I decided to not roll my own comments here on tdh.me, using an outside service rather than the built-in WordPress functionality. This is generally not something I advice since the more outside services you’re relying on, the slower your site will be, not to mention vulnerable to a third party’s uptime and security measures.

That being said, I’m rolling Disqus on this site, the first public one for me actually.

I went with a hosted comment solution for 5 main reasons.

1. I wanted simple Twitter and Facebook login for commenters.
2. I wanted simple subscription alternatives without installing additional plugins.
3. Disqus in particular is used widely, that makes the commenters feel right at home.
4. I wanted to try a hosted comment solution on a public site.
5. I wanted to see how fast I could deploy something like Disqus on a site. The verdict? Real fast…

Oh, and why not Automattic’s solution, being IntenseDebate? No reason really, other than Disqus is more widely used in Sweden (and the rest of the world I’d wager) and since this site is my playground rolling Disqus made a lot more sense. No real preference other than that.