Saturday Discussion - What's the point of blog comments?

Some big blogs don’t even allow them. How does that affect things?

Some people reply to every comment.

Others hardly ever do.

I know of one blogger who deletes anything negative about the blog.

Others feel any comment should be left there as a sign of honesty.

Some measure their success by the number of comments they get.

Others close comments when they get to a certain number.

Some have a rigid and enforced comment policy.

Others allow “anything to go.”

What do you think about blog commenting? What are your views on the above?