Making some noise

We’ve been quiet the last few weeks. Our most recent releases primarily focused on usability fixes and back end improvements, but Disqus hasn’t made any huge announcements as of late. Disqus has been working on a few things which we’re giddy about, and I think it’s time we started making some noise again.

The main goal of this is to hear your thoughts and concerns throughout the development and release of a new feature. Disqus has over 55,000 websites in the network (and closing in on 1 million commenter profiles); new features and changes in the service impact a lot people and we want to know that every move we make is a good one for most.

I’ll go into some more detail about new features in a future blog post. Some current issues that we are focused on fixing are better spam handling, fixing OpenID support, internationalization support, fuller API documentation, and improving the moderation tools.

One of the first things I’ll make noise about is the introduction of two new members of the Disqus team, both starting this week: Anton and Giannii.

Anton comes all the way from Uzbekistan to help work on many of the new features coming into Disqus. We were so impressed with his knowledge, ideas, and technical ability that we had to pull him out of his country and into San Francisco. Case in point: Anton fixed a Disqus bug while on his flight to SFO.

I am proud of the way that Disqus communicates to the community of Disqus users. There’s quite a few of you now. Giannii has joined the team as our community manager and will be helping the rest of us better understand Disqus and the people using it. Most importantly, he will be making sure Disqus continues to be the service that makes all of you happy. He has a lot of experience in this area and we’re excited about his ideas.

I’ll let both Giannii and Anton introduce themselves here and talk a bit about what they’ll be up to at Disqus.

Daniel on November 18th 2008 in disqus

  • Howdy Disqus!! My name is Giannii and I am very excited about being your community advocate at Disqus. I am here to continue the amazing job Daniel, Andrew, and Jason have done by listening to your issues, opinions, suggestions, and ideas. So you know a little about my background, I have been helping develop communities for a several years now. I started in the handheld gaming industry as a community advocate and until recently was the helping companies such as coComment develop their community. If you want to learn more about me check my personal website at http://life.giannii.com as I am pretty much an open book. If you would like to chat feel free to ping me at help@disqus.com and follow my Disqus profile at http://disqus.com/people/giannii/

    Talk soon?

    Giannii
  • Seesmic video reply from Disqus.
  • I didn't realize that the DISQUS video comment link led to Seesmic. Thanks for the demonstration, Faboo!
  • Hey Anika,

    Good to see ya! Hows are the kids? If you have any questions or need help feel free to ping me at help@disqus.com.

    Giannii
    Community Manager

    P.S. I loved that video about the with the robot toy. It reminded me when my father bought me a robot toy that smoked. I was not fond of smoke and was out the door before they knew it. lol
  • congrats congrats!
  • Following.. good to see more people here!
  • Congrats on the new features and hires!
  • Howdy Disqus!! My name is Giannii and I am very excited about being your community advocate at Disqus. I am here to continue the amazing job Daniel, Andrew, and Jason have done by listening to your issues, opinions, suggestions, and ideas. So you know a little about my background, I have been helping develop communities for a several years now, starting in the handheld gaming industry as a community advocate and until recently was the helping companies such as coComment develop their community. If you want to learn more about me check my personal website at http://life.giannii.com as I am pretty much an open book. If you would like to chat feel free to ping me at giannii@disqus.com and follow my Disqus profile at http://disqus.com/people/giannii/

    Talk soon?

    Giannii
  • Seesmic video reply from Disqus.
  • congrats Giannii! yip!
  • I didn't realize that the DISQUS video comment link led to Seesmic. Thanks for the demonstration, Faboo!
  • Hmmm. Certainly seems like a boy's club to me. Why not hire some women and prove that you aren't sexist.?

    Women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S.

    The ratio of full professors in computer science the U.S. versus the number of women Ph.D. graduates in computer science is sickening. Look at the numbers yourself.

    You can be part of the solution.
  • Giannii works at Disqus now, yay!
  • Gianni is a bad (shut your mouth)
    I'm just talking 'bout Gianni
  • Oops.... Giannii, sorry bro.
  • Congrats to both of the new guys! Glad to seeing Disqus getting better and better. :)
  • Congrats on the new features and hires!
  • vogelvision
    Congrats on the new job Giannii! I look forward to seeing the disqus community grow.
  • congrats Giannii! yip!
  • Thanks Beach, I look forward to hopefully seeing you Thursday.
  • Giannii works at Disqus now, yay!
  • Gianni is a bad (shut your mouth)
    I'm just talking 'bout Gianni
  • Oops.... Giannii, sorry bro.
  • Howdy Papyromancer,

    Thanks and I wanted to let ya know there is a lovely edit function after you make a post for next time. =) Good to see you!
  • Congrats to both of the new guys! Glad to seeing Disqus getting better and better. :)
  • vogelvision
    Congrats on the new job Giannii! I look forward to seeing the disqus community grow.
  • Thanks Vogel,

    It has been too long, we should catch up soon. If you have any questions about setting Disqus on your site, I am your man.

