As of 7am EST today Overcoming Bias had 200,000 distinct visits and 423,000 page views, of about 400 posts and 5400 comments. Our first 100,000 visits, 229 posts and 3189 comments, took 116 days. This second set took 88 days. So we have gained readers, but have lost posts and especially comments. This could be the result of our increased quality control, or it could be that our novelty is wearing off. The last few weeks we seem to also be losing students going to summer break.
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By Robin Hanson · Hundreds of paid subscribers
This is a blog on why we believe and do what we do, why we pretend otherwise, how we might do better, and what our descendants might do, if they don't all die.
The prior post was, of course, a joke, an echoing play on the second comment , with which I agree.
If my example is illustrative, some people visit regularly and read for education and interest, but don't believe their opinions would be a useful additive to comment threads. Because I enjoy reading comments, I am sensitive to how lame, anecdotal posts can clutter and make the reading less enjoyable. We’ve all been a class with a student who just has to hear himself talk at every opportunity, but adds nothing and instead is a speed bump impeding progress.
Long comment sections generally come from posters who rarely read other comments and are often repetitive, redundant and duplicative of what has already been said.