The Open Thread on this blog has proven to be really popular, with many of you posting insights, observations, or just news from bizarro world. However, one issue with having a long thread of comments on many different topics is that it can be difficult to follow a particular exchange as blog comments are not a good substitute for the convenience of forums. Sadly, forums are no longer a popular means of communication online.

Based on feedback from some of you, I have been thinking about ways of providing an additional outlet for comments. This led to the creation of the Open Post category. An Open Post is based on a reader comment. I may just copy and paste an interesting comment I have come across, and give it more visibility by creating a separate blog post with it, of course with proper attribution. I may also add a bit of my own commentary. In any case, the idea is to provide a means for more targeted discussion that is more similar to what forums once provided.

In order to start an Open Post, do one of the following:

• Leave an interesting comment anywhere on my blog that makes me think that it deserves greater visibility.
• Prefix a comment in the Open Thread with “Open Post:” to get my attention. Normally, very short comments won’t be sufficient, even though there may be exceptions. Aim for at least one well-written paragraph with an interesting insight or observation.
• Email me with a message that has “Open Post” in the title.

My goal is to curate quality discussion. Thus, while the Open Thread is genuinely open for anyone, the Open Post is semi-open as I am the gatekeeper. You guys leave a lot of great comments on this blog, so I’m confident that we will see quite a few posts in the Open Post category.