5 ms·

The Numbers of Disqus

61 points by jnoller 15y ago

ecuzzillo 15y ago
HN feature request: Make the color of links I've already read something other than semi-invisible grey. Currently when I'm looking for a link I just clicked on, it takes me a very long time because it's so anti-eye-catching. So, in particular, when I click on a link to read it, then hit back to upvote it and/or comment on it, it takes a long time to re-find it. (Yes, I could open it in a new tab, blah blah.)
staunch 15y ago
Congrats to Disqus guys. Presumably the $10M includes a couple million for the founders to cash out, which is great. They seem to be in a pretty difficult position though. The product is the very definition of a "feature", and one that is most definitely a commodity. Facebook Comments just launched and it's quite well done. Since most people are logged into their FB accounts all the time it means instant commenting with real identities. Exactly what most sites need to increase commenting while maintaining civility. Revenue is also a big problem. Between Facebook Comments and other free competitors there's not much room to charge for pro features or add advertising. I'm a fan, but don't really see how they're going to become a big business in the future to return 5-10x on this $10M.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- pclark 15y ago
  Disqus already has a freemium product (Disqus VIP amongst the potential for other things) and Disqus has said that in fact Facebook Comments is increasing their potential Market via validation and growing awareness of 3rd party commenting systems. I don't know why you think Disqus is a feature - it's a product growing into a company. It seems like a no brainer that Disqus will take over the web in the same way Facebook Connect has for registrations. Its simpler, faster and superior to what websites can offer themselves.
- zeeg 15y ago
  Try using Facebook Comments as a large publisher. There's quite a few powerful tools that we (Disqus) provide that Facebook hasn't yet. Granted, they might in the future, but commenting is our sole product right now, and you can bet we'll do the best we can do make it awesome :)
  - suking 15y ago
    I can't even go on TC anymore because there is no trolling or funny comments. FB comments killed the discussion there. BRING BACK DISQUS! Also - they have a digg button where every article has 0 diggs, wtf is the point? I bet Arrington is an investor with someone high up at Digg, etc.
- vsearch 15y ago
  My company recently switched to Disqus as a test on some of our sites. So far we're happy. The mobile version needs some work including their app but overall good. I don't like Facebook and their attitude towards their users so we won't be using Facebook comments.
jsavimbi 15y ago
Twelve. The number of probable months since I've commented using Disqus.
- joshfinnie 15y ago
  Really? Is this because you do not like Disqus? Or is it because you are commenting more on websites like Hacker News instead of commenting on the original articles? I have found myself much more interested in commenting on Hacker News than any of the articles I read here. The only exception I can think of is when I need to comment to the author of the article and it is obvious that they don't read Hacker News. As for the popularity of Disqus, I see their commenting system everywhere today! And I have to admit, I think the world is a better place for it.
  - atourgates 15y ago
    I think there are many applications where it's fantastic - but at least one notable exception: Engadget. Engadget's commenting system has always been its weakness. The site has (I blieve) the best gadget reporting on the internet, but its comment section is on-par with YouTube's. I can't remember the last time I tried to read the comment's on a popular article that didn't devolve into a flame war between some kind of fanboy faction. If that site's planning to rescue its users from inane, inflammatory or outright inaccurate commenting, it needs to use a moderation system that's much more aggressive about filtering and burying the bad, while promoting the good. And that's not something that Disqus does very well.
  - jsavimbi 15y ago
    I think I'm along the same lines as you are. I don't comment on generic blogs posts as they don't represent the continuity of community to me and therefore offer me no benefit in spending my time writing something for a group of strangers. If I see the link on HN or Reddit or MeFi, or Twitter even, I'll comment there, not on the blog.
RichardPrice 15y ago
Congrats guys. Terrific stats and incredible growth.
Smirnoff 15y ago
congrats guys. i was really upset when techcrunch took you off their website. i have facebook disconnect, so now i dont go to techcrunch that often because i cant see comments without incognito mode.
corin_ 15y ago
The numbers I would love to hear are a slight break down of where the uniques/comments/etc come from. Disqus is used on a number of really big sites, some are listed in this blog post (such as RWW and Wired), but there are other massive examples, such as the MLB network of sites. Of the 530m uniques and 35 million disqus-using people, is it a case of x% coming from y% of the websites that have disqus on them, where x is close to 100 and y is close to 0? For example, 750,000 websites use disqus, if you take only the stats from, say, the 50 biggest, what percentage of the 35 million is that? (Replace 50 with any number that turns out more interesting.) Any chance a disqus person might care to share?

