Comments are a huge part of any website. For all the work that we do to get traffic on our sites, it’s often the interaction with other users that keeps people coming back. So, is there a superior yet simple way to implement this vital section of your business’s site? Of course there is, and it’s called Disqus. To see an example of Disqus commenting, look no further than the bottom of this post (we also use Disqus over at blip.tv).
Why Disqus? As I mentioned in the earlier Yammer post, digital discussions that mimic in-person conversations are more useful for collaborative work. Additionally, tools like Flowr highlight the need for collaborative conversations. This is not just true for those of us who are making the site; it’s true of our users as well. Their best experiences with our site are the ones where they can collaborate and contribute. Disqus offers real time posting and updating, bringing a conversational feel to your comments threads.
Frankly, Disqus has the best social integration I’ve seen in any comments system. Users can avoid the burden of creating separate username/passwords for every participatory website by simply logging in using their established social media accounts. It’s a truism that bringing conversations from your site out into larger forums like Facebook and Twitter can then drive other interested parties back to your site, which then allows the largest possible group of people to participate in your community. With social integration, people can comment using services that they are already comfortable with and already using. This also has the added bonus of reducing “trolling” or negative comments – generally, users commenting without the cloak of anonymity are much more likely to contribute positively.
A unique feature of Disqus is the ‘community box’, which gives people an overview of the community and activity on your site. This is a great way to make people who are new to your site, or perhaps just stumbled across it by chance, feel welcome. They can quickly get up to speed and start participating without a steep learning curve.
Everyone is doing it. Since so many sites like this one, CNN, Time, Fox News, IGN, Engadget, and many many more use Disqus, it instantly connects your site to an already-thriving community of users. These people may even know each other from threads on other sites, and conversations can flow across several platforms freely. The company offers easy plugins for WordPress, Tumblr, Drupal, and Blogger, and I had no problem using it in a completely custom site. It works almost literally everywhere, so it is easy to use it for your site as well.
We are all about mobile here, so of course, Disqus is also the best commenting system for mobile browsers or we wouldn’t use it. Last August on their product blog Disqus announced that it can now automatically detect mobile browsers and provide a clean and clutter-free theme optimized for mobile devices. Now your comments section can now work just as well, including all the rich features, whether your users are visiting on a desktop or mobile device.