"How do we deal with self-proclaimed 'co-authors'?"
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:47 am
In blogs and social media accounts with a high frequency of comments, individuals who add their two cents to everything and everyone don't stand out so much. But in high-quality magazines that don't get so many comments, it can seem strange if the same person has something to say about every single post. But there are also those "free riders" who see your comment fields as their own advertising space. Some may simply be enthusiastic about your posts, but don't feel that it's out of place to profile themselves as a co-author under every new article. You should still be cautious when deleting such posts.
First of all, you could check all the other criteria, such as facebook data relevance, relevance to the matter, whether there is actually a real person behind it or whether it is so meaningless that it is spam. In many cases, there can only be individual decisions that cannot be covered by general rules. By the way: It is often also a good idea to contact someone directly if you have any problems with their comments.
“How do I recognize spam comments?”
Plugins such as WordPress Antispam Bee are pretty accurate at filtering out most genuine spam comments, at least the automated ones. When someone comments by hand but is actually just browsing blogs to leave comments, it gets more difficult. Especially if the comment doesn't violate any other rules and is somehow related to the post.
Particularly clever comment spammers do put in a little more work. They surf through all the blogs, but they take a little more time. They skim through the respective post, pick out a few key words and in their comments – often quite cleverly – give the impression that they have read everything and really want to join in the discussion. They even manage to do this a few times with experienced bloggers, because it is really hard to distinguish one comment from a real one. But after the third time at the latest, maybe even in a row, people start to pay attention. This type of comment is also unreservedly complimentary. Most of the time the commenter also emphasizes the added value that he or she has gained from the article. (“Great ideas that I will implement soon.”) This is another reason why it is often difficult to clearly distinguish these from real comments.
First of all, you could check all the other criteria, such as facebook data relevance, relevance to the matter, whether there is actually a real person behind it or whether it is so meaningless that it is spam. In many cases, there can only be individual decisions that cannot be covered by general rules. By the way: It is often also a good idea to contact someone directly if you have any problems with their comments.
“How do I recognize spam comments?”
Plugins such as WordPress Antispam Bee are pretty accurate at filtering out most genuine spam comments, at least the automated ones. When someone comments by hand but is actually just browsing blogs to leave comments, it gets more difficult. Especially if the comment doesn't violate any other rules and is somehow related to the post.
Particularly clever comment spammers do put in a little more work. They surf through all the blogs, but they take a little more time. They skim through the respective post, pick out a few key words and in their comments – often quite cleverly – give the impression that they have read everything and really want to join in the discussion. They even manage to do this a few times with experienced bloggers, because it is really hard to distinguish one comment from a real one. But after the third time at the latest, maybe even in a row, people start to pay attention. This type of comment is also unreservedly complimentary. Most of the time the commenter also emphasizes the added value that he or she has gained from the article. (“Great ideas that I will implement soon.”) This is another reason why it is often difficult to clearly distinguish these from real comments.