Last week Facebook introduced a new comments tool that allows websites to add comments powered by Facebook. I’m testing the comments out on my blog but several other high profile sites, including TechCrunch, have switched.
One of the strengths of this system is that it ties a comment to a person. For large blogs, it prevents anonymous users from posting spam or other non constructive content. In addition, by linking blog comments to your Facebook profile, it offers the possibility of bringing new visitors to a site through a user’s friend network.
Several downsides include not being in control the content of comments, because they are stored by Facebook, and requiring users to be on Facebook (or Yahoo) in order to comment.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook comments become the default standard for comments on the web or just a side venture that never pans out. With plug-ins, like the one I’m using, to integrate Facebook comments into WordPress – I would be hard pressed to bet against at least moderate success.
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