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!
