Facebook has announced a Comments Box plug-in for mobile in an effort to improve the social network's presence in the social commentary space.
According to reports, Facebook's Comments Box plug-in is already being used by over 400 000 Web sites.
As a result of the update, when the plug-in detects that a user is using a mobile device, it will automatically show the mobile version. While older versions gave limited support to mobile commenting, there had been complaints that it was too small and at times unresponsive.
Facebook says: “If your Web site has the Comments Box, the plug-in will automatically appear on the mobile Web version of your site.
“The Comments Box for mobile is the latest update to the plug-in to make commenting more social and authentic, improve the quality of conversations online, and drive traffic and engagement to media sites.”
At the end of last year, Facebook introduced a “subscribe” link to the plug-in, which was aimed at helping bloggers and commenters increase their subscriber base on Facebook.
Online decency
Facebook argues that plug-ins, such as its Comments Box, hold commenters accountable for their statements, helping to avoid trolling and maintaining a higher standard for online debate and discussion.
“The abuse extends to hate-filled and inflammatory comments appended to the online versions of newspaper articles - comments that hijack legitimate discussions of current events and discourage people from participating."
Despite the common perception that online anonymity lends itself to abusive comments, a recent study by social commentary giant, Disqus, says otherwise.
According to the study, commenters who use pseudonyms are the most valuable contributors to communities because they contribute the “highest quantity and quality of comments”.
Sixty-one percent of the pseudonymous comments on its platform recorded positive quality signals (with 28% neutral and 11% negative), meaning they were more 'liked' and generated more discussion. This is compared to just 34% positive results for anonymous comments and 51% for real-name comments (using the commenter's Facebook profile).
Facebook first launched its comment plug-in in 2009, and revamped the service in March 2011. While Facebook is the largest social network in the world, with over 800 million users, it is still behind other commenting platforms like Disqus and WordPress.
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