Thursday, April 25, 2013

You Know You're Popular When...

...a spammer advertising a lesbian porn site posts a comment to your blog. Yay! I've made it! No! I'm not going to share the name of the site!

'Til now, most spam comments have been advertising INCREDIBLE LOW RATES ON CREDIT CARDS or SUPER-FABULUS (sic) AIR JORDAN SNEAKERS!!!!! While it's super-fulfilling to be popular [rolls eyes], I'm getting a bit tired of deleting spam every day. Most comments don't get past my spam filter, but some do, which is irritating. I've seen all of you, my favorite bloggers, employ different methods of dealing with spam: the "please prove you're not a robot" system of typing in random letters/numbers; the "comment will be visible after approval"; and, like me until now, nothing.

As I'm still fairly new to the blogosphere, I'm curious as to why you've chosen the way comments are posted to your own blogs. I've liked the notion so far of people being able to comment and see their comment right away, but when porn advertisers (lesbian or not) weasel their way in, I have to Take a Stand.

Ms. Getting Crankier CrankyPants!

12 comments:

  1. THe spam guard works well most of the time. I don't have word verification on any of my blogs, because with my MS eyes, I find it hard to use on other's blogs. I use the "no comments after 14 day without moderation" choice. A lot of spammers will go to older posts, and this way the comment won't show up on the blog. If you are getting a lot of spam, go for "comment will be visible after approval";

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Karen. I've just enabled the 14-days thing; caught me a few spammers already! Jerks...

      Delete
  2. hi!
    make sure you install a good spam guard on your blog and update when they're available. Touch wood so far, my techie friend has helped to prevent spam getting through and it goes to a different folder.
    I also get to check comments before I publish them...
    X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Blogger" seems to have come with a pretty good spam guard. Lord knows I would have been stymied if I had to figure it out myself. But there is one particular spammer who is mighty persistent and has made his (I of course assume it's a "he") way onto my blog, the ass. Actually, I suppose "he" is really some kind of irritating automatic program that just sends out masses of spam, but I'm still picturing some guy in his basement figuring out how to create the code to make this annoying thing happen.

      Am trying Karen's suggestion, above, but may resort to checking comments before they're published if "he" targets more recent posts. Just seems like a bit more work, and goodness knows I have too much admiring Andrew Lincoln to do to take time out for comment moderation!

      Delete
  3. I like the spam guard though from time to time spam for 'intimate products'* gets through. Sigh. And, like Karen I find the word verification challenging. On a good day I can manage it, but not otherwise. So I delete spam as it happens.

    *Artificial products for someone of a sex other than my own to enjoy. I am a bit huffy that they think I am male. At least your spammers have your gender right!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child,

      I don't know...they sent me a link for lesbian porn, so I guess they think I'm a lesbian. I'd think, though, that would in general appeal more to men? I'm certainly not an expert on porn. No, I'm not. I'M NOT!! Stop looking at me like that!! Gosh. I'm not, really.

      Agree that the word verification can be a challenge, and I know many find it harder than I do, so I've so far resisted that step.

      Delete
  4. i do the 'word verification' thing, just because it's easier and more immediate (for commenters) than me checking everything - i used to get loads of rubbish, not so much recently

    (touching wood frantically to prevent the inevitable deluge!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve,

      Yep, the instant-gratification aspect is what's appealing about word verification. sigh. If my new spam settings fail and manual deleting gets too taxing (and begins cutting into my Andrew Lincoln time), I may opt for word verification.

      Delete
  5. I had to move my blog from Blogger to WordPress because WordPress has more robust options for comment filtering. But I've been harassed--it wasn't due to spam. Although it's helped with that too. Usually. Although even with the better filtering on that platform, more has been getting through lately. (I don't, however, recommend WordPress unless you want to spend your days and nights learning blog programming. It's harder and not nearly as intuitive as Blogger.)

    The word verification for Blogger is insane, but I think it's largely necessary. On others' blogs, I usually wind up hitting the refresh button several times before I get a picture of letters and numbers I can figure out. It's a nuisance, but I think it's one that most blog commenters are used to by now. It's an evil necessity. That and comment moderation. It keeps the iffy stuff from getting through. It's not as instantaneous and gratifying, but otherwise it becomes the spammers controlling the dialogue on your blog, not you. They'll overrun your blog.

    I've also been noticing an increase in comments that look real and even comment on the actual post--but upon closer inspection, it's pretty obvious they just want to get their dubious link implanted, either in their address or whatever. Devious little *&#$%s. This is where WordPress comes in handy--it allows you to leave as much of the comment as you want, if it looks legit, but delete the links.

    Spammers deserve painful, incurable hemorrhoids for life. At the very least.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Lord, I haven't been harassed...YET. Ugh. Sorry to hear that happened to you. What's wrong with people? And, yes, incurable hemorrhoids sounds fitting.

      I guess I'm not popular enough to require the word verification and comment moderation just yet, but the lesbian porn comment was sneaky, like you mention above. I was quite pleased at the new reader and his/her comment relating to what I posted...UNTIL I got to the sneaky link. Honestly. So aggravating.

      Thanks for your helpful comments. Hemorrhoids to all spammers!!!

      Delete
  6. I've been hit with spam (the junk, not the meat). I'm on Wordpress which gives you the option of typing in key words. But lately, messages from Viagra & Cialis have outflanked my defensive stand.

    Trade you a few Levitra comments for some Lesbian ones?

    I am not a fan of sites that use the word verification. Hard to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha - I've been hit with both. The smell from the "meat" is really hard to get out of clothes.

      Sadly (for you), the lesbian comments seem to have dried up. Mostly it's for weird jerseys or handbags.

      Agree on the word verification. Holding off for now and using the moderate-comments option.

      Delete