Resource of the Week: Disqus

What is it?
According to its website: "Disqus (dis·cuss • dĭ-skŭs') is all about changing the way people think about discussion on the web. We're big believers in the conversations and communities that form on blogs and other sites."

Disqus is a comments-integration platform for blogging. It was founded in 2007 and is currently headquartered in San Francisco. Bloggers can embed it into the comments section of their posts in place of what is there by default. They can then view in a single thread all of the comments from their blogs as well as those of others who also use Disqus.

Why I love it
Disqus is very user-friendly. As a commenter, you can be anonymous or set up an account and track your comments across the web. Others, including the author of the post, can reply to your comments. A comment stream can, therefore, consist of multiple conversations. The format is very clean, very easy to read.

As a blogger, it's great as well. I can get notifications by e-mail whenever someone posts a comment, so that I can promptly reply to it or, if I wish, remove it. I can also change the moderation settings for comments to only post after I've approved them. With Disqus, I have a clear, easy-to-read history of everyone whose commented on my posts and what they've said. It's just awesome!

Who uses it?
Disqus is ideal for bloggers who view their posts as conversation starters. As readers do not have to create a log-in to leave comments with Disqus, the platform is very inviting of feedback. If you don't want comments or don't have time for conversation, you shouldn't use Disqus.

Some of my favorite Bloggers use Disqus. Here is a list of my current Disqus community:
Anthony Iannarino
Dan Waldschmidt
Jim Keenan
Kelley Robertson
Paul Castain
Carrie Wilkerson
Charles Green
Aaron Bieber
John Jantsch
Chris Brogan
Matt Heinz
Gary Hart
Linda Richardson
and counting.....