At the beginning of this month I warned you that you would be getting loads and loads of “almost human” comments that just didn’t sound right, Don’t be fooled by next gen comment spamming. Well, I have another set of them and each one is worse than the last:
How about those guys, eh? Long story short, please look for some of these things when you consider passing comments through Askismet or when you’re looking through your approved comments — because I know you’re hungry for comments and I know you might consider pushing them through just to get a comment count — but please reconsider:
- Is the comment directly relevant to either your blog post or a previous comment?
- Does the commenter come from another blog, from Twitter, or a social network?
- Related, does the commenter link back to a commercial or ecommerce site?
- Is the comment simply supportive or adoring but not specific?
- Is the grammar bizarre and stilted? (Bad grammar is par for the course online)
Well, if you have a spate of comments that are suffering from the above, please be vigillant and please delete them with extreme prejudice.
Sadly (and comment spammers please take note), since I don’t receive very many comments on my blogs, I am always rooting for the spammers because where these spammers to really offer value, be relevant, and actually spend some time reading the post and making a proper witty or insightful comment, I would pass it through — I have done it before as a little reward for commenting and doing it right (I am sure you have, too).
Would you pass shamelessly self-promoting comment spam if the commenter were to spend some time being witty, charming, relevant, and contextual? Please let me know in the comments!
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Please buy my crap. I’ll send you a set of virtual steak knives.
Actually, on that note, ever wondered how it is that the worst marketers online call themselves ‘online marketing experts’? That the industries we hand our brand over to – Advertising and Sales – have the worst brand reputation themselves? That lawyers – the epitome of social trust and ethics are not immune to the opposite reputation? Each industry seems to carry the dark side within themselves – even doctors who are self sacrificing are not immune to being seen as selfish, Mercedes driving takers.
Oh yeah, ’bout those steak knives. :P