61 points by jnoller 15y ago

HN feature request: Make the color of links I've already read something other than semi-invisible grey. Currently when I'm looking for a link I just clicked on, it takes me a very long time because it's so anti-eye-catching. So, in particular, when I click on a link to read it, then hit back to upvote it and/or comment on it, it takes a long time to re-find it. (Yes, I could open it in a new tab, blah blah.)

staunch 15y ago

Congrats to Disqus guys. Presumably the $10M includes a couple million for the founders to cash out, which is great. They seem to be in a pretty difficult position though. The product is the very definition of a "feature", and one that is most definitely a commodity. Facebook Comments just launched and it's quite well done. Since most people are logged into their FB accounts all the time it means instant commenting with real identities. Exactly what most sites need to increase commenting while maintaining civility. Revenue is also a big problem. Between Facebook Comments and other free competitors there's not much room to charge for pro features or add advertising. I'm a fan, but don't really see how they're going to become a big business in the future to return 5-10x on this $10M.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
pclark 15y ago
Disqus already has a freemium product (Disqus VIP amongst the potential for other things) and Disqus has said that in fact Facebook Comments is increasing their potential Market via validation and growing awareness of 3rd party commenting systems. I don't know why you think Disqus is a feature - it's a product growing into a company. It seems like a no brainer that Disqus will take over the web in the same way Facebook Connect has for registrations. Its simpler, faster and superior to what websites can offer themselves.
zeeg 15y ago
Try using Facebook Comments as a large publisher. There's quite a few powerful tools that we (Disqus) provide that Facebook hasn't yet. Granted, they might in the future, but commenting is our sole product right now, and you can bet we'll do the best we can do make it awesome :)
- suking 15y ago
  I can't even go on TC anymore because there is no trolling or funny comments. FB comments killed the discussion there. BRING BACK DISQUS! Also - they have a digg button where every article has 0 diggs, wtf is the point? I bet Arrington is an investor with someone high up at Digg, etc.
vsearch 15y ago
My company recently switched to Disqus as a test on some of our sites. So far we're happy. The mobile version needs some work including their app but overall good. I don't like Facebook and their attitude towards their users so we won't be using Facebook comments.

jsavimbi 15y ago

Twelve. The number of probable months since I've commented using Disqus.

joshfinnie 15y ago
Really? Is this because you do not like Disqus? Or is it because you are commenting more on websites like Hacker News instead of commenting on the original articles? I have found myself much more interested in commenting on Hacker News than any of the articles I read here. The only exception I can think of is when I need to comment to the author of the article and it is obvious that they don't read Hacker News. As for the popularity of Disqus, I see their commenting system everywhere today! And I have to admit, I think the world is a better place for it.
- atourgates 15y ago
  I think there are many applications where it's fantastic - but at least one notable exception: Engadget. Engadget's commenting system has always been its weakness. The site has (I blieve) the best gadget reporting on the internet, but its comment section is on-par with YouTube's. I can't remember the last time I tried to read the comment's on a popular article that didn't devolve into a flame war between some kind of fanboy faction. If that site's planning to rescue its users from inane, inflammatory or outright inaccurate commenting, it needs to use a moderation system that's much more aggressive about filtering and burying the bad, while promoting the good. And that's not something that Disqus does very well.
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  I think I'm along the same lines as you are. I don't comment on generic blogs posts as they don't represent the continuity of community to me and therefore offer me no benefit in spending my time writing something for a group of strangers. If I see the link on HN or Reddit or MeFi, or Twitter even, I'll comment there, not on the blog.

RichardPrice 15y ago

Congrats guys. Terrific stats and incredible growth.

Smirnoff 15y ago

congrats guys. i was really upset when techcrunch took you off their website. i have facebook disconnect, so now i dont go to techcrunch that often because i cant see comments without incognito mode.

corin_ 15y ago

The numbers I would love to hear are a slight break down of where the uniques/comments/etc come from. Disqus is used on a number of really big sites, some are listed in this blog post (such as RWW and Wired), but there are other massive examples, such as the MLB network of sites. Of the 530m uniques and 35 million disqus-using people, is it a case of x% coming from y% of the websites that have disqus on them, where x is close to 100 and y is close to 0? For example, 750,000 websites use disqus, if you take only the stats from, say, the 50 biggest, what percentage of the 35 million is that? (Replace 50 with any number that turns out more interesting.) Any chance a disqus person might care to share?