I think we can all agree that spam (of the unsolicited solicitation variety) sucks. We’ve got email inboxes full of it, and we have probably all received a spammy blog comment or two before. We’re probably on the same page regarding the nuisance: “No, I don’t want any cut-rate viagra, and I’m actually all stocked up on Nigerian real estate, Your Royal Highness, but thank you so much for your kind offer!”
What we might not be on the same page about, however, is keeping the spam away. What’s the difference between you and me in this regard, you ask? Well, you [might] have one of those horribly obnoxious CAPCHA boxes that I have to fill out before leaving a comment, and I don’t.
via BC
Do I sound sufficiently dramatic yet? Do you want to know why I’m so annoyed? Well, I love to read your blogs. When you leave a comment, I’ll often head over to check out your little bit of interwebs real estate. I frequently find something thought-provoking, fun, adorable, or otherwise awesome. I might even have something to say about it! However, I don’t want to spend unnecessary time in the middle of a busy day spilling my thoughts, so when I try to leave my comment, press ‘submit’ and then get asked to prove my reading abilities, I get peeved. I get especially up-in-arms when your spam filter then has the audacity to tell me I can’t read and to please try again.
“…but it’s the only way to keep people from spamming me!!!”
NOT TRUE! Blogger has a pretty solid spam filtering system, and even when it misses the guy in Thailand trying to sell your readers really cheap [insert anything loosely-related here], they’re usually few and far-between. In the past 30 days, I have received exactly zero spam comments. In the two years I’ve been blogging? Eh – maybe 12? If you use WordPress, then Akismet will take care of those pesky spammers for you without shelling out your hard-earned dollars or putting your readers through a vision test anytime they want to share their thoughts. Those are my solutions. Now don’t make me squint anymore!!!
What are your thoughts on the topic? Have I offended the bloggers with a CAPCHA? Do you agree with my fury? Are you going to go straightaway to deactivate your spam-filter CAPCHA? Yell at me in the comments!!!
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While CAPTCHA is effective at blocking automated spam, it can be seen as obnoxious or inconvenient by some users.
[google](http://google.com/)
I find the CAPCHAS more and more annoying, especially when paired with author moderation.
If you’re (general “you”) going to be reading everything (and stopping the flow of a possible conversation), at least don’t make us jump through hoops to leave a nice comment for you.
I’ll probably disable them on my blog and try my luck.
If the Viagra peddlers become a hassle, I’ll enable it easily enough.
Yep, they are sooo annoying! If I don’t ‘read’ the crazy thing the first time, I’m outta there without leaving a comment.
Thank you. In fact I’m going to leave a comment confident that I will not have to fill out a random set of letters.
Wholeheartedly agree! I hardly get any spam, if so, that is where the delete button comes in handy!
I hate Capcha required commenting. Also, I strongly dislike when I don’t have the option to select using my name and URL (especially if I want to place, say, my client’s URL in the comments instead of my own for work purposes, since I blog AND comment for SEVERAL organizations). Selecting my only other option: comment using my Google account, which doesn’t link directly to my blog or the one I wanted in the first place — it’s become more common on Blogger blogs for some reason. If I have to log-in, I’ll likely close the window before commenting.
I use WordPress and installed Disqus commenting system because I liked the opportunity to reply directly to commenters AND they have the option to subscribe to comments, hopefully, continuing the discussion.
hmmm..I use squarespace and I think it was automatically added to comments recently. I’m sure there’s probably a way to take it off. When I leave a comment, I just assume the box will appear. I’m used to it now. 🙂
Yep. I agree. I took my verification a long time ago. There are only a few blogs I read that don’t have it on and I always look forward to commenting on theirs. It’s so much easier. See, watch, I am going go go hit “post comment” now and I will be done!
haha oh my heck THANK YOU for this. Capcha drives me crazy. Especially when it gives you one that is ridiculously hard to read and you end up having to try 5 different codes until you get it right. Ugh, I will definitely never put Capcha on my blog, so I’m glad to learn the blogger spam filters are good without it.
i didn’t have any protection before, but then someone posted links to porn multiple times, and i switched to the ‘approving comments’ method.
i sometimes use my blog to promote my photography business, and i can’t be having that stuff in the comments.
but yes, the scrambled verification boxes are the worst. great post 🙂
Interesting! I didn’t know the spam filters were that good. Hmm, I’m going to try disabling mine and see. Now that you mention it, it does seem a little odd to make people prove that they’re human!
