Last year we released reactions to give publishers and commenters a new way to engage and since that time over 70 Million reactions have been posted globally! Today we are releasing an upgraded reactions feature, that provides more creative freedom for our Pro and Business publishers. They can customize their site reactions and we can’t wait to see the creative ways they use this feature to engage their communities. We’ll post some of our favorites on Instagram and Twitter in the coming weeks.

Although blogging has been around for more than two decades, there are still a number of misconceptions about this form of writing. From worries about qualifications to fears that the blogging trend itself is on the outs, these false impressions leave some people feeling apprehensive about the process. Today we are here to bust those myths and set the record straight! We gathered a handful of statements that we hear quite often and debunked them one by one to put any blogging unease to rest… so let’s straighten things out once and for all! 

Consistently creating original and valuable content is tricky. When you’re regularly publishing new articles, it can be challenging to brainstorm fresh and relevant topics. A reliable and consistent supply of content, however, is important to keep readers engaged, loyal, and invested in your site. This is not to say you need to churn out several pieces of content a day to keep your audience interested, but you do need to remain a dependable source of quality information. So what do you do when it’s time for a new post, but you’ve exhausted all of your recent thoughts and ideas? Interviewing experts within your industry is a great way to generate fresh, new content!  🙌

Calling all publishers looking to take their audience-building-efforts to the next level. We have the answer for you: live events!  🎉 If you’re a publisher just starting out, don’t hit the back button quite yet. While you may want to focus on establishing your online presence and nurturing an involved, on-site community first, live events are a useful strategy you can employ down the road, and it’s never too early to start planning! 

Today we are announcing with a heavy heart, a change to Disqus Channels. As many are aware, the Channels ecosystem has changed shape since the time of its roll-out. 

Over this time, we’ve seen an increasing number of Terms Of Service violations in the channel sphere, which requires increasing resources from the Customer Support team. Due to the high volume and nature of the Terms of Service violations present in the Channels system, we ultimately decided to remove Channels from Disqus entirely. We made this decision with the goal of keeping everyone’s best interest in mind. Our Customer Support team is dedicated to improving the Disqus experience for both commenters and publishers, and removing Channels will allow them to devote more time and effort to this objective. 

Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms, with 1 billion active monthly users. The popularity of the platform, especially amongst younger audiences (over ⅔ of users are under 35), makes it an attractive outlet for publishers looking to extend their reach and promote their brand. Instagram is also a highly engaged platform with various opportunities to create content aimed at prompting user responses, which ultimately helps publishers connect with audiences and build loyalty🤩 

One of this summer’s hottest films hit theaters last Friday, and this highly anticipated live action rendition of The Lion King took us on a rollercoaster of emotions: we laughed, we cried, we cheered, we boo-ed (*cough, cough* Scar). For those who haven’t seen it, I warn you to stop reading now--cause spoilers!--but if you’re familiar with the original, you know what’s coming. In the months leading up to the film, and over the weekend especially, people flocked to the Internet to discuss Disney’s latest remake. From the highest of praise to flat out disappointment, comments about the new Lion King covered an array of sentiments--let’s see what Disqus commenters thought!

Today, after careful consideration and much feedback from our commenter community and publishers, we disabled Collapsed Replies across Disqus and reverted to the original thread format. We initially released Collapsed Replies (a new way of displaying comments within long threads) in March. The intention was for it to be the new default experience on Disqus. However, after listening to feedback, we realized that the update, at this time, is not the appropriate default experience.

Today we’d like to announce an exciting new feature -- Star Ratings! 🤩 The new Star Rating feature, which allows readers to rate content from one to five stars, is now available to all of our Pro and Business publishers. Ratings provide another opportunity for audience engagement, giving readers an easy means of actively participating in the conversation. On average, engaged readers consume about 4 times as much content compared to passive readers. Focusing on converting more passive readers into active participants will result in more time on site, direct traffic, and audience loyalty. 

At Disqus, we’re always exploring ways to help publishers foster engagement, increase visibility, and grow. Contests and giveaways present fun opportunities to reach new audiences and boost your brand overall. The goal behind contests is simple: encourage people to do something (whether that’s posting a photo or commenting on a post) and reward that engagement with a prize. Giveaways are similar, but winners are chosen at random. Contests and giveaways can be conducted through your site or through other channels. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are especially conducive to such campaigns because of their popularity, ease of spreading content quickly, and interactive nature. The flexibility to design and cater contests and giveaways to fit your needs or budget makes these campaigns an advantageous initiative for small, medium, and large publishers alike. This, coupled with their fun and engaging disposition, are some of the reasons why contests or giveaways can be a beneficial addition to your content strategy.