Killing Comment Spam (Still)
March 7th, 2006
Since using Typekey to authenticate commenters, I’ve seen no spam. None. 3hive is getting killed, and I found a sweet helper post from Jay Allen that has shut down whoever the little bitch is spraying his crap across the net. We’ll probably do authentication at the hive because it’s worked so well elsewhere.
If you don’t like authenticating or using Typekey, as a site owner, I don’t have a lot of sympathy because wading through thousands of junk comments stops me from spending time writing, taking pictures or learning new tricks. I’m reminded of something I read in Derek Powazek’s Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places. One of his points is that there are times you want to make feedback a little work for visitors so they have time to cool down or think about what they might say.
The comments here have been markedly different since forcing people to give a real email address to my authentication service of choice. Plus, I have a lot more options open to me before things appear on my site. If I feel someone is being sucky, I can send them an email and either ask for clarification or give them a less public warning about being banned from the conversations. I feel empowered as a publisher. It is in this area that Movable Type has really shown it’s strength. Sure, I wish it had a faster interface and better category templating, but shutting down thousands of spam comments with a few steps is sweet. o
March 7th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Jon,
Rock on! What’s a little signing in anyway? It IS your website after all. If people don’t want to sign in to comment, then they don’t have to comment do they?
March 7th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
My hubby installed spamkarma for me: it’s been pretty nice. Damn the Spam!
How was the book?
March 7th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
you put your left foot in, you take your left foot out. you put your left foot in and you shake it all about. you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around…… and that, jon, IS what it’s all about….
post script- have fun in Tay-Haus. you might want to consider a security detail for your coffee clutch based on the dooce comments!
March 7th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Wordpress is pretty good in this area, too.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
I long for the day when my blog is popular enough to have a problem with comment spam. However, when that day comes, I will keep this post in mind, and show those spammers what-for!
Honestly, if I had more hacker skills, I would love to be a freelance cyber-vigilante for justice. Like Batman, but with more flexible working hours and less exercise.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Then congratulations! My blog is in a back alley of the ‘net where no one every really goes who didn’t intend to end up there, so we don’t often have to deal with that issue. When we do, tho, it sucks, so any way that you can cut down on it: I applaud you, as a reader & a blogger.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
I wish something like this was available for b2evolution users. I have multiple blogs using software from b2evolution, blogger.com and wordpress. For some reason spammers love the b2 blog and I’m constantly having to clean it out. Fortunately it will allow banning of certain keywords or urls, but even so I receive 10-50 spams per day. Grrrr…
March 7th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
My old blog wasn’t at all popular or well visited but I still managed to score at least 50 spam comments a day. It was the main reason I shut it down. When re-instating it recenty I told a friend that I was using type key and they said they wouldn’t comment because of that. Im really glad you covered the issue so well because my previous argument for typekey was “Spam makes me sad”.
March 7th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
ANYTHING you can do to keep the ‘net stalkers at bay, more power to you.
Glad to see you posting again, btw. Was worried that Heather’s outpouring of comments made you pout in jealousy.
Love the slide show, too.
March 7th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Jon, the commenters on Heather’s site (and occasionally yours) still creep me out sometimes.
I think some of them have built Blurbodoocery shrines that they pray at.
*All hail the mighty Blurbodoocery*
March 7th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
If someone is driven enough to place a comment on your blog, then they don’t mind authenticating - it’s really not all that hard.
March 8th, 2006 at 1:47 am
I use Spam Karma 2 with the Akismet plugin for Wordpress, and it is phenomenal. No spams making their way onto my site, AND people don’t have to log in if they want to leave comments! Yay!
