Ask HN: Should I add comments to my website?
I want to (re)introduce comments to the website because...
- I'm more likely to get notified if my advice is outdated
- Questions give me an idea of what confuses readers and what can be improved
- I want to bring discussions that happen in private Facebook groups back into public view, so that others may find them.
On the other hand, I have a few fears:
- Spam. It can be mitigated to an extent, but it's still an unpleasant problem to deal with.
- Moderation would add a somewhat time-sensitive task, and I avoid those like the plague.
- This turns a resource into a community, and managing a community is a far more delicate job.
- This is a static website under source control. Comments would be hosted in a separate place, and it might be a hassle to keep these two sources of truth in sync.
Can anyone chime in with their own experience?
[0] Example guide: https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/freelance-visa
The solution would be something like:
1. Add a very simple form that sends you an email to the end of each guide. This isn't different from what you already have in your contact page but it encourages contacting you right when a particular guide is read.
2. Add, again at the end of each guide, a questions section. Format this in a way that could be similar to actual comments.
3. Every time you receive a question, you manually -yes, that means work, I know- add it as a new comment/pair of comments in that section and update the guide if necessary.
Advantages:
- Avoids spam on the site
- Single source of truth
- Encourages readers to contact
- Allows for easier filtering. Nothing gets on the site if you don't actually validate -and process- it.
Disadvantages:
- Still requires work from your part, though not as urgent as "live moderation".
- Does not completely feel like conversations. Doesn't let different readers directly answer each other.
- It may result in you getting spam in your email.
- It's not automated. Again: Nothing gets on the site if you don't actually validate -and process- it.
Neutral:
- Doesn't shift the site into a community. I point this as neutral because it isn't bad per se but I understand that you do not want that.
I've seen this sort of set up work mostly fine. It does require work from your part, I repeat, but that really depends on how well it works -how much feedback you get- and since you seem to want that feedback to update the site, then the effort should be worth it.
If you go this route, one recommendation: In that simple contact form, set the action to something like mailto:contact@allaboutberlin.com?subject=... and include some identifier in the subject that easily links it to the specific guide they're sending it from.
But having said that moderated feedback and comments would be valuable. They help build community.
Your website, your rules. Don't be put off by free speech minimalism, and be thick skinned as you become a target.
The biggest risks are more technical: automated spam, and possibly the low signal/noise ratio. I hope to get a lot of good feedback from those comments, but I also expect very low quality questions from tire kickers, just like in my email inbox.