Comments vs Forums
Comparing comment systems with discussion forums highlights their characteristic features. Rather than qualify each point with "usually" or "sometimes," the following lists describe ideal types. Were I comparing magazines to newspapers, I might say that magazines are colourful monthlies while newspapers are monochcrome dailies: a description that captures the tendencies of each medium even though many do not fit the pattern. Some forums have voting mechanisms, for example, while some comment systems allow links. Many comment discussions have only a handful of users: yet are designed to accommodate hundreds. The important thing is the contrast between the tendencies of each medium.
| Forums | Comments |
|---|---|
| Participants | |
| dozens of participants | hundreds of participants |
| stable user population | variable population |
| participants become acquainted | participants are strangers |
| moderators participate | moderators are invisible |
| Technical Design | |
| phpBB, vBulletin | Disqus, Livefyre |
| static HTML | dynamic Javascript |
| indexed by search engines | absent from search |
| at the top of the page | below primary article |
| flat | hierarchical |
| new posts appear at the end | new posts mixed in with old |
| require registration to post | sometimes allow anonymous |
| may require registration to read | publicly viewable |
| allow images, links and video | no multimedia or links |
| no voting mechanism | readers can vote comments up |
| displayed in fixed order | readers can change sort order |
| a post is large, with metadata & decorations | a comment is mostly content, with little decoration |
| Practices | |
| focus on particulars and practices | focus on principles and ideals |
| jargon, memes & in-jokes | written for general audience |
| value civility and manners | value rationality |
| ongoing shared interests | current articles and events |
| express a sense of shared history | little collective memory of previous discussion |
| read whole thread | read fragments |
| sense of belonging | diversity of opinion |
| positive | angry |
| support | disagreement |
| participants address one another as individuals | participants treat others as stereotypes |
| avatars and signatures | no expressions of identity |
| each user posts many comments | most users post only one comment |
| moderators guide adherence to norms | moderators remove material that violates rules |
| old discussions are valued | old discussions often lost |
| discussions last days or weeks | discussions last hours or days |