To use Disqus or Giscus (Github Discussions) for comments is the conundrum
I happen to host my blog https://prahladyeri.github.io/blog statically, built using Pelican and served on Github Pages. Plebs like us can't afford a backend server infrastructure, so we must rely on external services like Disqus for comment hosting.
So far, Disqus was the only fellow in town who allowed us to host comments on a free plan. Though there were some issues (bloat, adware, etc.), people seemed to be generally happy with it so far.
But now, a new fellow named giscus commenting system has entered the town, it's basically powered by github. Since I already host my blog on github pages, this should be a natural choice for me, right? Many bloggers seem to be migrating to this new system and I might too soon. The downsides however are as follows:
- It won't allow me to export existing comments from the old disqus system. Understandable to an extent as those exact author usernames may not be on the Github platform?
- Disqus interface seems to have improved all of a sudden in last few days! There no longer seem to be any ad and even the comment interface seems to be less heavy or cluttered now. It might sound a bit conspiratorial in nature but could this be the result of rising competition in the form of Giscus!
I'm a lazy status-quoist by nature and might well end up retaining disqus if they don't deviate too much from where they are now. But I'll keep an eye out on Giscus too and its progress. What do you guys suggest?
Probably not what you are looking for but I’d say no comment section is fine. People are going to be discovering your posts on sites like this which already have their own comments sections. That way you don’t need to deal with spamming, trolls, 3rd party comment tools, etc.
I have no comments on my (100% static) blog. People can post it to a link aggregator and discuss there, where the whole site is designed around enabling and moderating discussions, and it doesn't require any of my time or effort to (a) maintain the technical backend, or (b) maintain the social structure of the community that develops.
Or legal issues! Never forget that you're always responsible for handling any copyright violations that occur on your site1, so unless you want to learn how to handle DMCA requests, probably best not to allow comments from people you don't know and trust.
1. There's more to it than this. I am also not a lawyer. Source.
I'm playing with the idea of having an iframe to a mastodon thread and people can use any ActivityPub acccount they have to comment. (Have not gone far with the idea yet though)
Yeah, no comments is fine too. I just considered giving the reader an opportunity to post their thoughts and provide me first hand feedback if the implementation wasn't too much trouble or overkill.
Speaking of posts like this, it'd be a great idea if sites like Tildes themselves provide a comment hosting module which basically embeds a version of this thread on the blog post itself. Github/Giscus have done exactly this I think. When a user comments using Giscus, it's actually a comment on a Github Issue itself linked to that blog post.
Problem is that no one is going to sign up for an account to make a comment on a post, but comments without signups will be absolutely blasted with spam.
It seems like you don't need any new technology? A low-tech way to do this is to make posts in other forums that link to your blog. So, for example, you could create a Mastodon account anywhere you like and post there whenever you've finished a new blog post. (People do this all the time on Twitter; it's useful both for discussion and for promoting your blog.)
For Tildes it's similar - if you think there is interest, make a top-level post that links to an article on your blog. (It's a small audience, though, and specialty posts might not get any discussion.)
I do the same thing when I post a new accordion video on YouTube; I post to Facebook (for friends and family) and sometimes r/accordion if I think there would be interest, and send a chat message to Mom. :-) I do this even though anyone who is really interested can subscribe on YouTube.
You might want to add links at the end of your blog articles that point to the discussion posts, but that's optional and sometimes it's better not to connect your different audiences.
In that light, posting on Github makes sense if there is an audience on Github that's interested in having discussions there. But although a lot of us have Github accounts, we typically only use it as a discussion forum for specific software projects.
Similarly, I haven't given out an invite for Tildes in years, even though there's a pinned post on both my Twitter and Mastodon accounts offering to do so for people I know. People just aren't that interested in signing up for yet another new forum.
Looks like the Giscus app needs a Github permission to post as a user. Might that be a turnoff for some commenters?
Also, would your readers even have a Github account? Looks like most of your posts are technical but could that change?
That could be a turnoff indeed! Apps like Giscus are experimental tech which are not even a year old I think and might undergo some change before getting widespread usage. They're just a wait and watch for now.
I usually stick to programming or CS topics though might throw a few non-technical posts here and there. The idea is to just keep the content mill churning.
I find Disqus quite ugly from an aesthetic standpoint.
It's very rare for people to comment. I think it's estimated that 1 out of every 2000 viewers will comment. This will probably be significantly higher for deep content. But still.
A comment section is double-edged sword. A bustling one makes content seems super relevant and vibrant. An empty one makes content appear lifeless and... irrelevant. Regardless of its actual merits.
I think you should omit the comment section out and only accept direct email replies until you build up a large enough audience to sustain a comment section.
Disqus is awful and will embed ads into your comments. Don't use it; it's better to just not have a comment section as others have mentioned. Nobody really uses such sections anyway.