This strikes me as pretty on-target.

From the National Catholic Register (H/T New Advent):

Blog comments are like the graffiti of the untamed digital continent.

Some are helpful, like the spray paint on the fence that says “beware of dog.” Others are very impressive, like a beautiful mural. Some obviously took a lot of time and thought. Others are done passionately and quickly. Some are for self-promotion, like a gang sign. Others are done simply to exercise our power to do harm and cause suffering. Many are angry. And still others leave us scratching our heads.

As bloggers and blog readers, it’s helpful to distinguish between the different types. Blog comment sections can be very powerful places to get unique perspectives on an issue, share helpful information, build people up, engage in thoughtful discussion and contribute to the “soul of the internet.” But far too often they turn into annoying and useless diatribes of self-congratulatory tit-for-tats anonymously pounded out from behind an impersonal keyboard and obscured by thousands of miles of virtual space. That’s a waste of an opportunity.

And while we can’t control what others do, we can help the situation by what we do. And I think a good starting place is recognizing the different kinds of comments and the motivations behind them…

Check out the list at the link.