DISQUS

Aviv Shaham · 1 year ago

I think one should also take into consideration the actual length of a user's comments - and their contents, in addition to (or instead of...) the simple count of comments+likes. I think this is particularly important as FF is becoming more active and entries can easily have 20+ comments by the time you see them. I make it a point to not post comments that repeat what others already said. I also noticed that lately when I do post a comment it requires some maneuvering in order to avoid the 300-character limit :), and so I learned to ignore the real count of a "potential subscription"'s comments and instead spend a few minutes reading recent comments before I make a decision (it sounds so serious now, heh).

felix · 1 year ago

Aviv, you're definitely right, quality of comment is definitely a factor (as distinct from length, but I think we're really getting at the same thing). I do check out comment streams and scan a quick sample, but more often than not, if I see a lot of comments on topics I'm interested in I subscribe. Even small innocuous posts can be conversation starters. Kinda like a low opening bid on ebay. :) Beyond that, I just like to see people engaged enough in the site to actively participate. "LIke"ing is great, commenting even better.

If there's a ton of off topic comments or whatever, that's a different story.