Comments are the thing I return to check after I’ve read a post, during those bored moments on the train, toilet or standing in line. For me, they are especially important on a mobile device. I see so many sites that hide comments this way and it’s frustrating – if you’re gonna have comments enabled, ensure I can read/use them!
Embrace the idea of content parity and provide a consistent experience. There’s some startling figures too about users who claim their mobile phone is their primary (or only) device for internet access. Those users will miss commenting entirely, not good if you’re trying to build a community!
To view comments on .net Magazine I’ve got to switch to “Classic view” which then keeps me there and ruins the rest of my browsing experience.
You’d assume hiding native comments is a kop-out by web designers as they may pose some (minor?) styling issues. Not ones that can’t easily be overcome, though.
I don’t exactly know how well external services like DISQUS work on smaller screens & slimmer connections, but they have the potential to slow down page load times. Beware if you’re hiding an embedded service such as this using display: none; as the data will still be loaded anyway.
Do it properly, though
If you’re running threaded comments, use common sense. Style with caution and maybe even un-nest them for mobile. Make avatars smaller and consider using a keyline as an indicator (instead of padding) along the left edges, to keep line lengths sane.
So yeah, a call to arms for everyone making their blog comments unreachable. I’ll think leave it at that. And yes, my comment section below is hidden by default but at least it’s still accessible!