COMMENTS WELCOME

If you've prowled around this site, you will have noticed there are no comments following any of the posts [as of June 21, 2014].

I'm not blocking comments (although I did check the settings a year or so ago and found it was set so that only "members of the blog" were allowed to comment—I fixed that). The reason there are no comments is because nobody has ever commented.

I have it set for me to moderate comments. Your text will come to me as an email and I have the option of posting it or not.

I know it's actually set this way because the other day I got my first comment. Yippie!

Oh, wait.

There was something about it that made me suspicious. The guy was listed as "anonymous" but ended his comment with a link to a Website. Something about a typing service.

That worried me because I couldn't see why you would log in as anonymous and then send me to your Website—where, presumably, your anonymity would very quickly fall away.

Unless your Website is also anonymous for some reason. For instance, so folks won't know who to blame when the malware kicks in.

So I did some snooping.

I found that this fellow posts on a lot of sites, commenting on the blog in glowing but rather vague terms. And each time giving the link to his Website.

In fact, I noticed other comments on these pages have laudatory but vaguely worded information—and a link to some other Website.

On one page, where there was no actual article or blog post visible, all the comments suggested the content was tip-top and very useful and the guy will be sure to bookmark the page for future perusal.

And all the comments ended with a link.

On one page, nearly all the links went to some sort of "removal" service. British, I think.

(Dead body cleanup? Was Mr. Wolf involved?)

One comment used the same text as the one I received, but the link went to a another Website.

The fellow who commented on my blog used a variety of names on other sites, all with different messages, but the same link.

In fact, I'm guessing all these bogus commenters have subscribed to a service that promises to bandy their Website links about the Web—by making fake comments of unspecific praise.

Either all those sites are setup to have all comments go straight through to print, or the moderator fell for the praise and let them pass.

Of course, it does benefit the sites where these messages appear. Legitimate readers are treated to comments that praise the content or the page design. Might even encourage the average Web surfer to form a favorable opinion of the site.

As for this blog, I actually do welcome comments.

But to get through the vetting process, the comment needs to be specific enough to make me think the blog post it's attached to had been read by the author of the comment.

If your praise is suspiciously vague, please don't end with a link to your Website.

Makes me antsy.

On the other hand, if you make a real comment and want to end with a link to your own blog, go for it.