Why not use comments?

Excellent question from the widget. Why not use comments instead of Skribit?

Well, a specific tool often outperforms a more general tool. Hammers can do lots of things, but if you want to frame up a house, a nail gun is a much better choice. Similarly, if you want to find out what your readers want, comments can work, but Skribit is likely to be a better choice. Here's why...

First, article suggestions will be mixed in with the general discussion found in comments, and heaven knows that comment threads can run on and on. Skribit will have suggestions, and any off topic or inappropriate suggestions can be easily deleted from the suggestion queue.

Second, Skribit gathers suggestions together in one place. You don't have to rummage through the comment threads on two dozen posts to mine the gold of reader suggestions. Skribit puts in all in one place for you. This leads directly to...

Third, by seeing all the suggestions in one place, patterns can emerge, and new ideas can be sparked. Just by making it simple and easy to mull over reader suggestions, Skribit can help the blogger find new ideas that are interesting not only for herself, but for the readers as well.

Blog readers benefit as well. Skribit can help build a sense of participation from the readership, just as comments do today. Readers can keep track of their suggestions, and vote to indicate desirable topics. This avoids the "me too!" comment, thank goodness.

Anyway, this is off the top of my head. The question was a good one, and I hope that I've identified some of the benefits that Skribit has over the traditional "give a suggestion in comments or email" techniques. Bloggers and readers can benefit from Skribit.

Happy hopping!