When do comments become spam?
Sociologist and anthropologist studying the social media might agree with me when I say every social community has a unique behaviour or culture even though many of its users overlap or the communities do the same thing. For example on video sharing communities, I’ve noticed YouTube users to leave more “happy” comments while it appears Metacafe users have a bit more angst.
Bringing that observation to one of the most innovative Web 2.0 services I’ve seen–MyBlogLog–I’ve come to notice a rather shameless self publicity taking place in its culture.
Don’t get me wrong, I love MyBlogLog, and use it on all my sites (even non-blog sites) to keep relationships going and putting faces to new visitors. The culture I complain about doesn’t exist on the widgets that you see on your friend’s blogs, but in MyBlogLog’s system (when you log in and browse around).
Everywhere I go, and even in private comments, there will be blog owners sending you messages such as, “Hi, nice site! Do visit mine at http://…” or “Join me to support a cause on http://…”
Wouldn’t you call that spam? Lucian just complained about his blog getting comment spam, so I’ll complain about MyBlogLog users spamming the network…and me.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like yourself, I have recently climbed on board the mybloglog bandwagon. Well, there is plenty of spammy blogs out there and less than genuine bloggers. What I do look out for before establishing contact though are:
1) Are the blogs containing content or subject matter that is of interest to me?
2) Are there real human voices helming those blogs or “cut and paste” affiliate internet marketing robots?
3) Am I able to contribute constructively towards those blogs in the form of comments that add value?
BTW, keep those posts coming Ben. I am lovin’ it!
Thanks for your comments and ideas. =) For a 7-day-old blogger, that means a lot.