If you haven’t noticed, I stay away from politics on this site. We get enough over the airwaves, who needs it on a site about Airstreams, travel, climbing, and the rest?
This morning I sorted through my inbox and comments. Often I have to approve new comments of new users. I also sort through the spam every day, and I get a lot!
The latest form of spam that’s huge is “Comment Spam.” You know the comments you leave here? Yes, I regulate those comments. Every day many comments are actually spam. Web robots seek out blogs that are popular and leave fake comments that lead back to the site they’re advertising.
Fortunately, Akismet’s spam filter helps deal with comment spam. Today Akisment missed one on the Digital RV. It was a comment regarding Ron Paul’s run for President. The spam linked back to a site all about Ron Paul.
Now, legitimate comments are always approved. But let me ask you this…. What does Ron Paul have to do with The Digital RV? I’m not seeing the link, but maybe somebody could enlighten me.
I’ve noticed that Ron Paul is a very active key word at Technorati. That’s a blog tracking service by the way. It makes me wonder how much people are really writing about him, versus how much comment spammers are loading up legit web sites with their political message.
As election season closes in (gee, 1.5 years away) we’ll see more of this. I’ll make sure to keep it off this site, it doesn’t belong here or at the Digital RV. If you’re a blogger, watch your comment spam too.
Oh, and I’m a little aggravated that the supporters of a Presidential candidate would resort to spamming other web sites. Ron Paul should make it clear to his supporters this is not the way to gain the favor of the populace! His name is now a filtered word on my comments (black listed), so be sure not to mention him when you make a comment. My system will automatically delete it.
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Are you sure you are not trying to cash in on his online popularity by writing an inflammatory article about his campaign?
I do agree with you that spam is bad, but this guy’s supporters are very passionate about him. This is about the fate of our country and the direction it is heading. Before you ban him, you should at least check out his views first.
Also, I post a lot about the guy myself. I am trying to get his name out there, because the media won’t do it. My candidate does not have the benefit of large corporate backers, so we have only the grassroots and the Internet to spread his message.
And, his message is one of small government, protecting individual liberty, and legalizing the U.S. Constitution. He wants you to be able to do what you will, so long as you do not violate the rights of another. Apparently, you have something against that?
And, you mention it is ridiculous because the election is a year and a half away. However, most people don’t understand that it is the primaries that are the most important. By the time you get to the general election, the party leadership chooses the candidate that serves their special interests, not who they think the people want in office. By the time of the general election, we are left with the choice of a lesser of two evils.
Anyway, you have a right to ban comments if you like, but you might search for the guy on youtube to hear what he has to say.
Peace.
Rich,
I am a Ron Paul supporter and I think you are correct that it is terribly poor form for someone to post a Ron Paul comment on a forum that isn’t discussing politics.
I too cannot imagine what my favorite candidate has to do with RVs, trailers, biking, or hiking, except a vague notion of trailer living -> freedom -> Ron Paul???? (shrug)
Even so, not really the best way to support a candidate. I wonder if there isn’t some kind of false-flag spamming going on. (you know - trying to tag your opponent with a spamming charge.)
*I* find blogs to post to by going to google news and doing a blog search.
That said, I have to say that I have seen very little in the way of true spam (automated messages) in any of the comments on the blogs I have been reading. That could just be due to good moderation and spam filters, but I have been on a few blogs which didn’t seem to have any moderation at all, and I have not seen much in the way of comment spam on those.
The only one I even think comes close is one about “no one explains Ron Paul better than himself, go to Ron Paul audio..” That one shows up on just about every blog.
If I can help you in any way to track down, and stop this spam, please contact me. i care what people think about my candidate, and want very much to eliminate the “spamming” accusation.
Sincerely,
Kevin Houston
Adam first, then Kevin.
Adam,
Not trying to cash in on Mr. Paul. I have a sizable following here, and don’t need to draw a political argument to my site. Unnecessary. But I cannot stand spam, content spam, or web scams, and I voice that here often.
There was nothing inflammatory in my article. I detest spammers. If you look through this site you’ll see many articles on Job Scams and Spammers here as well. Spam is unnecessary, annoying, and takes away from the value of the Internet. I feel badly that political supporters choose to politicize the blogs of others. Now, if this was a political blog, by all means, but come on. Completely uncalled for.
The supporter of Mr. Paul was from Faction3 dot US. I’m not putting a link to his site to drive traffic from my visitors. They come here for travel, Airstreams, mobile tech, etc. I checked faction3 and couldn’t even leave a comment back. Really bad form on the blogger’s part. Seems like the owner wants one way communication only on his site, but doesn’t mind using the sites of others to promote his views.
Kevin,
Hey there. I know who Mr. Paul is. Read about him over the years (I’m a gold bug and silver bug), and he’s written on a few gold sites I regularly read.
And I’ve heard about him on the radio often.
I appreciate your understanding that the comment was beyond weird and not consistent with the content on any of my sites. The person who posted this style of comment is a bad representative of your candidate. I hope the trend doesn’t continue. I doubt it’s a strategy of the campaign, but it doesn’t help candidates all the same.
——
Finally, as a wrap up overall, these are the last comments on this issue. I’ve allowed these two comments as they were interesting. I get that people get passionate about politics. I get passionate, I’m from NH after all.
But there’s a point where folks cross a boundary utilizing sites with popular content to forward their agendas. The comment spam takes my time, my web space, etc. If the content of what you’re putting out there is of value, it will be picked up and these types of tactics are unnecessary.
And just so folks know, not using this to drive traffic. There will be no further comments on this subject, it’s closed. If I get spammed again I’ll mention it, but that’s about it. I don’t care what candidate it is, what pharmaceutical company it is, what miracle hair growth formula it is, I can’t stand spam.
Thanks to both Adam and Kevin for your comments.
You’re not alone in this. I’ve been getting comment spam from RP supporters, too. I even had one guy leave a comment on a sample page that I had originally deleted but re-uploaded when I was updating WordPress. Another stated outright that he was spamming my blog because he considered it his patriotic duty. The irony is that I do have politically oriented posts with which they could have chosen to engage if they were interested in real discussion and communication.
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