Blogs have been lauded as one of the most efficient ways of driving traffic to one’s website. For blogs that have comment sections, one of the biggest headaches is the management of the discussions around blogs. How does one determine those replies that are genuine and valuable, and those that are spam? Whenever a blogger posts some content on their blog, there is almost a guarantee that they will receive some spam in their blog comments. There will almost always be someone who drops comments completely irrelevant to the topic, and top it up with a link to their website, all in a bid to get exposure for their website.
Even with this in mind, it is important to remember that there is no comment system that can completely eradicate spam. Even those comment systems that require registration, people who intend to leave spam will simply register and do so. The registration requirement will likely reduce the amount of spam received, though. However, it might also reduce the number of comments one receives on the blog. Here are some factors to consider when choosing comment systems.
WordPress Base comment systems
Many blogging platforms have an inbuilt commenting platform. For many others, the default comment module has to be configured. Depending on the platform in use, such base comment systems will help the blogger configure options like whether people need to register to comment, or if they can freely comment with their names, email or website addresses.
The main reasons for these base systems are that they do not involve any additions to one’s website. As soon as the website is up, they are usually ready to go. They have also been proven faster than other third party comment systems. The downside is that they only have basic features, and any advanced feature addition will likely involve plugins.
Facebook Comments
The Facebook comment system is the second most used system, mostly due to the popularity of Facebook as a social networking site. It has hundreds of millions of daily active users, so one can almost be assured that a large majority of those who visit one’s blog will have a Facebook account and will be active users. Visitors can either choose to comment using their personal profiles or use a business page instead.
They will then get notifications if/when their comments get replies or likes via Facebook. For the blogger, this system helps to understand the people who comment on one’s blog and read the posts. Depending on their privacy, one can see such details about them as their school or job. Additionally, there is an inbuilt social sharing option, where commenters can check a box and quickly share the blog post to their friends.
Disqus Comments
Disqus is popular with such websites as ABC and TMZ, and provides strong moderation features. It requires an account through Facebook or email, and gives notifications for new comments, replies or likes. Bloggers benefit from the numerous advanced options like the ability to publish comments, holding comments for moderation or only allowing those with verified email addresses to get published.
Another popular comment system is Livefyre, which is similar in many ways to Disqus.