    Giannii
    Community Manager
  • sarah smile
    yay
  • cbrown22
    Just checking his out for the first time. Should be interesting to see how this community comes together.
  • sarah smile
    yay
  • WayneSMT
    "The ratio of full professors in computer science the U.S. versus the number of women Ph.D. graduates in computer science is sickening. Look at the numbers yourself."

    I have been reading over that for about 10 minutes and I still cannot figure out what you were trying to compare. I will rephrase that statement a few different ways and just choose which one is correct so I will understand the point that you were trying to make.

    1.) The majority of full professors in computer science who are male, in relation to the available pool of doctoral candidates which is predominantly female is sickening in the United States. Meaning that in higher education men are generally appointed to full professorhips over equally qualified female candidates.

    I couldn't really come up with any other options that were coherent in structure, so I hope I nailed it in one.

    "women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S."

    Yes and the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the world now has a million and one cracks in it thanks to Hillary and Sarah.

    "You can be part of the solution."

    The bigger question is can you? Instead of welcoming the new people you went negative, slipped in a "boy's club" without the traditional word "old" in front of it and then made the statement. "Why don't you hire some women to prove that you aren't sexist?" Hiring of anyone to prove that you are not something is not the dumbest thing I have ever heard, but probably will be the dumbest thing I have heard today. But the night is still young

    Most computer science people are somewhat like engineers. They are really good at figuring stuff out in their area of speciality but when it comes to working and playing well with others and building a community they often fall short.

    In my opinion, one of the most predominant skills for building a community is working with people not machines.

    Welcome Giannii - Is that pronounced Johnny or Gee-ah-nee?
  • cbrown22
    Just checking his out for the first time. Should be interesting to see how this community comes together.
  • congrats on new members and we're excited for the new updates!
  • congrats congrats!
  • congrats on new members and we're excited for the new updates!
  • Wwelcome Anton and Giannii -- and we're all looking forward to seeing the shiny new toys. ESPECIALLY the spam control improvements. :-)
  • Wwelcome Anton and Giannii -- and we're all looking forward to seeing the shiny new toys. ESPECIALLY the spam control improvements. :-)
  • Thanks Chris! That picture you have for your profile reminds me of my old one. The spam controls will be improved and I am excited about them as well. =)
  • Congrats for being a new member. And for having such a nice job.
  • Hey Anika,

    Good to see ya! Hows are the kids? If you have any questions or need help feel free to ping me at giannii@disqus.com.

    Giannii
    Community Manager

    P.S. I loved that video about the with the robot toy. It reminded me when my father bought me a robot toy that smoked. I was not fond of smoke and
  • Thanks Beach, I look forward to hopefully seeing you Thursday.
  • Howdy Papyromancer,

    Thanks and I wanted to let ya know there is a lovely edit function after you make a post for next time. =) Good to see you!
  • Thanks Vogel,

    It has been too long, we should catch up soon. If you have any questions about setting Disqus on your site, I am your man.

    Giannii
    Community Manager
  • Thanks Chris! That picture you have for your profile reminds me of my old one. The spam controls will be improved and I am excited about them as well. =)
  • Gee-ah-nee would be the proper pronunciation and I am so glad you asked. It meant a lot to this digital soul. Thanks for the welcome =)
  • justatest
    This is just a test. Thanks.
  • Pishba
    Seesmic video reply from Disqus.
  • justatest
    This is just a test. Thanks.
  • Pishba
    Seesmic video reply from Disqus.
  • Following.. good to see more people here!
  • Apparently I struck a nerve. I will concede that my first sentence could have been worded more clearly, however, judging by the tone of your reply, you got the gist of my complaint.

    Here are some figures on the number of female full professors in the U.S. http://cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html 11 percent women as full professors IS sickening. Compare that to the 19 percent of female Computer Science / Computer Engineering degrees awarded, and you will start to see my point.

