Am I Spamming Myself?

 Something interesting to me (and, perhaps other bloggers who use Blogger) has been happening in the past few days.

My spam comments folder has been filling up with comments made years ago - the oldest ones so far are from 2014.  Most all of them date from 2019 and earlier.

Not only that, but most of them are comments I've made responding to other commenters on my blog.

Yes, you read that right.

In other words, I am spamming myself.   Spamming myself, traveling through time, to 2014?

The comments were all made through my Google user name.  Doesn't Google know that this is my blog?  Maybe spamming detection duties have been given over to an AI?

I would rather not go to my blog in the morning and find 14 spam comments from myself, which is what happened yesterday.  I have to reapprove every one of them.

I would much rather be looking at crocus in my front yard and celebrating the arrival of spring.

And you would much rather be looking at my flowers than reading about my blogging problems.

So, let's try this...what is irritating you the most about online life lately?  Please feel free to comment below.

Let's see how many of those comments go into spam.

It's All About the Spam Comments

Nowadays, when I get on my blog in the morning, the first thing I see is comments - comments of encouragement and love.

Here are some from recent mornings:

"I love it when people come together to share great views!  Keep up the good work..."  (on a blog post from several years ago).

"We are a group of community organizers and find your blog of great use...."  (Hmmm, I've gotten that message at least 25 times a year.)

"I need help with my webblog. Can you contact me..."  (short answer, No.)

"It's not my first time to pay a visit this blog page" (again, on a post from years ago).

"Hey there I am so happy I found your blog, I really found you by accident..."  (I'm sure you did, especially as you said you found it on Ask Jeeves, which hasn't been Ask Jeeves in some 12 years).

"I know this is off topic...." yes, it is and no, I'm not responding."

"What blogging platform do you use?"  No comment, including to the anonymous blogger asking.

Yes, I get these comments and I'm sure you (if you are a blogger) do to.  But:  WHY?

Back in October, I encouraged (legitimate) bloggers to visit a post that had been, by far, the most hit-upon by spammers.  It was a Halloween themed post about Yonkers (a large city in New York State) and zombies.  I asked bloggers to comment about their most spam-hit upon blogs and the responses were interesting.

But getting this obvious spam (and some of it makes you think for a minute if it is really spam, as it is so well done)  makes me feel like someone has taken a (insert word of your choice here concerning removal of waste material from your body) on my blog, and that is not an image any blogger wants.

(So here's a better one for you - my last garden flowers in a vase from early November).

In case you've ever wondered why spammers come to your blog, this is a fascinating blog post about why.

This blogger gives three possible solutions for his platform.  On the platform I use (Blogger), there are several options - first, don't accept comments at all (which I will not do).  Then, use comment moderation (which allows me to read comments, sent to me in emails, before I decide if to post).  And finally, only allow commenters with Google accounts to comment.

At this point in time I can add that Blogger has made it so hard for people to comment, maybe soon all will be left are the spammers.  Too bad.

So, a question for you today:  has spam ever made you want to quit blogging?

Day 22 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

What You Should Do When Discouraged

There are some days when - things are so stressful that you wonder if you are truly just a voice in the wilderness or making a difference, somehow, somewhere.  And, if it all matters.


I'm not quite there yet, but this is shaping up to be one of those days.  So what is the cure?

Positive thinking?

Practicing gratefulness?

Reminding myself (as a friend with cancer says) "The best part of waking up is waking up?"

These are good.  I have one even better.

When you are having a day like this, my friend, if you have a blog, the cure is to visit.....

Your S*P*A*M Folder, assuming it isn't too big.  If it is (and a blogger I know had a MAJOR problem recently, right in the middle of what may have been one of the worst months in her life), it is no joke.  But for  small time bloggers like me, it can be quite entertaining.

Where else will you find comments declaring how great your writing is, how informative your blog is, and just how worthwhile its existence is, because someone is going to try to sneak a link to THEIR business or blog on there. Or a link to an "adult" site, or even worse.  In that folder, you will find some of the best examples of poor English.  Are these people from other countries?  Or the uneducated (shudder) of ours?  Both?

There is good social engineering out there.  I've never seen one in that folder.

I'm pretty lucky.  I don't get much S*P*A*M (It's the good, flip side, of not getting many comments, either).  But if you don't have enough such comments in your folder to cheer you up, the Internet will provide you with some.  One of our fellow bloggers, apparently, was left  the entire library of comments of an aspiring spamblogger. 

Recognize any of these gems?

Are there writing sweatshops somewhere where these are churned out?  Or is some 13 year old on the other side of the world, home from school and bored, producing these?

I'm at a disadvantage, too, because I use Blogger.  If I ever hit the big time, I am going to be in trouble.  Blogger so far is pretty good about blocking these, but for a while they weren't.  If they let their guard down for even a second...and services like Askimet don't work with Blogger, from what I understand.

I sure wonder what (free service) does.  I may have to look one day.

But until then...what was your favorite S*P*A*M comment?  We might as well laugh together.

That's Entertainment!

Spam email is one of the scourges of our modern Internet age.  "Spam" has been around almost as long as email.  But, as you can find black humor in almost everything, you can even find it in spam.

I, of course, never open an email I even remotely suspect might be spam.  I have probably thrown out emails from time to time that may have been legit.    But I must admit (when I look through my junk mail before tossing it) that I sometimes find the subject lines extremely entertaining. A lot of people online (just look on Google) have written about the entertainment value of spam.

A few weeks ago.  Microsoft was the flavor of the week.  I  received two different emails in my spam folder recently referencing Microsoft.  One announces the "Microsoft 2012 Electronic Surprise Award".  I can just imagine the surprise I would get if I opened that and found out....what?  That I gave myself a virus?  That I've won a million dollars?  That Bill Gates loves my emails and is going to personally send me a cash award?  Surprise!

The other one has a subject line saying "Microsoft Compensate (sic) You with the Sum of 2.5 Million Pounds."  That's it.

Now I am getting a whole lot of grant emails.  Grants for all kinds of purposes.  I've never applied for a grant, so I have no idea why everyone is trying to give me one.  Nor do I know why spammers are suddenly thinking I am a student, or a non profit.

Today alone, I got 3 grant spams.

The Rolex people haven't given up.  I've been getting those for years, along with the usual "enlargement" emails (funny also, because I don't have that particular problem.)  Now, for some reason, I am getting "Magic Jack" emails in my spam folder.  I thought that was a legit product.

Ah well.


In today's world, we need all the laughter we can find.  Even from spam.
What are your favorite spam emails?

Commenting

I have turned commenting on again.  Blogger now has a spam filter for comments so I am going to trust that it works.

Commenting is central to the purpose of a blog - let's see how long it is before I have to moderate another comment from the other side of the world with hidden links to objectionable content.

Anyone want to place bets?

UPDATE 8/14/10:  This post got spammed-and it was caught. (thank you, Blogger.) So I will leave commenting on for now.