DisqusReviews 215

Disqus seems to have zero rules for posting that are enforced regularly and across comment makers. They allow rude and racist comments to stand. They will mark your comment as spam if you are able to prove another poster wrong, even if you do so without profanity or personal attacks. It's about whether the moderators personally like what you're posting and not any standard. The quality of posters on Disqus are rather low however. So I'm not upset about this as it's really more of a playground for people who like to talk tough over the internet but you now they don't have the courage to say the same things in public.

If you're looking for thoughtful discourse Disqus is the furthest thing from your desires.

Recently on $#*!ute and other free speech platforms, comments with certain words have been "held for moderation" for the website owner. The problem is that they aren't really being held for moderation. Instead, Disqus is automatically removing comments without the website's consent based on how they feel fit. The moderation team of $#*!ute would never and has never asked for these comments to be censored. Please, do not use Disqus. Disqus has partnered with Google. Having a company this vile own your comment section is not worth the convenience.

I noticed that not one media outlet on Disqus is conservative, not one. If this is the direction censorship is moving then we all need to really widen our eyes and see between the lines. I would never wish to silence any side, as I am a believer in freedom of speech. Last time I chimed in, death threats were bombarded at me. It's insane. For your own sanity find a better place to debate. Let the people their continue with their insane antics.

Not sure what the problem is, but on news sites anyways, Disqus can't seem to handle more than three people leaving comments at the same time. You can spend minutes trying to leave a brief comment; the page jumps all over the place; the comment won't show up; as you're typing, a word in the second half of a sentence will suddenly appear at the beginning of it... annoying as all get out. I could understand the inability of any platform to handle hundreds or even thousands of comments coming at the same time, but like I said - it happens when just a few are commenting.

Another issue involves "word policing" and "policy violation". Often, words that are seen in headlines and stories can't be used in comments. Often, comments that don't violate stated policy whatsoever will get deleted. Disqus claims that none of this is its fault, that site owners make the rules and do the moderation, yet site reps have told me that Disqus is in charge of those things, so I don't know who to believe. Heck, in one comment in this thread, someone praises Disqus because she and moderators can ban people, like it's her reason for living. At any rate, I don't recommend Disqus. Imagine trying to have a conversation with someone who acts distracted, keeps cutting you off, keeps interrupting, keeps telling you to wait, negates what you're saying, etc.? That person would be rude, and in this instance, that "person" is Disqus.

Since I read a lot of comments from people here claiming that this website often bans or censors conservatives, I want to share why I deleted it. I came across some commenters who have over 30,000 comments, mostly showering liberals with vulgarity. So I made a few comments to them. They weren't nice, also not nearly on the same level as the comments I was responding to. They would get deleted every time. I don't know if individual moderators all have their own weird system for deciding who to censor, but the system needs to be looked at.

Disqus has nonexistent customer service. They clearly do not care about their users. They do not have any known way to contact them; they do not respond to emails about problems you have with their commenting program.

Disqus insists on using google's reCaptcha mechanism which can literally block a user from ever accessing his or her Disqus account. Despite endless complaints, Disqus persists in using the extremely aggravating google Captcha device. They do not care how much chaos and trouble google's Captcha stuff causes the end-user.

Disqus also uses many cookies and stores them on your browsing equipment, some of the cookies actually store your comments, email, account details in unencrypted format. One has to wonder WHY they do this. They also store your typing in real time, whether you actually post the comment or not. WHY?

It's a shame Disqus is so heavy handed and irresponsible, because the Commenting System itself is very nice (when it works). It has many glitches that should've been fixed years ago, but have not. Nonetheless, the Disqus commenting system is one of the better ones, which is why people grit their teeth and put up with the aggravations. Wish Disqus CARED about its users and would fix the problems and get rid of google's Captcha!

I'I'm vegan. I'm a bicycle commuter, I support social causes... I don't use the word to describe myself usually, but for the purposes of this discussion, I guess I'm fairly liberal.

However, I did once say that I thought the article at abc was a little too harsh on Trump, so I was banned within minutes. I know it's just other users being petty, but it is also an ABC organization that allows that. Maybe to save money, but they really should consider not creating this environment.

I'm not going the route of creating another account and finding a way back in. The truth is, I'd rather spend my time on Strava, LinkedIn, slashdot, or basically anywhere that has a clue.

Ban people for breaking rules. Not for going contrary to your opinions. Look I'm not predicting disqus will fail... uhm sorry ABC you probably will, but for other reasons. These echo chambers are popular. They can just be popular without me, because I'd prefer another way, where people can treat each other with respect, and occasionally hear another opinion or two.

Moderators on individual websites ban users with the most sophisticated, intelligent arguments; this renders the site virtually useless- as only persons with viewpoints that the moderator agrees with may post thus turning it into a "preach to the choir confirmation bias only club".
I was banned from "Not Sorry Feminism" article "Leave Women Alone" dated "Monday, August 18,2014" by moderator "Lindsey Weedston Mod", she routinely bans any poster who disagrees with her.
There is no appeal- nor is there a way to contact the moderator.

Disqus has been a great resource for those who follow the TOS- until recently.

It is now deleting posts that express sourced opinions with which some anonymous person does not agree.

Googling "Disqus" and "censorship" or "Disqus" and "complaints" suggests this is a problem of a scope that would interest an investigative reporter. Conciliatory requests for explanations are met with silence.

My opinion of this resource is now a 180 as a result of this lack of transparency.