I don’t usually care either way… Sometimes the words that I have to type in entertain me, but I DID just remove it from my fun blog…. and we didn’t have it on our other. And I have to check my other… 😀
Argh. I hate those captchas. I especially hate it when you write your comment, you click “post comment” and then you’re taken a whole new page where you see your comment and then you have to enter a captcha. That is such bollocks, half the time I’ve already navigated away from the original page thinking that my comment was posted (hey, I pressed “post comment”, why is it not posted yet?) and then close the tab! Obviously nothing was posted.
As you mention, blogging platforms are pretty good at catching spam… so really, no need for captchas.
I get several spam comments a day, but I hate the CAPCHA thing too, so I leave it off for my readers’ convenience. I don’t so much mind the ones that have the word verification right below, but when it pops up AFTER I’ve hit publish, I often miss it and realize later that my comment never got submitted.
I say, take 2 minutes out of your day to delete those comments and save your readers the added annoyance! 😉
I do find the word verification things hard to read at times and have given up in frustration. I have set my blog so I have to approve comments before they are shown which seems to work ok.
Now I’m going to have to check mine because I’m not sure if I use capcha! Although it I do that might explain why only my father seems to comment anymore. And here I thought my content was just lame. 🙂
Hmmm. It really is good to know how you feel about using captchas. I require registration or captchas. I think that registration for a blog to post is much more cumbersome, IMO. Some captchas are absolutely impossible to read, and the audio is rarely helpful.
Here is the reason that they are vital for MOST web sites, blogs, polls, contact forms, etc.:
Sadly I get TONS of Spam on my clients’ blogs that do not have captchas. Actually the most common captcha “reCaptcha” is provided by Carnegie Melon University actually helps tens of thousands of online books to be automatically proofread. You can read more on the reCaptcha site.
Captchas are the ONLY way to stop Spam, and have, as yet, never been broken bu Spambots or phishers. The more traffic a site gets, the more you will find terrible Spam infiltrating your blog comments.
I find them mildly irritating, as well. But, then I thought, “Wait, do I have them on my blog? I don’t remember!” and oops, I do. Must be a default. Now it’s gone!
The thing I despise most on a blog? A pop up asking me to “like” them on facebook or complete a survey (I don’t hate the survey, just the pushiness of a popup).
I hate them too! I moderate my comments instead. That way if a spammer gets through I can delete it before it goes live to the blog post!
I don’t have it, but then again I’ve always been a bit of the, “Hey, the cows are out so shut the barn doors already” kind of person.
Hell, I love getting comments so much, I keep looking for a way to make them easier to leave. Mental waves?
I don’t have a CAPCHA (mainly b/c they annoy me as well). I do get SPAM quite a bit though- maybe a couple a day. Many of them are on old posts, so honestly, it doesn’t really hurt me. who really cares if they’re there or not?
Oh I agree TAKE IT OFF, I have to admit I do avoid commenting on some blogs I know which have it, drives me mad and it doesnt even do anything, I dont have it and never get spam!
I have just been contemplating this very thing…thanks for this post!
Victoria, I feel the need to clarify here. I’m not quite infuriated, more mildly irritated. hahaha I still leave my comments. I just grumble and groan in the process!
– Lindsay
I agree – I don’t have that word verification thingy on my blog, because I hate filling it out myself… although honestly, I’ve got so used to pressing ‘post comment’ and seeing the word box that it feels like something is missing when my comment posts straightaway!
I won’t usually *not* comment on a blog that has the feature because I’m more mildly irritated that infuriated lol, but it is so much nicer without it.
My blogger and wordpress blog comments need to be approved before displayed. It’s a little more work on my part, but so much easier to readers 🙂
Interesting, and guilty as charged! I was under the impression that if you didn’t have one you’d be bombarded with offers of Viagra and money making dream machines. Will definitely go reconsider….