Disqus Lays an Egg: Their New Update Is Rotten

Disqus dumped a new update on users today. This finalizes an update initially made in July. That update allowed users to revert back to the previous version. This new update removes that choice and puts all users on the same site format.

And what a horrible format it is.

Your Home page now is divided in to two choices: communities and people. If you have not previously added any, they suggest some of each (and if you have read any of my older posts here, you know exactly how I feel about these kind of "recommendations").

As I actually use this service on a semi-regular basis, only half of the suggested communities were entirely irrelevant. But the others weren't much better. While I have read specific articles from those publishers, I only view their sites via Google News filters and then only if the story interests me.

The people were absolutely no one I had ever heard of before now and will never hear about again.

To find your comments, you must then click on your unlabeled avatar. Next to that is the unlabeled replies and notifications button (moving your cursor over the avatar reveals a hidden label, "Me" while gray or red word bubble reveals "Replies & Notifications". I had to read a guide to the new layout to find them).

Upon reaching your "Profile" page, you will find three buttons: Recent Activity, Comments and Favorites. I don't "favorite" any comments, so they and your comments will be intermixed. But comments are displayed in a new card format that looks like Google's Now cards. Your comment/s on the left and a large image (if available) on the right. Longer comments will be collapsed with a "more" button beneath. The articles are listed in order of most recent comment made. So if you made multiple comments/replies over several days, the most recent brings it up on your list. This is because all of your comments/replies are grouped together on the same card. Replies appear without the original comments that you replied to, just your out-of-context replies stacked on top of each other.

You will find those comments when you click through the Replies & Notifications button. Two buttons are shown, Most Recent and Replies. Most Recent shows only the first line of your comment with a button to "View Comment". This column also shows upvotes (and presumably downvotes) with the user (or guest) and an up pointing carat. These can be hidden by clicking on the gear on the left and checking the "Hide upvotes" box. Replies have a right pointing arrow and are also collapsed with a "more" button if lengthy.

On all pages, to the left of your avatar/replies etc. buttons are a nine-dotted square and a gear. The gear is your usual settings. the square is a "Discover" button for finding "Channels" and topics (publishers that use Disqus).

The Channel buttons did not work, but the topics take you to what is essentially an aggregate of articles/posts that fall under that topic listed in reverse time order (newest at the top). I frankly don't care if Disqus is used for the comments or not. I comment wherever it is easy to create an account.

Disqus allows you to create a profile, anonymous if you want, with few steps involved (or so it was when I joined; they may have one of those mandatory "choose to follow" style set-ups now). Once you have a profile, it is easy to comment by simply clicking on the login button and choosing Disqus. Your posting name will appear in the gray box and you can begin you comments.

I like Disqus, but this new layout is poorly done, though attractive. But pretty does mean useful. Since the earlier update in July, the Alexa ranking was increasing until a peak in September and has now dropped of considerably.

If the feedback on the "Discuss Disqus" channel is any indication, it may continue to drop even more just as they are starting introduce programatic "Sponsored Comments". "This is disappointing and disheartening, especially since my plan is to use comments as a means to connect and build relationships. Now there will be sponsored ads in the comment section–ugh." This comment was later deleted from the blog posting. Allvoices is skeptical about these ads while Adweek at least notes that they use Disqus for their commenting section. Businesswire simply post their press release.

I use adblockers, so I have no fear of these intrusive commercials. My greater concern is that this coupled with a disruptive and counter-intuitive site will cause users to flee what been (up to now) a really useful place to keep track of a lot of your comments without clogging up your email.

Chrome Bookmarks Get "Social" with Bookmark Manager

Google has created a new extension that uses their Google Now-style card system to reorganize your bookmarks. Here is the image from the Next Web article.

As you can see, cards have replaced the simple text lines that previously showed your bookmarks. Also, these new cards take up a much more page real estate than the lines or as Dilraj Singh says in BetaNews, "If you have a lot of (junk) bookmarks, it is probably in your best interest to organize/delete them before you switch over to the extention, as each bookmark will take a lot more space, and scrolling through them will be a pain."

This extension will completely override the old system if you download it, so be certain that you want to do this. You can sync up all of your various devices and it will add images and captions to your existing bookmarks. However, be wary. As one reader responded to Patrick Allan's story in Lifehacker, "But can you selectively sync bookmarks on chrome (sic) yet? Really need that feature. Don't mind if they all hit the cloud, but some of my home bookmarks are a bit too racy to sync at work." 

This leads into another feature, sharing. By using a link, your folders are able to be made public so that by using a link, you can share with others. So before you share any folders, you may need to clean it out or reorganize to avoid "racy" or just irrelevant sharing.

Additionally, it will automatically organize any your bookmarks by topic, including your existing ones (you can reorganize just as you do now), but will leave your current folders in place and enable a Google Search of them by title, snippet and content.

I have no plans to add this extension as I have not been too excited by the large cards since I have a quite extensive bookmark collection and don't want to have to go through that "pain" to view my bookmarks. I also fear that I might make a folder public inadvertently. If I want to share, I have Google+  and/or this blog.

Formerly leaked as "Stars", Bookmark Manager is available here.

Apple Pay Vs. Retailers: Who Will Control the Data?

