Why do the comments
go to spam?
I asked google Blogger, the platform for my blogs,
and I'll share what I learned.
The popular blogging
services have spam filters to weed out the mass-produced junk or known
trouble-makers. They are sometimes
identified as troublemakers because other bloggers have labeled them spam (a
common way that Get Real Post deals with
people who offer up opposing arguments). Or sometimes they just fall into a
pattern that the computer does not like. Maybe several comments fired off
within a short time or some other trend.
It is possible for a
blog host to train his blog's spam filters. The best way to do that is to
moderate comments. This enables the editor to establish a track record of
"accepts" that becomes a strong argument that a contributor is
legitimate.
Of course,
moderation has its problems. One, people don't trust the blog editor and think
he is weeding out legitimate comments. Two, remarks don't appear in a timely
way, logical to the discussion thread. They can get buried or overlooked in the
real time of discussion.
So JoeAm does not
moderate. I'll work to train the spam filters the slow way, by re-inserting
comments that inadvertently get dumped into the spam folder. That way most
legitimate comments will flow directly to the discussion threads and no one
need suspect that Joe Am is filtering out important arguments.
It isn't a perfect
approach, but it is reasonable. If you
find one of your comments has "disappeared", check back later to
confirm it has been reinserted.
By way of
underscoring the importance of filters, I note that my spam folder contains 120
messages that properly were recognized as spam and did not get through to
clutter up the blog and trick readers into linking to porn or virus outlets.
Philippine Blog Center
Have you bookmarked
the Blog Center yet? It provides a
real-time update on important blogs about the Philippines. I pop over to it two
or three times a day to scan what others are writing about. Blogs are often
juicier than news, so I find myself going there before my news reads in the morning.
The link is right
over there, the garish red button in the right column.
I find myself
visiting Rappler and Raissa Robles frequently. They are busy sites,
Rappler issuing real-time news and
commentary, Raissa with the most
extensive dialogue among all blogs.
Although it bugs me
mightily to include sites that ban JoeAm,
I have to include GRP and the anti sites in the blog list. They are
active both in publication of articles and diatribe . . . I mean, dialogue.
They are about the Philippines. And articles are well written.
Father Bernas has been a spot of enlightenment
on the RH Bill. He gives me faith, if you know what I mean. Faith that
intelligent men and women can belong to the Catholic Church and not have to
sell their intelligence down the river for a rigid Dark Age doctrine that can
be harmful, if applied narrowly.
The other blogs also
pop up some great new insights and commentary.
If you know of an
important site I've missed, please let me know. Just connect to the comment
link provided at the Blog Center and
make your recommendation. The featured blogs need to satisfy the following
criteria: Be (1) about the Philippines, (2) reasonably active, (3) reasonably
articulate, and (4) open to comments.
Read on.
Can one financially profit or lose money from maintaining a blog?
ReplyDeleteNot much, I think. The readership has to be huge to get volume hits on the ads. Most bloggers have low readership. But I am not the best guy to ask because I am not in it for the money, and have not done ads.
DeleteThanks, JoeAm. Blogging may just be what my wife told me I do to beat Alzhiemer in my retirement
DeleteAhahahah. Me too. Thanks for reminding me. I keep forgetting why.
DeleteFather Bernas, no doubt, is an interesting thinker for a Catholic.
ReplyDeleteI like that he admits the fact of the plurality of religions, both theistic and non-theistic.
But, you know, he admits plurality and stops there. Surely, if you admit the plurality of religions, you must be open to the possibility that Truth is not singular but plural.
For too long, man has lived with the paradigm that Truth is monolithic, that there is just the One and True Faith. And in most part this view has been the cause of endless division.
I try to see it differently. I imagine that beliefs are colors. Colors are different wavelengths of light. Each man adopts a color, a wavelength that resonates with his being. Simple, yes?
Then imagine the colors side-by-side. What do you see? A veritable rainbow!
And isn't that beautiful? Isn't that wondrous?
We should celebrate this diversity of colors. We should see the light that shines in all of us.
What a wonderful way to see things. You find harmony by including all colors.
DeleteI center on one God so mysterious that we need not bother trying to guess what he expects. We ought to strive to care for ourselves by caring well for one another, rather than submit to superstitions that drive us apart.
We get to the same place, but your view is infinitely prettier.