There is no denial that Mashable articles are trendy and to the point, but so are articles on Techcrunch, ReadWriteWeb, and the Business Insider. Whenever something newsworthy breaks, all four sites (and others) typically fight each other to be the first to publish that article. The sites also fight for the most amount of comments, retweets, and social shares.
Until now.
With the launch of Mashable Follow, the site sets itself apart from its competition — and pretty much every other blog out there — by requiring registration. If you want to read an article, go for it. But if you are inspired to add a comment (either to the author or an existing commentator), you must have either a Twitter or Facebook account and be willing to sign-in to Mashable through that third-party channel. The prior Disqus-enabled commenting system (which allowed for commenting by both anonymous people and by those without Twitter/Facebook accounts) is gone.
I’ll write that again: If you don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account, you are not able to add a comment to Mashable.
Comparing the commenting abilities on Disqus vs the new Mashable Follow system, founder Pete Cashmore explains:
The benefits of the new comments system are:
1. Faster loading pages
2. A single user profile (instead of one for Mashable and one for Disqus)
3. Updates in your feed when your friends post comments
4. Ability to build a following on Mashable due to integrated Follow buttons.
We’re never keen to take features away, but ultimately we think this native system provides a better user experience.
How is this a better user experience if the only people using it are 1) savvy enough to know how to create an account, and 2) caring enough to create networks on the website? Danny Brown was on to something when he opined why a vanilla commenting system is better than a third-party system. There is nothing vanilla about Mashable Follow when it requires one to have an account somewhere else first. No?
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Not only mashable but many top blogs are using such comments system in which you need to log in with the third party account or you need to register for the blog. I think the reason behind using such blog commenting systems is to secure the blog from the spammers and bots. Such systems also helps to make your social presence more prominent.
But, yes these systems are comfortable for the blog owners but not for the people who will do comments. People naturally attract towards the blog which gives them a chance to to share their website link doesn’t matter with the no follow or do follow attribute.
Secondly it is not the only way to let your community connect on social networks this can also be done through giving the extra field in the comment form where they can also share their social networks accounts
June 21, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Bang! Right on the head Ari. I really wish my cam was on and pointed right at my face the first time I opened a Mashable article and realized that my 1,000+ comments on Disqus that were displayed were gone (along with any branding value I had with it there). Then the super disappointment of being forced to use my social media profiles to login hit, I’m sure the look on my face would have went viral.
I’ve been saying it for years now, third party comment systems are a bad call. People find it hard enough to start interacting on a blog, why make it more of a headache.
June 22, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Glad I didn’t use it in the first place John! I am so sorry for you, that’s such a personal loss and a big loss for your business :-/
“I’ve been saying it for years now, third party comment systems are a bad call. People find it hard enough to start interacting on a blog, why make it more of a headache.” – 1) I 100% agree, unless you have the worst blogging system ever ( in which case switch to WordPress;-) ) use the darn system it came with, I also hate third party comment systems. 2) Sorry to be pedantic but you should have a ‘?’ after headache even though it is a rhetorical question
June 21, 2011 at 10:21 AM
Haven’t read Mashable for a while (better, more relevant sites out there). This new approach just nailed the lid on the coffin.
Bizarre decision, not sold on the explanation either.
June 21, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Agreed. Plus the login system doesn’t always connect the account you create with your Facebook login (or Twitter). Or the fact that you have the option for both means you might login one day with Facebook, create your profile, then login the next with Twitter and wonder where your info went.
Overall, I think the goal is to make you more committed to their site. Plus they’re Mashable – they figure everyone will love them no matter how difficult they make things.
It is also irretating that you need to remeber password just to comment at the different sites. I Don’t take the time to register, when there are a lot of great blogs to comment on…
By the way, I think you have a minor bug in your comment system.
When I use android I get a error message(but the comment still works) On some comments I have tryed to resubmit the comment, witch leads to multiple duplicate comments…can it be the antispam that don’t work well with android devices?
June 21, 2011 at 3:06 PM
Whether you manage Mashable or any blog in the entire blogosphere, it would be in your best interest to develop a commenting system that makes it as easy as possible for others to leave comments. Curious to see how much this will affect their overall number of comments.
