I must have impulse control issues. I posted the following on my corporate blog yesterday — Here’s how not to (spam) comment (spam) — because a comment spam broke by heart. The person who did it was 80% there, he just #failed where he could have maybe won me over (because my blogs don’t get a lot of comments and I am lonely and generally treat commenters — even shameless self-promoters — kindly since they’re all I have!)
So, while I have no problem spam-canning the really awful, clueless, ESL foreign and automated comments, this looked like it was at least copied and pasted by a human, “Raymond McLemore,” but then it just came off as too generic, too self-serving, and not nearly neighborly or generous enough.
He has nothing to add and the post wasn’t generous. It was dropped in with the single-minded aim at dropping a keyword link into my post via the comments, “Marketing Weekly,” using that as his Author name.
I know people want to get your name out there, but if you’re going to spend a little more time trying to promote your new blog, site, news portal, then you’re going to waste your time, money, and reputation by doing it so close but so badly that I take too much time out of my day to blog and tweet and Facebook it everywhere:
I received a comment on Marketing Conversation from author “Marketing Weekly” AKA “Raymond McLemore” over at eMediaUSA and he came over to shamelessly promote Marketing Weekly but he did it in such a way that I feel cheap and used because he honestly called it in.
If you’re going to link-farm my blog through comment spamming, you really need to buy me a drink first. Ray was so close, too, as he almost took enough time to customize his message model enough to make it relevant to the post. One thing he did that was unforgivable was to put Marketing Weekly down as the Author Name on the comment. Unforgivable! Gah!
Cheap, pathetic, lame, and already in the SPAM of my WordPress blog. Mind you, I will link to all of the text links here because I want to draw out his and their attention.
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Flagged as spam by chrisSubmitted on 2011/09/21 at 7:50 am
This posts hits on some very valid points for me. It provides clarity and direction for me and my marketing team when it comes to tracking our social metrics. So thank you very much for that. |
Chris Abraham is a partner in Socialmedia.biz. Contact Chris via email, follow him on Twitter and Google Plus or leave a comment below.
The comment you featured is classic gibberish… and I see it alot on my blogs as well.
Classic problem #1: Non conversational language. “This post hits on some valid points”. Who says that in real life? Comments are not articles. They should be like writing a 'non-business' email to an acquaintance.
Classic problem #2: The comments says nothing of your post. If you don't have something add to the conversation, it's a waste of blog space.
Classic Problem #3: Self Promotion. People will be more likely to click your web url associated with the spot if you say something intelligent, so it's better not to mention it unless it offers a specific solution to a problem presented in the article.
At least this poster didn't have type-ohs and broken English like many I see.
Cheers! from one lonely blogger to another… LC
The social media maxim “It's not about you, it's about them,” applies to blog comments as well. If you're not adding value to the conversation, chances are good the blog you admire will relegate your comment to Trash. There's a degree of shamelessness in commenting I don't see too often elsewhere. I agree with your perspective 100% but not with your decision to pass the guy some links. That silly comment doesn't deserve your juice, IMHO.
I couldn't agree more, Chris! Spam or semi-spam commenting does more harm than good not just to the post itself but to the commenters as well. If someone got in the ugly habit of writing self-promoting comments, wise bloggers will end up blocking them! Not a very smart move if you ask me.
On the other hand, commenters who take the time to read the post carefully and comment thoughtfully by adding their own tips and insights will earn the blog host respect. On top of that, one good comment can easily drive “targeted” traffic to the commenter's blog.
The bottom line is that obscene self-promotion and social media don't rhyme. So, better comment thoughtfully or keep your e-mouth shut! Well said, Chris. I hope other readers will take this precious lesson to heart. Keep up the good work!
Well, the thing I am saying is that unless there's an automated tool or platform to spam comments en masse, and I know they exist, then they're done by hand and if they're done by hand then 80% of all the good work is done and they all just miss out on 20% — which is to be relevant and really custom and also contributes something valuable — and since we bloggers are desperate for comments, we would let even a half-hearted-but-good comment. See?
Nobody likes people who just talk about themselves. If you can't add to the conversation, keep quiet!
Well said. When you are new to the blogging community it can be very tempting to approve some of those “nice” but self serving “spam” comments automated or not. Especially when you have little to no comments. But stay strong newbies don't do it Google frowns upon any spam on your site and it tends to open the flood gates to a lot more.