March 8th, 2006 at 5:03 am
love the amsterdam slideshow; thanks for sharing that! windows in a line with open shutters - just beautiful. this is totally cheesey, but it’s really humbling to think that all that beauty was found in just one city, which is only a tiny part of a much bigger world, you know?
anyway, look - this is your website. do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. i have no blog, but i know i couldn’t hold up to all the negative flak from total strangers that you & heather (& lots of others out there) have had to deal with. i think that anytime you can reduce the bullshit level in your life, it’s a good thing.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:34 am
I have to chime in with Sanya, Wordpress is pretty good with this issue as well, but I like the fact that typekey keeps me logged in. This way, if you’ve already established the link of trust with a commentor you don’t have to be paranoid and keep checking your comments queue to make sure no one new is ebing ignored.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:35 am
I’m another of those sad little bloggers who doesn’t have this problem yet, but maybe one day…! It’s no hardship for me having to sign in, and if it keeps the scary spammers away then good on ya. I’ve also picked up on the slightly creepy vibe from some of the commenters on Dooce - I now understand why comments were disabled for so long! I hate to think how many emails you chaps get from Dangerously Obsessed Individuals every day…
March 8th, 2006 at 6:49 am
Unfortunately my family checks out my site to see pics of my daughter (5 months old) and they are quite ummmm how can I say this nicely….. technologically DUMB! So if they have to log in, or god forbid authenticate thier message they just don’t leave comments and email me instead. *sigh*
So I’m stuck deleting spam manually…..although I’m sure it’s no where NEAR the crap you get.
March 8th, 2006 at 7:06 am
It’s so worth it to you, I’m sure, and if it saves you some time to do other things…enjoyable things, then more power to ya
March 8th, 2006 at 8:06 am
I agree with Torrie that some of the comments over at Dooce are a tad scary (although considerably better since she added Typekey). I can definitely imagine thousands of eager fans with their noses pressed against the glass at that coffee shop on Monday.
As for the comment spam, I am amazed sometimes to what length spammers will go to to infiltrate my comments. It is almost comical sometimes, actually. I wrote a post about getting engaged the other day and the plethora of comment spam regarding weddings and honeymoons was outrageous. I will definitely have to consider Typekey!
March 8th, 2006 at 8:54 am
I never mind signing in since I am 99.99% sure I don’t suck.
And I agree with others, my husband and I giggle at some of the blurbodoocery comments sometimes.
March 8th, 2006 at 9:32 am
Signing in makes me feel popular. I don’t do it on my blog because I crave attention, and if someone were to respond, I would rather have the immediate, off-the-cuff reaction.
But for a site like this, I can definitely see the need.
I was once a corporate trainer, and whenever the adoption rate on a new application was low, users would respond by saying “Application X sucks!”
To which I would respond, “Application X doesn’t suck, you suck!”
So, to anyone complaining about typekey (or any other blog-login mechanism): Typekey doesn’t suck, you suck!
March 8th, 2006 at 10:27 am
What amazes me is that spam bots even find my little weblog. It’s just a personal site and the half a dozen spams I get (neatly handled by wordpress) per day is more than my total visitors probably.
What has annoyed me is I used a real email to sign up for this typekey authentification and ever since have started getting spam at this address. That is not something I appreciate but is my own fault for not using one of my spam accounts.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Because I have a virus eating my brain I’m going to paraphrase a comment I read elsewhere instead of thinking of something original:
I don’t hate the guy who invented comment spam, everyone has bad ideas from time to time. No, I hate the guy who was sitting next to him when he came up the idea. The one who said “Hey that’s a great idea, you should totally do that.” *That* guy’s going to burn in hell.
To whomever said this orignally, thank you.
[returns to his handkerchief, orange juice and phlegmy excrescences]
March 8th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Hey Jon,
I had absolutely no problems with giving my email address so I could leave a little note. (I did so first on Heather’s site.) I think that you should have to give a little of your self up if you want to make personal comments on someone else’s blog. I’m glad you found something that would allow you to do it so well. I love reading your’s and Heather’s site, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
ED
March 8th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Why would anyone have a problem signing in…if you have something to say then why would taking 2.5 seconds to sign in make people complain? Are people really that lazy or are they affraid of being rejected by the “Cool and Powerful” so they just don’t do it at all…sad little men they are.
March 9th, 2006 at 8:07 am
For those folks in the WordPress world, check out Akismet. It kills spam brilliantly, both in comments and trackbacks. I have had zero spam get through it over a few months of use. Their API is available for use with other non-WP blogs.