The headline on this post is the first of two lines from a comment posted last night to something I wrote months ago.
The full comment reads, “I also oneself something would want to find out on this theme. Very attentively I will read every post.” The link in the post was to a product site not worth mentioning. Clearly, it was comment spam. Since you have to enter a CAPTCHA word to post a comment to this blog, the comment in question was from a human, not a bot.
I mention this because this morning I read a post on John Battelle’s Searchblog that declares war on just this kind of crap. The one that put John over the edge said, “I am very interested this theme, with attention I will read following informations.” Battelle’s response:
I’m tired of it, and so I’m declaring here, and now, that I’m going to get cruel with my comment culling. If the comment doesn’t add value, I’m going to bong it. If you’re a normal person who isn’t a comment spammer, and you are getting bonged, by all means email me and tell me what a d*ck I’ve been, and I’ll restore your comment. But a great site is all about a great conversation, and it’s my job as the den mother to lay down some rules from time to time.
Absolutely, John. I’ve been deleting this garbage for months. Usually I get a couple per week; every now and then, I find dozens. But delete them I will. Evidently, the lack of English fluency prevents these reprobates from noting the warning on my comment page that I do, in fact, monitor my comments and delete spam.
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.
As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.
