The image below is produced by Mosaica, a screensaver that I have installed on my computer. It starts with a black and grey grid, and quickly builds up a mosaic of images from Flickr. Where next in the world will I be taken by this concoction of 21st century technologies that work together so harmoniously? It’s a never ending adventure, really it is.
I like 21st century technology. I mean, who in their right minds is still using Windows 95 for their daily computer needs? Or worse, is anyone out there using something that reports anomalies on screen in big bold letters - syntax error? Do you connect to the web using a 56k dial up modem? When someone asks if you want to play a video game, do you leap over the armchairs and load up Frogger on your Atari 2600?
Of course not. And yet. And yet. Blogger. A fine platform for aspiring writers. Ruined by a piece of ’90s tech. The comments system. I know, I have been here before. But really, enough is enough. This is the 21st century. A comments system needs to be consistent, threaded, linked to social networks, have the ability to update users without the poor sod jumping through hoops. And more. All the things Blogger comments is not.
There are alternatives. Disqus is my favourite. Intense Debate also good. Both blend well with Blogger, like Mosaica and Flickr. I like them. Luddites, the stubborn and those not in the know….less so. But no more excuses. I don’t use Windows 95. I don’t own an Atari 2600. I haven’t seen the words syntax error appear on my screen in a long time. I no longer have a cassette player.
And, from this moment on, for the same reasons I don’t use the aforementioned, I no longer comment on Blogger blogs with the standard commenting system. The system is the equivalent of Mosaica trying to create a screensaver by having a man run around art galleries, grabbing physical pictures and trying to push the paintings into my monitor.It’s nothing personal. It is, in many ways more my loss than others.
But my loss is greater than my gain in using it. I simply can’t be bothered with it any more. Bloggers using it are in effect telling me that they aren’t really that bothered about their comments. Not bothered about the conversations they could produce. That would be better than they are currently. Such is life.
Comments, Stats and Lies
For years I’ve been recommending, sometimes pleading, with Blogger bloggers to install the Disqus commenting system on their blogs. Blogger’s commenting set ups suck. Really, really suck. It does work a lot of the time, I guess. But then chemotherapy works a lot of the time. It’s not something you’d go for if there was a better, pain free alternative though, is it?
Disqus integrates Twitter and Facebook in a much better way. It displays on a post in a much more user friendly, more aesthetic manner. And it enables threaded commenting. I personally wouldn’t now use a commenting system without threaded conversations.
The biggest argument I’ve heard against Disqus is that it was tricky to install. I didn’t think it really was, although it wasn’t the easiest plug in ever. That’s all changed now. It really couldn’t be simpler. I tried it out yesterday on one of my Blogger blogs. You register an account, then register a blog (name and url address), and then you click a button. That’s it.
Another plus is that more and more blogs and websites (the Independent newspaper in the UK is a good example) are using Disqus, which makes having an account handy.
In other news, I’ve decided to add buttons to my blog. Stat Counter, because Rich of the Mexfiles can tell which countries his visitors come from, and, because WordPress comments doesn’t offer this into, I can’t. One must keep up with the Jones’, you know. I can now tell you I’ve had 5 visitors from Vietnam in the last twenty four hours. Fascinating stuff. There’s also now a Creative Commons button. Because people keep stealing my content. Now they can’t. Think about it.
Edit: I almost forgot about the lies! Stat Counter says I’ve had 74 visits today. WordPress tells me only 68. It’s possible that WordPress doesn’t count ghosts. They should. I’d like a few more ghosts here. Statistics for blogs isn’t an exact science. So if every visitor could just leave their name, country of origin, length of time spent on the blog, IP address, broswer they are using, OS they have installed….
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