content itself. And in that instant I had my "aha" moment.

***My content is enhanced by the opinions, suggestions, questions and answers that others bring to it.***

And so, my Amazon trip ended up being much more valuable than I ever thought.

## What about you?

What's your take on comments? Do you find they take too long to moderate? Do you just turn them off? Do you have a trick to managing them? We want to know.

I'd love to hear how you're using (or not using) comments.