As in Word Verification. Three words: Just say no.
As you've hopped from blog to blog, you must have noticed the occasional Word Verification pop up. That's the annoying little box asking you to prove that you're a real person and not a spammer. It's also a roadblock for you readers who are trying to leave a comment and connect with you.
It puts emotional distance between you and your audience when you are trying to create a connection.
It announces to the world that you are an amateur.
It annoys people.
It discourages people from leaving comments.
Even worse? Comment moderation. That's telling your audience that you must consider the value of their comment before you deem it worthy for publication. It's like call-waiting to me, where you're put on hold so the person you're calling can talk with someone else. It's rude.
But what if you're really worried about spammers? The best thing to do is to moderate comments only after a certain number of days (I set mine to five days). Most spammers hit blog older blog posts because you're less likely to notice them and therefore delete them. Which you can do, under the setting to manage your comments.
You can modify your comment moderation settings under... Settings.
So glad I got that off my chest! Now, do you have any pet peeves you'd like to share?
"Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe" ~ Neil Gaiman (A Game of You)
4.26.2011
Verification
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10 comments:
I gave it up. What I really hate is when I can't read the dang letters, especially if I'm on my smart phone. Okay, so I'm old. If everyone's lucky, they'll suffer from this too. ;)
I agree! And I don't think I have anything to add (at least not about this)--you covered it beautifully.
Now to deal with those people who think it's cute to use a 'z' where they should use an 's.' i.e. "Hugz!"
Ggggrrrrr!
I’m A-Z Blogging, and my “V” post is right here.
I agree with you regarding the blogs where you post your comment and then have to wait until the blog-host has the time/interest to read your coment and agree to publish it! Grrrr!
As for word-verification
......oops! I may have to hip back and check my own settings on that one! ;-)
The last few days of the A-Z challenge and I'm still finding new blogs to explore! I arrived here via the 'surprise me' button - I'll be back!
SueH I refuse to go quietly!
Wow, I had no idea you felt so strongly or took word verification so personally!!
I had to add it because I was getting inundated with spam comments daily - most of them in Chinese characters!
I actually like word verification when a word pops up that has some weird association with the blog or the post. It's like some form of cosmic computer karma.
As for comment moderation, even with word verification, spam still gets through sometimes - mainly the super-annoying, very-lengthy spam comments that pretend to be real comments but are actually trying to sell you something. By moderating my comments, I can spare my readers from these awful sales pitches which have no place on my blog.
Just my two cents!
Sue
Donna, I have the same problem reading the letters sometimes.
Word nerd -- Haha! I don't try too hard to be cute. I'm too old to pull it off!
Sue H -- pleased to meet you! I'll have to try the Surprise Me button. I didn't even see that.
Sue -- All right, I stand corrected. Once you are so well-established and have become an expert in your field (as you are!), then the benefits of screening far outweigh the negatives. I can only hope to reach that point!
Pet peeves? Blogs that play loud music. Soft music doesn't bother me so much.
But if it's really loud and not the kind of music that works well as background, I usually leave before reading the post.
I actually like word verification when a word pops up that has some weird association with the blog or the post. It's like some form of cosmic computer karma.
I'm with Sue J on this. I love that cosmic computer karma.
I think I only have word verification the first time someone comments, but now you've made me realize I need to check.
Angela -- Ugh! Especially if it's cheesy or the kind of music you hate.
Cathryn -- Yes, I agree, I do like when that happens.
Almost four years of blogging and I am not sure if I have the word verification set! I do have comment moderation set, but only on my work at home blog. That is because you can imagine the amount of comments that are spam!! It was pulling my reputation down and almost lost my blog. With a topic like working at home, people use the automated software to leave comments and it was a real problem. All my other blogs are not moderated before posting.
Very nice blog, love the template :)
Thank you, Dawn, and I agree -- there are some blogs that absolutely require that feature, and that's why it's available. I'm sure I was speaking about writing blogs, where writers are trying to make themselves more accessible to their audience. I noticed that Blogger has been fishing out spam comments automatically for me, too. I appreciate that.
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