Anyone ever tried to use Twitter to replace comments sections on web apps?

Question

Here's the scenario I'm imagining.

Simple blog, users typically post comments in a comments form at the bottom of each blog article. Instead of that, using the Twitter API, pull tweets based on a hashtag. Base the hashtag on the article id (i.e. #site10201) where site is a prefix and the number is the article id.

Then provide a link to post a tweet using the hashtag., which would then get picked up in your twitter api pull.

I'm imagining horrible spam issues, but other than that, bad idea?

Answer 1

Has some drawbacks to more run-of-the-mill database systems:

1. Additional network overhead. Most self-hosted blogs would typically rely on database and blog being on the same server (physical or virtual) so db-lookup is fast (and reliable) compared to twitter API requests.
2. Caching issues. One host is only allowed X requests of twitter at a time (the next request is going to end up a 404), and how are you going to manage that from your website for a scenario which becomes steadily more complex as multiple articles are added? Presumably you need to authenticate so the easy-way out is a security liability. (The easy way out being to use JavaScript on the at the browser to perform the actual request, neatly circumvents the problem in 20/80 fashion.) Granted most blogs don't get that kind of traffic. ;)
3. You tie your precious or not so precious comments to the mercy of the fail whale. Which is kind of odd considering a self-hosted blog basically means you want to have such control in the first place by not using a service like blogger.
4. Is it possible to ensure unicity of hash tags --in the general case? What are you going to do if someone had the same bright idea, only took the name of the tag 5ms before you did? Would you end up pulling the drivel of someone else's blog comments rather than the brilliance you have come to expect from yours? ;)
5. Lesser point: you rely on others to have a twitter account. Anonymous replies are off the table.
6. TOS and other considerations that may be imposed on you by twitter, either now or in future. (2) is actually a major item of Twitter's TOS.