I've noticed even major blogs have trouble getting comments. I would like to see comments ditched for branches, tweets, facebook posts, etc. This has been done in some aspects, but what do you think about completely ditching comments?
There's a lot of value in putting a link to a thread at the end of a post saying "Let's finish this conversation on HN". I don't know what the non-coder equivalent of that is, but I think Branch might be a good alternative.
Christopher Mathews added Derek Lefler and Kevin Suttle.
@David Byrd I am looking into ways to use Branch instead of comments (once it gets out of beta) since anyone can use it without setting up an account.
If I had the know-how I'd love to invent something that was some sort of feed that would show threads of discussions. Maybe a simple link would work.
How do you think this impacts SEO ranking if at all? How do other bloggers feel about this?
I like comments when they add context to ratings or enrich my thoughts relative to an article's topic. However, I find them too disconnected from other places I communicate. There are some widgets that help but don't solve this. Also, having comments occur as a single instance at the end of the page often causes the comments to be too broad or topic chaotic. I'd like to see a commenting system where you can determine topics of conversation. Overall, I'm in favor of a comment overhaul, but not completely killing it. I'm new to branch and look forward to see how it contributes to this.
Christopher Mathews added Tyler Borchers.
@Christopher: Very interesting question about SEO. I know Branch allows publishers to leverage their platform: branch.com, so I think, or am at least hoping that this will be expanded to bloggers so that they can be branded and maintained under the association of the writer.
As for the question at hand, I have seen several articles discussing the perils of leaving comments on, and as I build out my new blog, one of the 1st decisions I made was to outsource discussion. The web bore this concept of content inline with discussion, but is it necessary, or at worst, distracting? For me, the management/moderation overhead are not worth it on my own site. I come there to write. Readers come to read. Discussion can happen elsewhere.
@Derek I am definitely torn. There is the occasional comment that makes me glad I have made comments available, but at the same time I find that the comments are the general "I liked this article, here's mine on a similar topic." While I enjoy the read, I can't think of a single instance where a comment would be better than reaching me on any other social network.
@Kevin I have been debating it for the past few days, but I think I'm making a complete move away from comments until a better system is in place. With options like Branch I can see comments no longer necessary. I just wish there was a way to present tweets, facebook posts, branches, etc all in one place.
With so many fantastic options for discussion, many of which have improved the commenting system, is it necessary to host my own are of discussion?
I say no. Especially when sources like Branch not only enhance discussion of a blog post but reach out to readers I would not have been able to reach otherwise.
I think I'm making the leap.
@Christopher: Isn't that what Storify does? I've been considering them my comment hub, but I wonder if outsourcing comments without ownership is worth the lock-in. storify.com
@Kevin I think that what this lacks is the ability to do it automatically. I'm not sure how logistically this could work, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. I'm going to look at it a bit more and see if I can use it to suite my needs.
I'd like to get at the underlying issue here. If we think of each social medium as a unique community, then you want to abandon your comment section community because you prefer others. That preference is based on very little that is inherent to these media. Maybe you are able to send messages quicker via Twitter or you enjoy the aesthetics of Branch, but those characteristics wouldn't compensate for low quality conversation. If you're like most people, you've spent a significant amount of time cultivating a Twitter community. The same can be done in comment sections, it's just less common. I wrote about this for Poynter and cited Ta-Nehisi Coates, who actually left Twitter to spend more time in his comments. Personal preference.
Tyler Borchers added Adam Monago.
@tyler I don't think the offsite comments necessarily have to be an outside community. HN is an outside community, but I don't know if Branch is.
Also, I totally agree that if you can cultivate a good comments community on your own blog then it becomes really valuable. It really only makes sense if you have a lot of readers though.
*dont necessarily* (typo)
Interestingly enough, you can create a topic for your article in Branch, and embed that in your page if you want to. That's a nice option.
It still brings up the question of management vs overhead though because you'd have to allow people in each time. This isn't any different than Wordpress admin approval for comments.
You can also auto-import a whole Twitter thread (bulletin.branch.com) but that means it's finite.
Really I'll just try Branch and Storify both to see which suits my needs.
Also, I can't believe that I just learned this, but Tumblr doesn't support comments natively, and they seem to be doing fine. I see Tumblr as more of a photoblog or curation platform, though some use it as a serious blogging platform.
Some great older articles from Khoi Vinh and Oliver Reichenstein on the perils of comments.
So many good resources!
Awesome thread. Tyler's response first struck a chord with me, but since then there have been lots of great additions here. Thank you all.
In my experience we have had moderate to low success with comments. At the same time, the social web 'in the raw' doesn't allow for the best user experience in terms of discussion. On paper, it seems to make sense to not want to create a walled garden for discussion, but I've found it harder in practice to harness the best bits of social discourse and put them in context of articles.
I feel that what has been going on at Branch, Medium and Storify are all great takes on how to provide voyeuristic delight in reading someone else's curated collection or discussion and want to join in. I too am puzzled as to how to incorporate this into my own publishing experience, but I'm intrigued to try it.
It feels like we all would agree that some blogs have provided wonderful comment experiences. It's my contention that this has typically been more a product of the human curation effort and the relationships that resulted between the readers and the site.
Happened across this article and noted the volume of comments. Combination of a focused community with great curation and a good topic, I suppose:
Aaaaand counterpoint: Online comments hurt science understanding, study finds
I'm still very torn on what to do. I think that since everything is changing so rapidly and every one seems to do it differently the best thing to sit down and decide what comments will do for your content.
Once you decide yes or no, decide what sort of community input is correct for your community. I'm between branch and tweets. If someone really wants to communicate, they will find a way.
Right, in response to my Tumblr comment, "Tumblr" has now overtaken the term "blog" in search terms. Part of me wonders if this is a generational thing.
Really, I didn't know this. I wouldn't consider most tumblr pages to be blogs. I don't think it's a generational thing, ten years ago it was livejournal, myspace blogs had their rise for a little while as well (Facebook killed that), then Tumblr. But as far as I can remember, blogger and wordpress have always been for professionals or at the very least "serious" bloggers.
I could be wrong, this is just how I remember it.
Side note: What happened to branching from inside of a branch? Could use that right about now.
At the risk of sounding like the oldest 31-year old man ever, here's why I think it's generational: A recent study suggested that American attention spans average 2 seconds now. Most content on Tumblr, that I've seen, is not in-depth. Gifs, photos, quotes, links etc. Not many #longreads or original content. Perhaps I'm connecting the dots of two different puzzles, but it seems to line up in my eyes.
Not that TechCrunch should be the model for anything, but I noticed that they used both Storify and Facebook for comments on this article:
Speaking of TechCrunch, they're now regretting using Facebook for comments (here's my 'shocked' face :| ), and are asking commenters to come back and create TechCrunch profiles and/or LiveFyre accounts.
I have problems with both of these services. And personally, I'm ready for Facebook to fizzle out, so it's not a service I would like to support.
I think I might have an idea that isn't possible or at least hasn't been created in the means I would like.
I agree with you connection of Tumblr and attention span. But how do you cater to this epidemic while presenting quality content?
Aren't the two mutually exclusive? How can you present quality content to a demographic that has a ridiculously short attention span? I think your market is probably well into their adult years and can appreciate quality content more. Also, get off my lawn. :)
Haha. That's very true. Unless your market overlaps the two, because I feel that the 20-somethings are in between those age groups. Some have a short attention span, and some appreciate quality content. This is "branch"ing into a very different topic!
