As any blogger who has been around the block a few times knows, the comments section is where the real fun occurs. It’s the question and answer session that occurs after someone puts out their opinion on something. Most blog posts are shoot-from-the-hip style writing and it’s in the comment section where things often get clarified. (For an example of this, just take a look at the comments left here at Casa Escamoteurettes this past week.)

But it’s also in the comment section where you get to meet people. As my friend Katterfelto noted in the comment section of his most recent post, it is a blog dialog. It’s a conversation — readers comment, writers reply, readers comment again. (Sometimes 28 times.)

Conversations are very important in a community.

A blog without comments is simply a web site; a one-way street where the writer writes and the reader reads and, if they interact at all, it’s likely in private email. The rest of the readers can’t participate so it’s a lot like picking up a copy of USA Today to read; when we’re done, we’re done. There’s nothing wrong with having just a web site, but allowing comments — and responding to comments — keeps open a dialog. And draws in people to participate.

(I do recognize that some blog authors simply don’t have the time to moderate the comments their lightning rod inevitably attracts. Still, stupid comments are a reflection on their respective, if disrespectable, authors — not the blog owner. Most of us need only about two seconds to separate the wheat from the chaff.)

And dialogs have a way of working out problems in a cool way. For instance, Glenn Bishop is participating in Katterfelto’s blog, and — considering the history of how things have been going in the magic blogosphere over the last six months or so — if that’s not entirely cool, I don’t know what is.