Big Picture fans --

As you may have noticed, we switched commenting platforms this weekend. All comments on the Big Picture are now powered by Facebook. We made the change for several reasons:

-- Facebook is ubiquitous; at last count, it has more than 500 million active users, 70 percent of whom are from outside the United States. It has translations available in 70 different languages. It was the best tool we could find to serve the worldwide audience of Big Picture fans.

-- Commenters have the option of sharing their comments on the site with their Facebook friends, which in turn will help introduce amazing photographs on Big Picture to a wider audience.

-- The quality of comments should improve as people use their real names.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the change. Please let us know at feedback@boston.com.

