Spam
The edible kind: We usually buy cheap, no-name brand canned meat products. They aren't bad. And we don't eat them daily, or even weekly. Maybe, two times a year. One time, though, the name brand Hormel Spam (the original stuff) was on special at the store. It was either the same or very close to the price we usually paid for the other. So, we bought some. Wow, what a taste difference!! I mean, yeah, when I was a kid, "no name" foods hadn't been thought of yet. But there were some store brands. So, we had the real thing back then. But sometimes memory plays tricks, or just plain doesn't work for some things.
The inedible kind: I've often spoke/written of the point of my blog being for me, to have blog pets, to sort out thoughts, vent about stuff, keep a kind of diary of my life, and finally to share pictures and stuff with others. I've tried to decide whether I wanted or even "needed" comments, and realized, that while I welcome them, they aren't the main purpose of the blog. That is, I don't *need* to be the center of attention. But, I learned nearly immediately after starting my blog, that the spam 'bots are out there. Just waiting to pounce on any opportunity to spew advertising and whatever else it is they spew... So, I quickly made this blog one in which the comments are "moderated". That is, they need to be seen by me first, to determine if they are worthy of being posted, or if they are simply an attempt at getting free advertising. Now, I have no objection to legitimate free advertising, and will happily post and/or review and/or help any business that I consider worth knowing about. I'd even consider allowing a certain amount of advertising about business that I have no strong feelings one way or the other about. I mean, really, that is what word-of-mouth advertising is all about -- you see or use a product or service that you believe in, and you want to share to help out your friends and family. To that end, I have now and again mentioned such things here - told you about a great deal I got, or a great place to shop, or great service...
What I don't like, though, is senseless "spam" messages. Or, anonymous advertising/comments. I know that in some cases, some of my friends don't have a blogger/google based username, and don't want to publish their names, but they usually indicate that to me in some way or other, and I can often recognize them by the comment content anyway ;) One time, someone commented on my post about dyslexia. They left info about their blog. I allowed the comment, since their blog was informative, even though there was some bits that looked like advertising a product/service dyslexia related.
But, ever since last summer.... In July, there was a comment posted on an older post of mine. A person, (maybe) who signed their name, said that they had found my blog via a search engine, but that it was hard to find. That if I let them, they would show me how I could maximize the hits on my blog. I thought that was rather strange... I didn't publish the post, nor did I click the link. I'm not *that* dumb... However, I held the message for a while. Wondered what had prompted it, planned to post about it...
Well, within days, I started getting spam comment after spam comment!! Some of them simply had a list of unrelated words (search words), others specified a product or service (wanna buy a t-shirt? next time that particular one comes in, I'll save it for ya). So far (not that I have read each one word for word) they seem tame. No pharmacy stuff, no body part enhancements, no video chatting with lonely girls... But no less annoying! Especially when they come ten at a time, spaced only a few minutes apart, then another group an hour or two later!!
I haven't figured out yet if it was a random 'bot thing, or if it was because I went from posting daily to hardly posting. Either way, be grateful that I have done the moderated comment thing, to spare any of you the aggravation of thinking there is a comment you might want to read after any of my posts, and being assaulted by a random bunch of advertising!
So - here's hoping that my renewed attempt to blog daily will stem the tide of spam-blitz-commenting!! I'll let you know. :)
The inedible kind: I've often spoke/written of the point of my blog being for me, to have blog pets, to sort out thoughts, vent about stuff, keep a kind of diary of my life, and finally to share pictures and stuff with others. I've tried to decide whether I wanted or even "needed" comments, and realized, that while I welcome them, they aren't the main purpose of the blog. That is, I don't *need* to be the center of attention. But, I learned nearly immediately after starting my blog, that the spam 'bots are out there. Just waiting to pounce on any opportunity to spew advertising and whatever else it is they spew... So, I quickly made this blog one in which the comments are "moderated". That is, they need to be seen by me first, to determine if they are worthy of being posted, or if they are simply an attempt at getting free advertising. Now, I have no objection to legitimate free advertising, and will happily post and/or review and/or help any business that I consider worth knowing about. I'd even consider allowing a certain amount of advertising about business that I have no strong feelings one way or the other about. I mean, really, that is what word-of-mouth advertising is all about -- you see or use a product or service that you believe in, and you want to share to help out your friends and family. To that end, I have now and again mentioned such things here - told you about a great deal I got, or a great place to shop, or great service...
What I don't like, though, is senseless "spam" messages. Or, anonymous advertising/comments. I know that in some cases, some of my friends don't have a blogger/google based username, and don't want to publish their names, but they usually indicate that to me in some way or other, and I can often recognize them by the comment content anyway ;) One time, someone commented on my post about dyslexia. They left info about their blog. I allowed the comment, since their blog was informative, even though there was some bits that looked like advertising a product/service dyslexia related.
But, ever since last summer.... In July, there was a comment posted on an older post of mine. A person, (maybe) who signed their name, said that they had found my blog via a search engine, but that it was hard to find. That if I let them, they would show me how I could maximize the hits on my blog. I thought that was rather strange... I didn't publish the post, nor did I click the link. I'm not *that* dumb... However, I held the message for a while. Wondered what had prompted it, planned to post about it...
Well, within days, I started getting spam comment after spam comment!! Some of them simply had a list of unrelated words (search words), others specified a product or service (wanna buy a t-shirt? next time that particular one comes in, I'll save it for ya). So far (not that I have read each one word for word) they seem tame. No pharmacy stuff, no body part enhancements, no video chatting with lonely girls... But no less annoying! Especially when they come ten at a time, spaced only a few minutes apart, then another group an hour or two later!!
I haven't figured out yet if it was a random 'bot thing, or if it was because I went from posting daily to hardly posting. Either way, be grateful that I have done the moderated comment thing, to spare any of you the aggravation of thinking there is a comment you might want to read after any of my posts, and being assaulted by a random bunch of advertising!
So - here's hoping that my renewed attempt to blog daily will stem the tide of spam-blitz-commenting!! I'll let you know. :)
posted by Catlady @ 1:39 p.m.
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