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Ask HN: Are comments necessary?

3 points by imjonathanlee ↗ HN
I'm brainstorming a new startup, and it crossed my mind how much of our online world revolves around comments. It's necessary for people to receive feedback, and to communicate with one another using the comment section. What if instead of comments though, there was some other way to leave feedback? Maybe a rating system in place of comments.

I want to see if comments are truly necessary- oftentimes I feel that comments are critical but way too bulky. I'm trying to cut out all the things that just aren't needed in order to launch.

*Edit: I'll clarify the question a little. I understand comments depends on what kind of site it is. Let's take a photo sharing site for example. I read recently somewhere that a company made a phone app that could let you wink, smiley face, or unhappy face at a photo instead of the generic comments you see.

I'm asking whether or not you could see alternatives to comments becoming a success by changing the commenting model as a whole. It's not about my site in particular, it's about comments itself. Do you see yourself satisfied with not being able to leave actual text as comments but instead having to wink, leave a smiley face, rate the photo?

7 comments

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jerf
The answer is a firm "it depends", and you haven't given any relevant information to narrow it down beyond that. You haven't even given any useful information to grab on to to start asking questions about.
ryduh
I don't think comments are truly necessary at launch. IIRC, Reddit launched without comments.
senko
Whether to have commenting or not depends heavily on your specific site/app, there's no generic answer. Depending on how much user interaction you want/anticipate, you could have like/dislike, rating/stars, or comments.

If you would like to have comments, but don't want to waste time on building them, you could use external comment system like Disqus (or even Facebook comments, if it makes sense for your case).

samgro
I believe Path is what you are referring to with the emoticons. That was the first feature of Path that I found really innovative - it encourages greater participation because it's faster than commenting, like the "Like" button, but allows you to convey a greater degree of emotion. But I still comment on photos in Path - having real conversations are valuable in most situations.

Hard to answer for your particular site without knowing more detail, but why not just use Disqus? They're likely to be better than what you hack together yourself, and most early adopter types are familiar with it which will probably increase your engagement rate.

imjonathanlee
Yes! Path is the one I'm referring to. I thought it was very innovative as well- and it ties in well to the concept of path. It mimics the real life emotions that your friends might have if they see how your life unfolds. I don't think that their emoticons could work with just any other site.

Real life conversations are valuable- sometimes it just feels like there's too much spam going on. I have a fully functional comment section, but just not sure if I want to keep it. I'm looking for a better way to improve engagement rates by making the comments somehow more interactive with maybe some kind of alternative.

Thanks for the thoughtful answer.

pspeter3
I think alternatives could exist and be extremely popular, especially since people are crunched for time. On the flip side, sites like HN exist for the insights provided by comments.
imjonathanlee
I think so too. Path that was mentioned is a very unique and original idea to promote further interaction as an alternative to commenting. It saves a ton of time allowing you more time to explore.

HN is fantastic. It doesn't feel bulky because commenting is integrated with the original idea of the site. In fact, you can't do anything but read and leave comments.

For another site though, like a blog, or a photo sharing site, or even a news article you read online- there aren't a lot of alternative to comments.