This much is true. I think what G+, etc., bring is unity, and that didn't previously exist. That is, the comments have moved elsewhere. I was pretty interested in Disqus at first, but many blogs that were using it (including TechCrunch) switched to FB comments, and I just can't submit my aunts and cousins to comments that I make at TechCrunch. It remains my opinion that a good number of people want to meaningfully engage with others around topics of interest, and the it can be done better than what anyone (including us) are currently doing. IMO that is our most important challenge. How do we make the conversation experience even better?b) I often will privately post something on G+ or facebook. Or even twitter (not private, but hard to aggregate). These options didn't exist back in 2005, which may be the peak of comments.