    Women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S. Until women are at LEAST 51 percent in key positions of power, I will continue to upset white men. (It's almost always white men who get the most upset when I point out the gender disparity. Why wouldn't they be upset? They are the ones who will be losing the most power in the new structure.)

    The stuff about old boys club and part of the solution? Whatever. I am not trying to build a community or make friends. I am simply pointing out sexism when I see it. Is that negative? Fine.

    Obviously the Disqus boys hire based on gender, otherwise there wouldn't be all guys. I'm simply saying, "Hire some of the other gender."
  • Without seeing the applications that Discus received, I cannot formulate an opinion either way. I am not in their shoes. Far be it for me to judge another until I perceive the same information that they do. I understand your frustration, but the point that I was trying to make was that it is time to move on.

    I used to play a game called World of Warcraft. I had a guild and my guildmaster's name was AxshenJaxshen, cool guy, heluva player. Had some of the highest PvP ratings you could get. He was coming through my town and sent me a txt msg and we met. She, yes that's right Axshen was a she. Totally blew me away. Here was a girl, actually a woman, who had better fighting skills and PvP skills then I did. Did that bother me? Nope, not in the least.

    One thing that you have mistaken though. When you say "I will continue to upset white men" No one, and I do mean no one, can make you feel anything that you do not want to feel. Did your post make me feel upset. Nope, not in the least. If the men are getting upset, they must be very shallow indeed.

    Full professors, I gotta laugh. I am reminded of a very time tested phrase. "Those that cannot do, teach." and it is true. Sure there are more men as full professors, but there are more women working on the cutting edge of their fields.

    Are you familiar with TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design. If not you should go see what they are accomplishing. I haven't looked at higher education for guidance in a very long time. So provincal in nature, pragmatic, pedantic and dogmatic. They truly are "The old boys club." I wouldn't want to join their ranks. Why do you?
  • Community manager is like a forum site which have a community sharing method of idea. Giannii is i dont know yet?
  • hi eletromute!

    Disqus is really great. Disqus helps people to comment in a more easy way. Disqus rocks!!!
  • Congratulations to disqus for a job well done in commenting system.
  • Complimenti ad entrambi i nuovi ragazzi! Lieto di vedere Disqus ottenere una migliore e meglio.
  • Complimenti ad entrambi i nuovi ragazzi! Lieto di vedere Disqus ottenere una migliore e meglio.
  • Congrats for being a new member. And for having such a nice job.
  • joemel
    Congrats giannii for being a new member.
    female libido supplements
  • Disqus really rocks in many ways but I just want to ask if were did my missing comments went?
  • Disqus really rocks in many ways but I just want to ask if were did my missing comments went?
  • yeh ,its was a great tool i think
  • A bigger work team will definitely bring Disqus to a greater height. I look forward to those new features. Thanks for sharing !
  • A bigger work team will definitely bring Disqus to a greater height. I look forward to those new features. Thanks for sharing !
  • Talking about TED, I just want to bring to attention of reader about this talk by Sir Ken Robinson in TED about Education & Creativity. It is a powerful delivery by Ken with the touch of humour. He is an awe-inspiring speaker. Must watch. Go to: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson...
  • Talking about TED, I just want to bring to attention of readers about this talk by Sir Ken Robinson in TED with regards to Education & Creativity. It is a powerful delivery by Ken with the touch of humour. He is an awe-inspiring speaker. Must watch. Go to: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson...
  • glad you included disqus
  • I have always found disqus really powerful and a great thing to add into websites - keep up the good work
  • Thanks for the info. May God have mercy on us all.
  • great post thanks!
  • thanks for the post
  • Leon B Walker
    great article!, grats for u site :)
  • Barbara J Najera
    god bless your blog my friend :)
  • god bless your blog my friend :)
  • Miguel Marks
    640762
  • I think twice now before commenting on blogs that don’t use Disqus now, not sure it’s worth the time if I can’t easily track response.
  • I think twice now before commenting on blogs that don’t use Disqus now, not sure it’s worth the time if I can’t easily track response.
  • I think twice now before commenting on blogs that don’t use Disqus now, not sure it’s worth the time if I can’t easily track response.
  • I think twice now before commenting on blogs that don’t use Disqus now, not sure it’s worth the time if I can’t easily track response.
  • reklam
  • reklam
  • wallace530
    great post sir..
    thanks for sharing. really helped a lot here.
    --------------------------------------------------
    Ugg Boots | Uggs
  • I am really satisfied with your post
  • Hmmm. Certainly seems like a boy's club to me. Why not hire some women and prove that you aren't sexist.?

