Drive Growth With Sticky Conversations

Have you ever left a comment on a site without knowing if the intended recipient would ever see it? Do you find yourself making the same points over and over again in different conversations?  Do you have trouble telling people apart online or remembering your favorite contributors?  These are some of the problems addressed by top-notch commenting systems like Disqus and IntenseDebate.

If you post a comment on this blog then I’ll get an email about it, as will anyone else you’re replying to.  That email gives the author of the parent comment the option to respond directly via the email and the resulting comment will shows up here.  Mouse over a name in the comments field and you’ll see that person’s last few comments posted to Disqus-enabled blogs.  Disqus-powered stats drive the “popular/recent/people” comments widget in the sidebar on this site.  You can subscribe to your friends’ Disqus comment streams directly from Disqus rather than trying to hunt them down online.  By providing a continuous context and linking our separated conversations, we can say more and share our discoveries with more people.

The recent purchase of IntenseDebate by the makers of WordPress (thanks Hutch) should spur widespread adoption of syndicated comment tools.  Set aside some time today for thinking about how you can keep your community members engaged.  Are contributions showcased in a manner that mutually benefits the contributor and the community?  Are people receiving alerts when their conversations pick up new readers and contributors?  Make sure members get lasting value out of interacting with you and with your community.

3rd-party commenting leader DISQUS just announced a public API for their comment stream!  This is a great move on their part and should really benefit the market and end users.  I’m glad they didn’t flinch at WordPress moving into their market.