I want to (re)introduce comments to the website because...
- I'm more likely to get notified if my advice is outdated
- Questions give me an idea of what confuses readers and what can be improved
- I want to bring discussions that happen in private Facebook groups back into public view, so that others may find them.
On the other hand, I have a few fears:
- Spam. It can be mitigated to an extent, but it's still an unpleasant problem to deal with.
- Moderation would add a somewhat time-sensitive task, and I avoid those like the plague.
- This turns a resource into a community, and managing a community is a far more delicate job.
- This is a static website under source control. Comments would be hosted in a separate place, and it might be a hassle to keep these two sources of truth in sync.
Can anyone chime in with their own experience?
[0] Example guide: https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/freelance-visa
But having said that moderated feedback and comments would be valuable. They help build community.
Your website, your rules. Don't be put off by free speech minimalism, and be thick skinned as you become a target.
The biggest risks are more technical: automated spam, and possibly the low signal/noise ratio. I hope to get a lot of good feedback from those comments, but I also expect very low quality questions from tire kickers, just like in my email inbox.