One of the biggest benefits of Disqus is the size of their network. I'm already logged into Disqus and thus can easily reply to someone, comment, upvote and sha

One of the biggest benefits of Disqus is the size of their network. I'm already logged into Disqus and thus can easily reply to someone, comment, upvote and share. When I go to sites that expect me to make a new account, provide my email to a stranger, or give them auth via my Twitter account I likely won't bother at all. Disqus also offers a full account export (or they have in the past, I haven't checked lately) if you ever really feel like you want to go self-host.