Comment spam is a daily annoyance for bloggers, but the conversation is too important for me to give it up. If it weren’t for the comments and conversations, I would not have ever had the chance to build relationships with as many other fantastic bloggers as I have. However, there are so many people out there that think that just because I have hung out the I follow sign, that they can just stop in at my site, leave a half hearted comment and reap the benefits of my generosity.
Well, here’s the deal. I like the idea and the meaning behind do-follow. It is all about the goodness of bloggers. However, I will let everyone know that I reserve the right to delete any comment I don’t like on my blog. It is my prerogative as a blog owner.
If you like the conversation at hand and would like to participate, I’d love to have you. Just do me a favor, use your name not your site’s keywords. If you have a legitimate site and a meaningful comment, then I will gladly give you the benefit of a link. If you leave a comment but your site is spammy or inappropriate, I reserve the right to delete your comment - no questions asked.
It might take a little more time for me to moderate comments, but you are worth it! And so is your contribution to the conversation.
I’m not the only one talking about comment spam these days - we are all feeling it. Here are a few more viewpoints on the topic:
- Alert: See How Comment Spam is Getting Trickier to Spot from Dawud
- When a Blogger’s Generosity is Exploited by Wendy
- The I Follow Movement is not Dead by Randa
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13 Comments»
Lillie Ammann
10. August 2007 | 04:29 hI agree and have the same policy. It is getting harder to detect spam comments, but if the comment is just a generic “good site” or something like that, chances are good it’s spam.
When I first joined the Do Follow movement, I saw a dramatic increase in spam comments. However, that number has decreased, perhaps not to the level before Do Follow but definitely fewer than right after Do Follow. I can only guess that spammers get discouraged to some extent if their comments are deleted and look for greener pastures.
Dawud Miracle
10. August 2007 | 08:36 hI like what you’ve asked your readers, Char. When I see a name on a comment in moderation, I almost always give it the benefit of the doubt. Keywords or business names make me stop and think about it a bit more - especially if there are any links. There’s little reason, beyond sharing a resource, to put your site’s URL in the comment body in the first place as it’s most often the link attached to your name.
Terinea Weblog
10. August 2007 | 08:44 hI share your fustration. If they don’t have a blog site or they don’t have email addresss that represents their URL address it gets spammed.
Jamie
Erik Karey
10. August 2007 | 10:24 hI’ve never really seen anyone use their keyword as their name for a comment, but if they did, I’d be sure to eliminate it.
Alina Popescu
10. August 2007 | 10:51 hI’ve only started using wordpress 2 months ago. I’ve however red about the do follow movement and intend to install the needed plugin (sometime soon I hope). Your policy seems reasonable and quite easy to implement, as I already moderate comments. The delete button is, I believe, the best and safest way to deal with spam at all levels (mail/spam comments).
Gonzalo Novoa
10. August 2007 | 11:59 hWell, that’s the main issue with the do-follow stuff.
it’s known that’s a double edge weapon.
I prefer to have less comments than smappers, because that way u really know which people is truly insterested in actually comment and not just because of the link.
btw. it’s a cool post to discuss.
Brown Baron
10. August 2007 | 13:07 hDon’t kick me out for saying this but, I think that’s one of the problems when you get famous Char hehe. As to commenters using keywords instead of their name, I usually delete those too. Real cheesy.
Char
10. August 2007 | 22:38 hBrown Baron - you make me laugh! I’m not exactly famous you know…
Gayla McCord
11. August 2007 | 08:07 hYou’re so much nicer then I am. I don’t really give an explanation. If it looks like spam it gets deleted. I like your policy though. I might just have to follow your lead on this one
Char
11. August 2007 | 08:25 hGayla - the obvious spam requires no explanation. However there have been some comments that look like they could be legit, but the author uses keywords to identify themselves instead of a name and that is what really bugs me.
Urban
13. August 2007 | 05:41 hExcellent post, however, I don’t see any disadvantage as to using your websites keywords for the url as long as you post a good comment. It doesn’t hurt your blog, but rather posts new content and gives a positive link to the commentator. It’s a win-win situation.
Lifesperspective
15. August 2007 | 04:56 hI face the same problems on my blog too. I have no difficulties deleting comments that add no value to the discussion. However, I have struggled with editing parts of comments that are obviously advertising, but other parts with genuine contents. Do you think it is ok to delete the advertising parts while keeping the contents?
Jimson Lee
26. August 2007 | 23:33 hThanks for the tip. I was wondering what that “U follow - I follow” gif on the sidebar was for, so I implemented the same concept on my blog.