Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: annoyed
  • Music: Monster High, "Fright Song."

Seriously, does spam ever work? Like, EVER?

So far this morning, I have deleted seven spam comments, and blocked the commenters from posting in my journal again. I have also deleted five spam emails submitted through my website contact form (which proves, I think, that we're training spambots to pass Turing Tests, since you have to prove humanity before my website lets you email me).

I read a web comic called Skin Horse, and pretty much daily, the comment section is kudzu'd by spammers, until one of the admins comes along and deletes the offers of cheap drugs, hand bags, imported wives, and free money from a bank in a country that doesn't exist. So far as I know, none of the readers of Skin Horse really want any of these things.

My message boards are in a continual state of "behind" when it comes to approving users, because we have to work so hard to not approve spammers.

And through it all...I don't know anyone who has ever purchased something from a spammer. Most people are so anti-spam that they reject perfectly legitimate purchases, because they've decided that they're "spammy." (This did not happen to me, thankfully, but a friend of mine was told, on their own journal, "I will never buy your books, because you're SO SPAMMY about them." Said friend pretty much confined talk of books to that journal. The journal is gone now. Because that's how much we fear being slammed for spam.) All spam seems to do is waste our time and make us paranoid about clicking things. It's like the TSA of shit you encounter on the Internet.

I do not want .jpgs and spam. I do not want them, Sam I Am.
Tags: cranky blonde is cranky, don't be dumb, technology
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  • 70 comments

ladymurmur

March 3 2011, 16:05:32 UTC 6 years ago

How can an author discussing their OWN book in their OWN journal, which any of us can choose to read or not be at all "spammy"? That just makes no sense. If they were constantly personally emailing you about it, then sure - but posting to their own journal?

I enjoy reading your journal almost as much as I enjoy reading your books. Half the time BECAUSE you're talking about the books (or the world of the books, or the process of writing the books, or the things that inspire your books, or the adventures of your life when you're not writing your books, or just about anything really).

I don't consider it to be spam. Bacon, perhaps, but then bacon just makes everything better. :-)

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

March 4 2011, 15:15:54 UTC 6 years ago

Also, that's sort of a different situation. If I suddenly started posting nothing but pictures of my My Little Pony collection, I'd be being sort of weird, and would expect people to stop reading. Since this journal started out all-writing, most of the time, the idea of it being spammy makes me giggle. And weep.

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

March 5 2011, 02:50:42 UTC 6 years ago

...no, that will probably happen.

the_liz666

March 8 2011, 22:13:28 UTC 6 years ago

I 2nd the request for pony pictures. Of course, I HAVE an entire blog devoted to my pony stuff.

On the topic of a blog being 'too spammy'. My "hey I'm going to talk about nothing but my business" blog is confined to my business site, so if someone thinks it's Spammy... well... they shouldn't be at my BUSINESS SITE.
I'm compartmentalized enough to say, If you want to talk about art, go to my art blog, if you want to talk about me, go to my personal blog, and if you want to talk about ponies go to my ponies blog... And for anytime the two overlap, sorry, but I'm a person, and I have varied interests.