Spam comments and the power of community

Johnnie Moore

Johnnie Moore

I’m Johnnie Moore, and I help people work better together

I’ve just started to suffer from Spam comments the latest effort by these wretches to publicise their sites. They basically post fatuous comments to weblogs with links to their sites. I’ve only had two or three of these so far, though it’s clear from other blogs that there is a rising tide.

As this abuse starts, the community of bloggers starts swapping notes and solutions are invented. Now some guy I’d not heard of called Jay Allen is building a plug in for MovableType (my chosen blog software) that will create a slick mini-database to trap and block such comments. There’s even a facility for trusted bloggers to collaborate to create blacklists and filters to block the spammers.

Great stuff, and an example of how a community with loose ties creates and protects itself from abusive elements – without the need to go to law.

Share Post

More Posts

Blogging for Ourhouse

Welcome to the Ourhouse Weblog. Blogging is something I’ve become increasingly interested in. Earlier this month I set up the Beyond Branding Blog which is

Collaboration

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking – and worrying – about collaboration. I think the ability to collaborate effectively is becoming ever more essential

The joy of conversation

I’ve just had a delightful meeting with Emma Cahill co-founder of publishing house Snowbooks. They describe their approach thus: We publish far fewer titles than

Just Undo It?

The AntiBrand: blackSpot sneakers, a project by Adbusters attacks Nike directly. In doing so they take on what has become one of the great icons

Trust and NGOs

My friend Olaf Brugman has invited me to take part in a workshop in Brussels on October 29th. It looks set to be an interesting

More Updates

Emotional debt

Releasing the hidden costs of pent up frustrations

Aliveness

Finding the aliveness below the surface of stuck

Johnnie Moore

Marching up and down…

I had a great chat with Rob Paterson on Skype today, comparing experiences of working with big organisations. We talked about how much advance planning there is for meetings. I’m

Johnnie Moore

Innovation with a capital I

I’ve been enjoying James Gardner’s blog, especially since he moved from his bank to the Department of Work and Pensions. I get the sense that with this move he’s able

Johnnie Moore

Peaceful Warrior

I decided to have a very quiet day yesterday stayed in bed a long time and left the computer off all day. Subsisted on healthy meals interspersed with comfort food