DISQUS

Hi Kat,

Thanks so much for the post. Like you said using both services together makes for a pretty powerful toolset. For bloggers looking for all the features of a full comment replacement we definitely recommend Disqus and Intense Debate. Our recent WP plugin is not a replacement/hosted comment system -- it is designed to run on top of WP as an a way to pull in related conversations for those who do not choose a full comment replacement. BackType's main offering's are features unique from both Disqus and ID, specifically alerts, subscriptions, comment search, etc.

Really appreciate the feedback -- as you mentioned there isn't currently a way to distinguish between multiple authors using the same URL, but we're hoping to offer a solution soon. If you have any problems claiming your comments, let us know, we're constantly adding new properties.

Thanks again.

Thanks so much Wayne and Kipp for the coverage. Like Daniel pointed out we really consider our products to be very complimentary. We like what both Intense Debate and Disqus have done to improve conversations. Our main offerings at BackType are search, alerts, and aggregated profiles -- essentially a nice set of tools for comment authors and businesses.

Our new WP plugin extends the BackType Connect feature so that WP bloggers can bring the fragmented solution back to their blog. So it is similar to Disqus' social media comments. It's a nice alternative for bloggers that are happy with wordpress native comments, but it certainly isn't a full commenting system like Disqus or Intense Debate.

At the end of the day I think we're seeing people use a combination of these tools to improve their social commenting experiences. Thanks again.

Hi Stowe,

We're releasing a WP plugin this week that pulls in comments from FriendFeed, Digg, Reddit, other blogs, tweetbacks, and more. You can see it running on our blog here: http://blog.backtype.com/2009/03/backtype-connect/

I believe Disqus is releasing similar functionality soon as well.

Hey John, glad you like the footer button. I'll see if there's anything simple to do wrt the homepage.

Hi Andrew,

Great overview and thanks for including BackType :) There's one more tool I'd add to the list -- we also use Friendfeed search to keep up with what's being said over there.

Cool use of backtweets -- the API is coming very soon :-)

Great! We're huge fans of what Garry and Sachin have done and we're already finding that following authors on BackType is a great way to discover interesting content on Posterous blogs.

Please feel free to contact us anytime with feedback/suggestions/concerns.

Great points Bijan. There definitely is a variation in quality of comments from one platform to another.

I actually noticed the conversation between Brad and Steve, because it showed up in my BackType feed a number of times throughout the day as Brad was commenting. (Full disclosure, I'm a cofounder of BackType). We created BackType to do exactly that -- surface good comments, comment authors, and conversations.

There's more to be done in terms of surfacing great conversations not just by the commenters, posts, and keywords you're following -- but also by velocity of the conversation. I too am looking forward to how new services evolve this year.

Hi Dan,

Thanks so much for including BackType. We use many of the tools and strategies you listed on a daily basis. I wanted to add, that as well as managing your own comments and following influencers, you can use BackType Alerts to keep updated by email or RSS on mentions of keywords in comments.

We understand -- and as you add those subscriptions, the blogs we don't have are automatically added along with your subscription.

Yup, I second the recommendation for colloquy.

Great idea! We're looking into it.

Hey David,

If we're missing some of your comments you can submit blogs to us at http://www.backtype.com/addblogs and we'll make sure they're in our system.

Hi Barry,

Not sure what you mean by not active -- everything looks fine on our end. If we're missing some of your comments, it's possible that the blogs you comment on are not part of our system yet. You can let us know at http://www.backtype.com/addblogs and we'll be sure to add them.

Best,
Mike - BackType

I completely agree with you and Fred, these are great opportunities for BlackBerry to interact with their customers that they are missing out on. Your point about who should weigh in is probably part of the problem within large organizations like RIM. In a small company it's easy to know who should get involved, but when online conversations touch product, pr, marketing, etc, things seem to break down.

I used to work at RIM (on the Bold, not the Storm ;)), before I co-founded BackType -- maybe it's time I let them know what I've been up to.

Thanks John! We have a whole bunch of other new things coming up soon.

Interesting. I'm taking a look at commenting rates over the same period right now. There seems to be a dip in terms of comments/post, but not as pronounced.

Interesting. I wonder which BlackBerry was used -- I'm hard pressed to think of any phone that is more durable than the, now ancient, 8700.

Hey Danny,

Thanks for sharing our newsletter with your readers. We were very fortunate after our launch in that we had some great discussions in comments and by email with some of our new users. As always we love to hear from our users so we can continue adding the things they are asking for. I can be reached at mm at backtype dot com.

Best,
Mike

Very clever idea!

If you run a custom blog, the easiest thing you can do to ensure you comments are compatible is use Disqus.

Oops I somehow missed that another commenter pointed it out already :)

Nice! I'd like to see it in the comments as well. Twitter search uses the same API in a very clean and unobtrusive way.

By the way I'm getting an alert when I translate saying that the key being used is not for your domain -- not sure if anyone else is seeing the same thing.

I left my last comment without realizing you moderated your comments. I assumed you didn't given the quality of the conversation here. You must do a good job of allowing good comments through quickly.

Having said that I still think moderation is a barrier to conversations, especially in the extreme cases when it takes days for some bloggers to approve my comments. When conversations can happen quickly and can be discovered the way we discover great posts I think we'll see some even better discussions happening.

Hey Danny,

I think one of the most important things to having a real and meaningful discussion in the comments is that it is allowed to take place in real time (or as close to as possible). That isn't possible if a blogger is moderating his/her comments.

For bloggers that are concerned with spam it's worth looking at third party commenting systems like Disqus. I've rarely seen a spam comment on a Disqus enabled blog.

PS thanks for the link.