At Disqus we have the privilege of supporting many of the web’s diverse communities. Today, we wanted to shed some light on one of our personal favorites, The Avocado, and share some insights that are applicable to all publishers.

Free speech is a fundamental part of the Disqus network. We power diverse discussions across millions of websites, reaching billions of readers. Our platform enables people from across the web and around the world to share, discuss, and debate issues and their beliefs. Whether or not we personally identify with everything posted on our network, we believe in the right to speak our minds and share our ideas.

No matter how you feel about CES, the annual tradeshow provides a glimpse into the future shaped profoundly by technology. Ideas once borne from science fiction novels are increasingly becoming reality from autonomous vehicles and a computer beating us at Go to VR headsets that can transport us into a completely different dimension barely indistinguishable from our own. If anything, the pace of change is accelerating faster than we can keep up with.

We love to see commenters use Disqus to share their opinions in a free and open environment. Over the past 18+ months we've powered passionate discussions about the 2016 presidential election on the The Hill, Rolling Stone, Breitbart, The Atlantic, CNBC, Mediaite, SayAnythingBlog.com, Red State, and many more sites across the internet. 

If you look back at the top grossing films in recent years, you’ll notice an interesting pattern: comic book franchises have emerged as a powerful cultural force in the mainstream and show no signs of slowing down. Spider-Man. Batman. X-Men. The Avengers. Chances are you’ve probably watched one of these comic books on the silver screen.

Earlier this month, we asked you for your nominations of the best sports websites on the Internet. Seven sites were nominated and after a week of voting with 1,941 total votes submitted by the community, we now have our winner.

In case you have been living under a rock the last week (unless you were out searching for some Onix), Pokémon Go is all the rage right now.

If I were to ask 10 people on the street what they think about comments online when it comes to politics, I’d likely hear that political opinions online are often loud, colorful, and most-often uncivil.

Name calling, finger pointing, and relentless ridicule are often what people expect.

But that isn’t always the case.

The science community has had a lot to be excited about.

If you’re a community leader on the Internet, chances are you've been accused of censoring those whose comments you've deleted. Of course, you probably don't want to come across to your site visitors as an authoritarian dictator-type, and you probably don't refer to yourself as "Big Brother" in your About Me page. But after enough accusations, you might start to wonder… “have I gone too far as a community moderator?”