Commenting services like Echo and Disqus should look out. Facebook is stomping all over their lawn with their latest comment system roll out. Even if you’re not a Facebook fan, this is serious news for publishers.
One of the biggest drawbacks to commenting on a site is logging in or providing credentials. Facebook completely does away with that. If you’re logged in on Facebook, just add your comment and move on with life.
Because the system is based on Facebook, commenters are forced to use real names. All those trolls, troublemakers, spammers, and straight up cowards can no longer have their way with your comments area.
Besides making it easier for people to engage and comment on your site, there is one major feature Facebook brings to the table that no other system can. When you leave a comment, you can optionally post that comment on your Facebook feed. When people respond to that comment on Facebook, the replies are copied back to the site you commented on.
This deep integration with Facebook is just not possible for anyone but Facebook to do and could be very beneficial for publishers. On the flip side, there are many people who would never comment on your site if Facebook was the only option. Also, commenters who are also publishers now lose that link back to their own sites, instead getting a link back to their Facebook profile.
What do you think about Facebook comments? Awesome or not?