Apple Pay is causing quite a ripple throughout the retail and marketing world. On one side are the tech people trying to create a dominant feature for their market, the mobile user; on the other is the retailers who want to collect and control data on their customers.

Some are seeing this as a fight over mere tech processes, but it is really a fight over consumer data because those who control the data have the power.

Retailers will have an uphill battle against customers who will want to use a tech that has no real data benefits for the businesses versus forcing those customers to use yet another system that may provide actual extra savings to those customers and loads of rich data to the retailers

Inbox Will Out Before It Is In

Google recently introduced a new app called Inbox which does for your Gmail what Google Now does for your mobile device. I am unlikely to try since my emails are directed elsewhere and are quite mundane, lacking in airline trips and multiple business and family appointments.

It appears to be a combination of the Google Now cards and the multi-tabs that Gmail already has in place. I turned off those tabs long ago.

Mike Elgan of Computerworld thinks that not only will all of us be turning off our Gmail multi-tabs, but the whole Gmail system. I don't see that happening, even in the time frame he predicts. I think that Inbox will eventually be absorbed into Gmail as just another function or simply remain an app that works with it.

He sites Google's desire to personalize all of their services,but I think that he left out one key component: the users. Like myself, most people do not have enough busy-ness to really need the kind of parsing and dicing that Google Now can do.

Certainly, people have appointments and notices and bills and such coming to their inboxes, but much is of the read and file/delete sort if not just "junk" mail. I think that this new app is going to saturate its market fairly quickly and the rest of us will survive perfectly well without it.

This will be what Google will learn as time passes and adoption slows and stagnates. People don't want different (ask Facebook about Paper for answer about different). This is why I believe that Google, at the most, will try to force it on Gmail users only to be rebuffed for its efforts and be forced to allow Inbox to be an option, not the default.

This happened with the tabs that Gmail introduced, with the forced Google+ membership and with the YouTube/Google+ intregration. Unlike Facebook (and Twiiter and it "recommended" tweets), Google does listen and modify it system, even if it takes a bit of time.

Mark Traphagen recently speculated that Google ended ended its Authorship program "was [that] the adoption rate was very low. That means that Google was working with an incomplete signal." (quote from the summary of the interview, not a direct quote).

So I see Inbox as yet another experiment that will hang around for a while and then get placed on the back burner waiting for the gas to be turned off.

Yeah, You Can Dislike Posts on Facebook (Just Not How You Think)

It's up to you to fix your broken News Feed on Facebook. That said, some easy tips are being provided by Emil Protalinski at Venture Beat.  Two of the tips are "Quick Fixes" designed to get uninteresting posts and those who post them out of your feed. Three additional tips take a bit more effort but can be done a few at a time by just eliminating unnecessary pages and "friends" or at least quieting those "friends" posts.
I agree with all of these actions and his reminder that an algorithm is only as good as the info that you give it. The more it knows what you don't want to see, the better it will get at keeping posts like them and the posters from taking over your feed.
We know that no "dislike" button will ever come to Facebook, but that doesn't mean that it is closed to hearing your opinions through your actions that say "I dislike this".

CVS stops Apple Pay users in favor of ConnectC by MCX

According to Daily Tech, CVS has joined Rite Aid in disabling their NSF readers so that Apple Pay can't be used at their stores. The actions of both stores has the unfortunate consequence of preventing Google Wallet users from paying that system as well. A laundry list of other members of the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), such as Walmart, Sears, Target, Best Buy and Old Navy, could potentially join their ranks and derail further adoption of NSF payment.

Additionally, they report that AT&T is locking Apple SIM cards when users choose that carrier over the others.

"The Groups App I Wish Facebook Would Build"

A well thought out article by Sarah Perez about how Facebook needs to improve on what it already does and not simply copy the latest fad app.

The Groups App I Wish Facebook Would Build

Can't pay with Apple Pay at Rite Aid

It appears that Apple's success with Apple Pay will be a bit stunted by the Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium whose aim is to help consumers "securely save, earn participating merchant loyalty points and pay." This is something I pointed out in my earlier post about Apple Pay.

Rite Aid stores blocks Apple Pay, Google Wallet payments

Is a wearable in your near future?

It seems that nearly every company with some tech or fitness affiliation is announcing their new wearable device as we get closer to the holiday season. Be sure to check and see if yours wants to auto-post to a social account. Do you really want to broadcast your fitness info to any or all who know you? And remember, there is info that you have to manually enter on a regular basis for the device to do its job, although it varies from one to another.

Five ways to get consumers to love wearables?

"Apple pay is a solution to someone else’s problem; not mine."

Apple Pay is the latest in the growing market of driving consumers to go wallet-less and use their smartphone to pay for transactions when out in the brick-and-mortar world. There are distinct security advantages to using it, but it does have a number of drawbacks including an inability to pay with store cards and no provision for loyalty cards or gift cards nor for your business accounts. So don't try to set this up to pay for those working lunches unless you can get reimbursed. Also, is it really a problem for you to use your plastic and will the small amount of NSF-enabled retailers force you to do so anyway?

If you plan to go ahead and activate Apple Pay on your phone, follow some of the tips in this Forbes article:

Apple pay do's and dont's: a practical guide