    Women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S.

    The ratio of full professors in computer science the U.S. versus the number of women Ph.D. graduates in computer science is sickening. Look at the numbers yourself.

    You can be part of the solution.
  • "The ratio of full professors in computer science the U.S. versus the number of women Ph.D. graduates in computer science is sickening. Look at the numbers yourself."

    I have been reading over that for about 10 minutes and I still cannot figure out what you were trying to compare. I will rephrase that statement a few different ways and just choose which one is correct so I will understand the point that you were trying to make.

    1.) The majority of full professors in computer science who are male, in relation to the available pool of doctoral candidates which is predominantly female is sickening in the United States. Meaning that in higher education men are generally appointed to full professorhips over equally qualified female candidates.

    I couldn't really come up with any other options that were coherent in structure, so I hope I nailed it in one.

    "women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S."

    Yes and the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the world now has a million and one cracks in it thanks to Hillary and Sarah.

    "You can be part of the solution."

    The bigger question is can you? Instead of welcoming the new people you went negative, slipped in a "boy's club" without the traditional word "old" in front of it and then made the statement. "Why don't you hire some women to prove that you aren't sexist?" Hiring of anyone to prove that you are not something is not the dumbest thing I have ever heard, but probably will be the dumbest thing I have heard today. But the night is still young

    Most computer science people are somewhat like engineers. They are really good at figuring stuff out in their area of speciality but when it comes to working and playing well with others and building a community they often fall short.

    In my opinion, one of the most predominant skills for building a community is working with people not machines.

    Welcome Giannii - Is that pronounced Johnny or Gee-ah-nee?
  • Gee-ah-nee would be the proper pronunciation and I am so glad you asked. It meant a lot to this digital soul. Thanks for the welcome =)
  • Apparently I struck a nerve. I will concede that my first sentence could have been worded more clearly, however, judging by the tone of your reply, you got the gist of my complaint.

    Here are some figures on the number of female full professors in the U.S. http://cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html 11 percent women as full professors IS sickening. Compare that to the 19 percent of female Computer Science / Computer Engineering degrees awarded, and you will start to see my point.

    Women are the underrepresented majority in the U.S. Until women are at LEAST 51 percent in key positions of power, I will continue to upset white men. (It's almost always white men who get the most upset when I point out the gender disparity. Why wouldn't they be upset? They are the ones who will be losing the most power in the new structure.)

    The stuff about old boys club and part of the solution? Whatever. I am not trying to build a community or make friends. I am simply pointing out sexism when I see it. Is that negative? Fine.

    Obviously the Disqus boys hire based on gender, otherwise there wouldn't be all guys. I'm simply saying, "Hire some of the other gender."
  • Without seeing the applications that Discus received, I cannot formulate an opinion either way. I am not in their shoes. Far be it for me to judge another until I perceive the same information that they do. I understand your frustration, but the point that I was trying to make was that it is time to move on.

    I used to play a game called World of Warcraft. I had a guild and my guildmaster's name was AxshenJaxshen, cool guy, heluva player. Had some of the highest PvP ratings you could get. He was coming through my town and sent me a txt msg and we met. She, yes that's right Axshen was a she. Totally blew me away. Here was a girl, actually a woman, who had better fighting skills and PvP skills then I did. Did that bother me? Nope, not in the least.

    One thing that you have mistaken though. When you say "I will continue to upset white men" No one, and I do mean no one, can make you feel anything that you do not want to feel. Did your post make me feel upset. Nope, not in the least. If the men are getting upset, they must be very shallow indeed.

    Full professors, I gotta laugh. I am reminded of a very time tested phrase. "Those that cannot do, teach." and it is true. Sure there are more men as full professors, but there are more women working on the cutting edge of their fields.

    Are you familiar with TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design. If not you should go see what they are accomplishing. I haven't looked at higher education for guidance in a very long time. So provincal in nature, pragmatic, pedantic and dogmatic. They truly are "The old boys club." I wouldn't want to join their ranks. Why do you?
  • Talking about TED, I just want to bring to attention of readers about this talk by Sir Ken Robinson in TED with regards to Education & Creativity. It is a powerful delivery by Ken with the touch of humour. He is an awe-inspiring speaker. Must watch. Go to: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson...
  • glad you included disqus
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