DISQUS

Darren · 1 year ago

well yes, you are wired differently :-) but I think your advice was also very good. I think the integreation of comments between services is the way things will continue to go - they certainly seem to lengthen conversations as you point out.

Mat Packer · 1 year ago

Are you not doing the same here in this article, ie. being controversial? Granted it's not like 'OMFG he didn't just say that did he' controversial, but still it potentially could be said that you're insinuating that the other 9 were being tricksters.

Despite the stir, I agree with you. Content is king way beyond search traffic and authority, it definitely makes me want to comment.

Duncan Riley · 1 year ago

Mat, you don't know me well enough, this is my personal blog, I couldn't give a shit about the traffic. It was just an observation as to how I read the question differently to everyone else, that's all + I wanted to give Darren a link as well.

No, I'm not suggesting the others are tricksters at all, there's some really good advice there, although as I noted in the post here, a lot of the stuff I'd take as a given. Contextually though, it's great advice for Darren's site.

Mat Packer · 1 year ago

Sorry Duncan, it was a stir.

Mike Brown · 1 year ago

Is FriendFeed integration and using Disqus really important for non tech blogs? I'm working on a music blog and while my users are familiar with Facebook, Myspace and maybe last.fm; very few would use Twitter and none would use FriendFeed. If my users are going to comment based on the content being decent quality, surely they couldn't care less what type of commenting system is in place?

Duncan Riley · 1 year ago

Mike, fair call, and I guess I could have been a bit clearer; they're my two choices, but it doesn't have to be yours, but the underlying prinicple remains the same: you need to make the commenting experience as simple and as user friendly as possible. FF may not fit your blog, but Disqus, or any one of its competitors might, for example, b5media runs Sezwho on its celeb blogs. The key is offering simplicity AND followup. There most definitely is a difference in my experience, and with others I've spoken to, between not running a commenting 2.0 service and running one...besides, you've got nothing to lose if you do try running one :-)

As a side note, Facebook is moving into blog commenting, so this might be something you want to look at. There was a WP plugin leaked in September, it was pulled because it wasn't ready apparently, but certainly FB integration with blog comments is going to be a reality this year. If so, I'd definitely recommend taking a look.

Mike Brown · 1 year ago

I agree that commenting needs to be made simple and user friendly, but after trialing Disqus on my blog, I don't know what I'd get out of using it overWordpress' standard comments with Ajax Edit Comments and Subscribe To Comments plugins (and at least I get to host my own comments that way).

I've been watching the Facebook Connect plugin very closely - I think it would suit my commenters quite well (although not all of them will want to use it - it's much harder to talk absolute crap when your real name and picture is above the comment!)

Mona N. · 1 year ago

I also find people tend to openly comment in communities they feel comfortable. Since it's harder (imo) to build communities on a blog, FF plug-ins (or any equivalent) is nothing but beneficial. But hey, what do I know? :)

grum · 1 year ago

Unfortunately its quite clear to a lot of us that certain bloggers will bait their readers with controversial subject matter simply for traffic. Although an effective method, it gets irritating and I often have found myself unsubscribing to these people.

I agree with your statement Dunc however in the end it all comes down to what the overall goal of the blog is - do you want people in your community who share the same vision as you or do you just want numbers and are willing to put your credibility on the line for hits?

TDavid · 1 year ago

Duncan - just curious here: do you have a regular plan of backup for the third party hosted comments "just in case" Disqus/FF melts down? So many third party sites come and go, just check the Google 2001 database. This is the primary reason to stay away from these third party hosted systems. I know the comments left 5+ years ago at my blog are still in tact and still searchable. Do you envision that will be the case for Disqus and FF?

Duncan Riley · 1 year ago

TDavid,
the latest version of the Disqus WP API plugin keeps comments locally stored as well on Disqus, so if it's down...or even if it was to collapse, the same comments appear as standard WP comments because there's always a local copy synced and kept up to date. Wasn't always this way of course, but I feel a lot more comfortable for the very reasons you raise now that it is .

Gary Barber · 1 year ago

I can understand the conversational element in a post generating conversation. And a well written article will have this. But sadly I have found that with the massive noise of the blogosphere one has to be a little sensationalistic in order to at least kick of some of the conversation. That said there are blogs that people will just comment on regardless as to what is said. Maybe they just want to be seen commenting in that community, I don't know. If some works it all out let me know.

Dream Car Blog · 11 months ago

I guess that really wied blogging
they certainly seem to lengthen conversations as you point out.

Clarityx · 7 months ago

absolutely agree with Darren.

you are wired differently :-) but I think your advice was also very good. I think the integreation of comments between services is the way things will continue to go

Ssr · 6 months ago

Heh, nice! :)

China Travel Agency · 5 months ago

Great post. I especially found it interesting. For this matter, once I discussed with one of my friends, not only about the content you talked about, but also to how to improve and develop, but no results. So I am deeply moved by what you said today.

china tour · 4 months ago

China tour operator specializes in custom China tours for individuals and groups; offers 300+ China tour packages: Classical China tours, Yangtze tours, Yunnan tours, Tibet tours, China city tours...