Sometime last month there was a brief discussion about weblog commenting that started with a post at Steve Ersinghaus’ place and I dragged here (under his suggestion that we post on our own sites rather than leave a comment).
Though I disagreed with his stance on the issue, I’m begining to get a bit pissy myself about commenting and it’s a result of the spam that influenced the spamfilters that are really keeping me away from my usual pat on the head or pick-me-up or oh yeah, that happened to me once type of comments that to me were evidence that somebody was out there not only reading, but caring enough to respond.
Blogspot’s the worst. They used to have a way of signing in as ‘other’ but still putting down your name and if applicable, your site url. Now they have either Blogspot or Typekey membership or anonymous where you’d have to sneak your personal moniker into the comment itself.
But at least Blogspot uses a decent captcha (sp?) that’s easy enough to read and mimic to unlock the key to successful commenting. My own beloved Typepad’s is the absolute worst. They use black letters against a black and white fuzzily streaked background that sometimes make me try three times to guess what the hell it says. If I can’t read it, a robot certainly can’t. I don’t have a filter turned on because I don’t want to give folks a hard time. I can usually catch spam immediately when I get e-mail notice of a comment made.
Anne at Ample Sanity uses one of the best. It is simply a word and number and since the word is recognizable, there’s little to figure out and no time is being wasted. Another option is that comments aren’t posted until they are approved–which would be my next step if necessary.
But I gotta tell ya folks, I gave up on two weblogs this morning after unsuccessful attempts to leave a friendly message. I’ll try once, maybe twice, but three strikes and I’m outta there. If it’s important, I’ll e-mail you.
Lifehacker is one of the sites I visit daily because they have many new posts and cover some great techno stuff. I wanted to make a comment on this post review about an online typing test site that I felt was relevant but met up with this in order to register to comment:
By registering, you will be able to add friends, and clip articles. Commenting requires a little more effort on your part.
Audition to become a commenter. To become a registered commenter on this site, you first need to be approved by our team. We’re looking for comments that are interesting, substantial or highly amusing. So write a comment, polish up your words and choose a username and password below. Your comment will only appear once (or if) you’re approved.
Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ.
Yeah, right. I’m gonna audition for you.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
That comment FAQ you close wih is hilarious.
Even better, their Special Guide to Weblog Comments that includes this:
Be Succinct. Longwinded lectures are for college professors, not blog comments. Stay short and to the point. Everyone appreciates brevity.