The Virginian-Pilot is conducting an interesting experiment: converting its letters to the editor into blog posts that allow other readers to comment. So far, the reader interaction has been meager. That may change, and I hope it will.

If the idea fails to take off despite the massive readership that the Pilot can drive to the blog, here’s my take on why: Letters to the Editor are, by their nature, extremely diverse in their viewpoints, their tone and their subject matter. A Letters blog does not have a thematic focus, and it cannot develop an editorial voice that people can respond to, either positively or negatively.

Virginian-Pilot columnists are much more likely, I would suspect, to generate a following and interaction with readers than the Letters section. Succeed or fail, the Pilot deserves credit for trying something new.