I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the whole experience of blogging and reading blogs. In general, I would think that most people just read blogs, maybe leave a comment, then move on. We’ve all heard that blogs are a conversation, but are they really? Yes, conversation can happen on blogs, but is the platform really the best for conversation? I have my doubts.

So, here’s what’s been on my mind. How would you make your blog more interactive? Not gimmick-interactive, but really interactive, the kind of interaction that builds relationships and community and dialog. I’d say it goes all the way into the fundamental blog experience, and redefining (or tweaking) that experience slightly.

One thing that’s on my mind, for example, is comments. Currently, comments are practically always on the bottom of a post. It’s almost like a footnote/appendix. Why not have comments more as “notes in the margin” instead? Maybe have a side margin (like another sidebar, that can be toggled on/off), where the comments run alongside the post, so that comments can be more ‘in context’ – you can comment specifically on a certain paragraph, for example, and people can see that comment at the same time as while they read the paragraph. There are probably technical details to consider, but that’s just one idea that’s been on my mind, and I think it could help provide more flow to conversations on a blog.

Or why not have an easy way for other bloggers to embed your post or part of it? Something sort of like Clipmarks, but a functionality provided by the blog itself, so that people without the Firefox plugin can also embed it.

What do you think? Are there ways which we can redefine the fundamental blog experience to really make it more interactive and easier for conversation? Or ways to make it more of an experience, something more immersive, rather than just something people read for a minute and leave?

Or do you think that it doesn’t matter and that blogs are fine as they are? Whatever it is, I’d love to hear your opinions.

*note: This post is cross-posted (with slight modifications) from the discussion I started on Seth Godin’s Triiibes Network