June 21, 2011 at 4:10 PM
I’m with you on this one: I don’t like systems that require me to identify myself from some other system as a condition of playing in their playground.
June 21, 2011 at 4:14 PM
Following on from Bjorn’s comment about a bug in your comment system – I just posted from my iPhone and it told me the comment had failed – but when I reloaded the page, my comment had in fact been posted. Hope this one will post as well.
Hi Ari
Started to see sites without a comments section, just tweets.
Also see a few register with Livefyre before you can comment.
I’ve actually registered with Livefyre because it was on a very interesting blog.
What’s wrong with Wordpress generic comment system?
Don’t have to register and it is so easy.
Usually if you have to register… forget it.
June 22, 2011 at 6:55 PM
Hi Keith,
Met with the Livefyre team at BlogWorld, and some interesting developments on the way. May just see me switch it back on.
The guys on this site said exactly that…
“Met with the Livefyre team at BlogWorld, and some interesting developments on the way.”
Watch this space!
June 22, 2011 at 1:50 AM
Its true that Mashable is the best sites to read recent articles..those four sites are really a competitor of each one.
I hate sites on which login is required for comment. What I feel is that mashable is loosing its credibility with the passage of time. What do you think?
Sophie
Hi Ari,
You are right in saying that to go through facebook and twitter to make a comment to Mashable is a disadvantage. However, most of the people these days have accounts on these websites, so this might not be a big deal after all.
I agree to some point of this blog… And since most of the people today have twitter and facebook accounts, it would be easy for them to use this mashable…
June 23, 2011 at 4:11 PM
I hate when the third party login system got failure.. either Facebook or Twitter, sometimes their service are down that you can’t login through their authentication API.
Little trick to be able to submit comment if the third party login service is down is by doing manual login first to the social media website (Facebook or Twitter), than refresh the website where you wan’t to submit your comment. But of course you have allow for the site permission before.
But, Mashable still have the best articles anyway ^_^
So, if you hate it, just read and don’t comment… hheehhee..
I have to confess that as much as I love Mashable, I really don’t like the whole ‘register to comment’ policy.
When your following is as big as theirs though, you can probably afford to do it knowing that it won’t really change your reader numbers.
Will be a shame to see conversation through comments die off over there though :S
I hate those blogs that has the same format as Mashable. Sometimes, I feel like they want to post something into my Facebook wall or do something with it that’s why they need it for their own site. I can’t understand why they can’t stand on their own?
So, my Disqus profile is like gone in the wind? Thinking that all my comments on Mashable are posted using it. Well, that sucks!
Hi Ari…I haven’t tried using mashable…I was about to but when I have read the blog, it changed my mind…Thanks for the information!!
Although I agree that the comment system of registered users only sucks big time, I can see how it benefits established blogs like LifeHacker. It really does remove trolls and reduces spam to a minimal, which is productive for the blog editors and writers, don’t you think?
Using mashable can be advantageous to others but sometimes it is not…Because there are a lot of people who have facebook and twitter account so there is a big percentage that they can leave comments through mashable…
June 27, 2011 at 9:13 PM
I also don’t like commenting on blogs that require registration or connecting my online profiles. So Mashable is leaving us with no choice but to login or leave no comment at all. Can it really affect the site’s loading speed?
July 7, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Commenting is supposed to be easy. Why has some make it complicated?
Interesting. Seems their follow has grown substantially since they added. What facts to you base your story upon or is this just something you have a hunch about?
Just wondering, because the stats show just the opposite. Have you researched this topic or just putting out your opinion. I’m curious because I see stories like this all over but with no basis or backing using facts. Seems useless without facts to me.
Hi Ari,
Came across your article when researching Wordpress comment plugins and which to use on a new blog.
So I’m guessing you’d recommend Commentluv? Any disadvantages I should know about?
I was initially attracted to a FB/Twitter auth login, but your piece has made me think it through further.
Thanks,
Luke
I have to say that the mashable comment system failed horridly. Not only do pages load a lot slower, but with terrible moderation, they are entirely useless!
My question is why does the comment section matter? For the most part, Mashable puts out such good content that the comments section is useless.