As a blogger, I love visiting other blogs to see what the rest of the Blogworld’s citizens are up to. I like leaving comments because after all, every writer likes to hear the Gentle Reader’s reaction. There is one thing though, that drives me right up the wall.
Most everyone hates spam. I do. Well, I don’t hate canned Spam®, I actually adore a nice Spamburger Hamburger! Okay, back to my original thought.
In an effort to avoid spam creeping into the comments section, many bloggers have added the “Prove You Are Human” option. Those blurred, squished, squiggly letters are nearly impossible to read and a damned nuisance! I have reached the point that if I can’t get it right the first time, I don’t bother with the comment. I wonder how many readers do that.
I have four blogs online. I get a fair amount of spam. BUT, all comments have to be moderated by me before they are posted to the blog. I simply delete the spam, or save it because it’s just so damned hilarious, and post the ‘real’ comments. I recently turned off the anti-spam gizmo and have noted an increase in the number of comments I get. Most importantly, I’ve noticed the spam comments are far fewer than I expected.
Here’s the thing I wonder about. Why bother with the anti-spam option when you are going to moderate the comments anyway? Why would you not moderate your comments and rely solely on me proving that I can decipher some hieroglyphic string of letters?
Am I the only one who detests this added step when commenting on a blog post? Are there others in the audience? How do you feel about having to prove you are human when all you really wanted to do is thank the blogger for changing your entire outlook on life?
Share your thoughts with me. I know you want to. Do it!
olbigjim 
I haven’t come across that option yet, but I know I would dislike it if I were to come across it. If you’re going to moderate your comments anyway, then you will know that no spam comment can be posted without your permission. It’s a waste of time and may turn away readers who were thinking of making a comment.
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Thanks for stopping by, Zen! The “captcha” option is becoming more and more the norm, so I’m sure you’ll begin seeing it eventually. It’s off-putting enough to discourage me from commenting on an otherwise good post.
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Oh God! I KNOW it’s meant to prevent spam, but yes it is a pain sometimes when you have to keep clicking refresh or “I CAN’T READ IT” over and over. I HAVE seen some where they ask a question and then you have to pick a picture that matches the clue etc. Which is even better because Optical Character Recognition equipped spam bots can’t trick it. And it’s must lest irritating. 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by Adrian. I haven’t seen that one, but I recently had to do an arithmetic problem to prove I am human. “Type the answer to this problem in the box 5 + 2 =”. Ever seen that one?
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I can’t stand it. Hate them, loathe them, despise them. As you say, most of the time they’re a pain to decipher and in general, a big turn off to the blog. It’s an extra step that prospective commenters won’t take. And with spam controls which generally work reasonably well –at least here on wordpress.com– it’s a rather pointless thing to add.
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Thanks for stopping by BobR. I’m happy to know it’s not just a “Jim thing”!
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Gosh no, you’re not the only ones who hate them! Like you, if I can’t get it right the first time, then I’m done trying. And this goes for business sites as well. There is a new one that is just three oscillating letters that is much easier to use. Great blog, great point.
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Thanks for stopping by Barney. I haven’t seen the oscillating letters. Something new every day, isn’t it? It’s an exciting time to be alive!
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I absolutely hate it! There are times I won’t even leave a comment because of it. My blog allows you to leave a comment, if you’ve never commented before it waits for me to approve it. After I’ve approved you, your posts normally show up as soon as you post them for the rest of eternity.
All the spam ones get caught and never even make it to the approval round. I can go in and review them just to make sure they are spam, before I delete them.
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Hi Jaser! Glad you came by. All my comments go for moderation and, truth to tell, I really enjoy that part of blogging. You come back to see me now, you hear?
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I agree completely. When I have to try three different times to enter the captcha, it’s gotten way out of hand. I usually give up now after one or two attempts.
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Hi Jamie! Good to have you back at my place! If it’s something I feel strongly about commenting on, I’ll give it a second shot. Elsewise, if the first one doesn’t work I move on.
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Good to be here 🙂 I’m stubborn by nature, so I used to try over and over to get the comment to post, but it happened so often, I’ve adopted a once (maybe twice) policy. LOL. It’s too frustrating.
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Proving I am not a robot is my biggest hate ever! I refuse to go near Blogger for this reason. I had to do an assignment involving multiple blogs some months back, I think I was actually insane with rage for a while!
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Thanks for visiting Helen! I’m with you on the Blogger thing. I’m seriously considering moving my 6 year-old blog from there to WP very soon for that (primary) reason.
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I’ve actually not left a comment because I couldn’t read the captcha thing. It pisses me off. I even listen to the audio and it was all jumbled and weird. I’ve had my blog for three years and I’ve only received 3 spam messages. That’s about one per year, so it’s all good. Now e-mailed spam is a different story.
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Thanks for stopping by Pamela! So far, everyone who’s commented agrees. Makes me wonder why folks don’t just get rid of the damned thing!
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Hi Jim, you hit the nail on th head with your piece. I am fed up with PYNAR (that’s Prove Your Not a Robot – didn I actually make that up?!). Anyway, you’re talking complete sense and wish other bloggers would follow suit.
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Thanks so much for your visit! I’m with you, more bloggers should follow suit. They won’t I reckon, but I think they risk having far fewer comments than they might.
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Oh I totally agree! So my question is how did you remove it? I can’t seem to figure it out!
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I’ve searched high and l low and can’t find how to do it. I disabled it long, long ago and can’t remember how I did it. Perhaps another reader remembers?
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