There is really no indication that anyone reads my blogs. Since I write and post for my own pleasure this fact does not deter me. I do have the ability to see how many “hits” I get and the numbers, while small, are in the double digits, lol. But I know those are mostly spambots leaving little spam shit on my site (known as comments trying to get me or my (maybe 1) reader re-directed to their site.)
Normally they are easy to spot. A mass of gibberish filled with key words and web addresses. Or something in a completely foreign language or English so poorly written its obviously created by computers or aliens!
My favorite are the comments which so blatantly have nothing to do with the post they are commenting on. And the ones call me “sir” or “dude” or literally say, “I don’t know your name, webmaster.” Hello, its ON the BLOG!
But I’ve recently received a comment from one of my favorite bloggers (which was a real high! lol) and then it was copied and spammed right back onto my blog! It was at that point I realized that all those spam comments, even the poorly written ones, were probably real comments that someone wrote and posted on a blog. (I felt sorry for those people on two levels.. 1 for the theft and 2 for the state of their spell checkers!)
This fact completely clarified a pattern I’d noticed. Some people when they comment, they’d end the comment with their name in the body of it. Doing this makes those of us trying to figure out if this is a real comment vs a spam comment have an easier time of it. If its signed by “Bob” but sent by “Monique” who’s indicated her name is “Buy [blank] cheap” then its clearly a stolen spam. But if its signed by Bob and sent by him (I can tell by his email or web address usually) then, omg, someone new might have actually read the blog!
Unless of course his comment is “I’m having trouble reading your pages using [blank advertisement] can you switch it to [solicitation]” Then off to the trash heap you go!
Which I have to do A LOT! With almost all my comments. Off to the trash heap and them empty the trash bin. Its the Internets version of junk mail or phone solicitations. I feel sorry for the people paying others to build up their site, all to get enough hits to pay to keep their site up.
The real change this clarity has brought me is how I comment, now, on another blog. Knowing how wonderful it feels to realize someone else enjoys what you write, I try to express that every time I come across a blog post that brings a smile to my face. And since I’ve ALWAYS got something to say…! haha.
Now when I leave my dripping words of sexy humor on another’s blog I sign my name on it, just to make their job easier if they are having to comb through the commentators to weed out the spam.
I wonder… if I leave my whole name, will I somehow actually get piggy backed on someone else’s paid distribution!
Hmmm…. holding back the devious greedy me!