How important do you think comments on a blog are?

When I see someone blogging about something, inevitably the peanut gallery is there with its own comments.

Should these be taken seriously, or is this the equivalent of people shouting at their televisions?

I think they should be taken seriously, not for their message (the absurd ones at least), but for the fact that they're interesting sociological indicators of where people's minds are at in real time. Granted, the power of anonymity definitely gives people a lot more balls than if it were in a public forum, but I guess it allows for people's true nature to show.

Shameless effort to direct traffic to the OPs blog.