Comments

Spam Comments Appealing to My Ego

by Jamie Sanford on May 27, 2010

We have reached a new low, or have we?

On my other blog, I am getting spam comments a lot, probably because of the content, I talk about shopping and post links to lots of online shopping opportunities.

Most of the comments are obviously crap, and most don’t get through the spam filter.  However, this is a little something different.


Yay for me! Wow, someone thinks that search engines should find my post about buying a Bonsai tree and make it the top search result for related searches!

Oh, wait.


So, maybe not so much.

Chris Brogan talked about a similar situation, but his spammer left a comment relevant to the post.  What is better?  Since I don’t have nearly as many readers as Chris, maybe this person felt like flattery was the way to go, in terms of “what can I do to get through the filter and then NOT get manually flagged as spam?”

Too bad for you, “study abroad scholarships,” I think enough of my content that I will not be keeping your spammery around.

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Comments versus Blog Posts

by Jamie Sanford on March 12, 2010

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#70)
 
My ratio of blog posts to comments is pretty large, I don’t get comments all that often. I mean, let’s be clear, I have minimal blog followers.  However, I try hard to bring my post content together at the end in order to ask the audience a question. I don’t write that often, so when I do, it’s generally a topic on which I feel inspired enough to write and so would love to discuss.
 
I think I feel disappointed at times because of past experience on a little site called Open Diary.  I started posting there 10 years ago, in March 2000, when the site seemed like this amazing thing and such a great idea! I still write there and have recently gone back to it on a more regular basis, I think in part because I missed having people respond to what I was writing about. 
 
I’m not trying to be whiny, I get that the spaces are different.  In addition, my account on Open Diary is kept private and only available to those people whose diaries I have been reading for years, many of whom I’ve even had a chance to meet in person.  I have friends there, and I don’t expect nearly that level of interaction with the readers of my blog.  Anyone reading on Open Diary can’t subscribe via RSS, and those seeing my blog content in a reader probably aren’t coming to the site to comment since they are going to read or skim my content and then move on to the next item in the feed.  I am guilty of that myself.
 
Something that I would love to have installed is a signature feature. This is an Open Diary standard where you go to leave a note, and you simply sign a blank note, generally done in order to tell the person that you stopped by and read that entry.  It’s a courteous “hey I read this” message that I always try to utilize when I read so that I’m indicating that I was there. I appreciate all of the content I read, whether or not I feel like I have something to add to the conversation, but it would be great to be able to give some love to the person who spent time writing that content.
 
So here’s that italicized question:
 
Is there a tool available that you know of that would accomplish my signature thing? Would you check a box, etc, if it was an available feature, to let blog authors know that you read their post?

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How Best to Comment on a Corporate Blog.

by Jamie Sanford on April 23, 2009

This is one in a series of posts pulled from Chris Brogan’s “100 blog topics I hope YOU write.” (#7)

Photo credit, gregoconnell

  1. Do not ramble.
  2. Research your facts, back up your comments with data where applicable.
  3. Be respectful, no matter the tone of your comment.
  4. Only comment if you have something useful to add to the conversation. It is certainly alright to disagree with the original post, just do it in a manner that doesn’t make all of the readers shut you out for being rude. Try to avoid posting “I agree” and nothing else, which just fills space on the page.
  5. Be honest about who you are, your email address, etc. In a corporate situation, I think it is highly appropriate to make yourself known to those within the discussion. This will lend credibility to your comments.

What are your guidelines for posting on a corporate blog?

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