Conversation. The end…OK, I’ll provide a little more explanation than that. There are two primary reasons why I decided, after a 12 month hiatus from DISQUS, I decided to give it another shot.
1) Customer Service
Case 1: Back in January we had a good conversation here at Life Without Pants about DISQUS versus “standard” WordPress commenting, we weighed the pros and cons and addressed our concerns. The post attracted Giannii, one of the reps over at DISQUS, to come by and answer any questions and provide what I thought was outstanding customer service.
You may say, “Well, he was just doing his job” – and you’d probably be right, but it’s something like this that can really have a positive impact and leave a lasting impression. It worked, because here I am today, a new-found brand evangelist for DISQUS (as a result of excellent service). Companies wondering how to get involved and engaged with bloggers and Social Media types out there should take note of the DISQUS approach – you don’t have to “sell” – you just need to be present, engaged, and provide assistance, while going even just slightly above what the competition is doing to ensure your “users” are getting the most value out of your product/service.
Case 2: I was having trouble importing all of my WordPress comments over to DISQUS so I sent out a ‘tweet’ and, within an hour or two, there Giannii was again offering to personally help with the transition. A day later, my problem was resolved. Attentive, timely, responsive – again, things that add up to a positive service experience.
2) Conversation
This IS why I made the switch – I had been pondering it for a while and then DShan brought it to my attention again last week – DISQUS, at it’s core, is here because it will further encourage conversation. Previously, if anyone replied to your comment here, you’d only receive notification if you “subscribed” to the comments of the post. So obviously a lot of people are going to miss that. But the problems don’t end there (with standard WordPress). If you ARE subscribed to a thread, you receive an email notification for EVERY comment that appears following yours – aka extremely annoying if you were the first to comment and then get stuck receiving 100 follow-up emails about new comments when you just want to go about your day.
With DISQUS, it tactfully encourages the conversation to continue by sending automatic email notification to the user if there is a reply to THEIR specific comment. Many times, conversation has fallen flat here simply because a person doesn’t know that anyone ever replied to them. By going with DISQUS, you eliminate that unknown and encourage your readers to keep tabs on the conversation and participate beyond their first comment. Conversation is the bread and butter of any blog, and this should only further promote my ‘conversation philosophy’.
I welcome back DISQUS in with open arms – here’s to hoping she treats me well over the long haul.
(If you’re thinking of making the move or need any help with DISQUS, feel free to give me a shout and I’ll be more than happy to lend a hand).