31 January 2013
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A Proposal to Reduce Xanga Spam
My blog receives an ever-increasing quantity of spam comments. The comments are usually incoherent, sometimes just text copied from my entry, and always include a link to whatever site the commenter is trying to promote. These comments take a lot of time to delete and are annoying. This seems like a problem that Xanga should be able to help us solve or, at least, manage.
What current options exist to help me deal with this spam? I could enable the sign-in lock feature, but many of the commenters set up a Xanga profile before commenting. I could enable friends lock, but that restricts people who want to view my blog without signing up for Xanga and sending me a friend request. My grandparents, for example.
I've thought of two potential solutions that Xanga could implement:
- Introduce a feature, similar to YouTube's and other blogging sites', where comments must first be approved before being posted. This moderation would make it easier to quickly delete spam comments.
- Alternatively, any comments that contain a link in them (or, alternatively, comments that contain a link and are from someone without a Xanga username or with a relatively new Xanga username) are flagged as potential spam and are sent to a spam folder, much in the same way that email providers flag potential spam.
What do you think? Have you had a problem with spam comments on your site? How do you think it should be dealt with?
Comments (58)
I don't have any suggestions because I don't know any technical stuff, but yours sound good. The spam is irritating (and the real Spam tastes yucky). I'm never sure just what the spammers gain.
I notice more spam too. I think the latter suggestion the best. Right now I am just deleting the spam comments as I see them on my posts.
I usually delete and report them. I like the 2nd suggestion. The first can work if I review / update my blog regularly. But often I often don't check every day. I don't like the sign in feature of friends lock either.
The amount of spam has increased four fold and Xanga even has had a notice on the front page about the spammers attacking Xanga and it slowing down the carriers so users can not even have freedom of use with Xanga Theames like we used too.
I always report, block them. Going on sing in doesn"t work now either as you said, as they are creating blogs and attacking from there.
I like your suggestions on how to control the spam and have no other ideas.
WordPress allows the users to moderate the comments and Livejournal filters out spams from the comments.
Meanwhile, Xanga allows spammers and anti Malaysian trolls to create accounts without validating with their e-mail accounts first.
I just ignore the spam.
It happened a few times a while ago but I think it was better after I installed sign-in lock.
both are good ideas.
I like both ideas.
Oh ..spam..... All over the net... Really annoying....
I don't get any...
^ Hello spam above.
I do like both ideas. It also than helps people who don't like trolls ect. To make sure those comments don't get posted. although at some point I could see it being double edged and people only posting bad comments... and so on.
I was reading a post about this just the other day from the Xanga admins. they're in the process of trying to better validate those who are creating accounts, because right now all it takes are CAPTCHAS, and I guess there are people being hired to somehow get around the CAPTCHA thing... so they're thinking about making people link another type of account to the site to prove they're not just spammers, or connect the account to a credit card just so it can be authorized without taking money out, or by sending out validation emails with links in them so that the email accounts have to be verified before the account is active. something definitely needs to be done because it is getting absolutely ridiculous, and I've been thinking about paying for a membership, but it won't keep me motivated to if the spammers just keep getting worse.
@PorcelainDoll_xo - How perfect that I should receive some spam on this entry so quickly... Sigh.
@Love_in_102 - Thanks for the update. I was looking for the Xanga admin site and didn't find it. Hope they do figure something out, considering that most other sites have already put a fix in place.
@LostSock21 - You also don't post that often...
@icepearlz - I find most of my spam comes from people who have set up a Xanga user name, so sign-in lock wouldn't reduce much of it...
@christao408 - definitely. I fear they're going to eventually lose a lot of faithful users if nothing gets done. they seemed pretty serious about it and were replying to user comments, so I think they're definitely working hard on getting the issues resolved, they're just not sure of how to go about it just yet.
@TheTheologiansCafe - I suppose that with the hundreds of comments you receive, a few spam comments are easily ignored. I prefer to delete them just because I don't want to risk someone clicking from my site onto a site that may contain malware, etc.
@whyzat - Well, there are some folks who like real Spam! =D
@christao408 - Is that a subtle hint to blog more? Also, I was in Korea on Monday. Spam costs 5-6 bucks per can.
I haven't had any problems as of yet, but I foresee them in the future if the problem isn't solved.
I like option 1. This is what blogger and WordPress allow us to manage spam. Why not xanga?
@LostSock21 - It would be a welcome treat if you blogged more.
@awoolham - Exactly.
@TheBlondNextDoor - I'm glad you haven't had any problems yet. Let's hope it continues that way for you.
@Love_in_102 - Good news
I have a huge blocked user list now. At first there were the Senegalese love scams, later came the Islam proselytizers, then cosmetics salesmen, then the SEO shills (which means search engine optimizers). My policy is to block these empty-profile guys and then delete their comments.
We should disallow comments by anyone who has never made a blog post.
Friends lock would solve that.
Spammers really suck. They always make it hard for me to read through websites I like. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of Web 2.0. Take it easy
I wouldn't want to have to approve every comment, but a system that flagged (for approval) every comment with a link in it would be preferable.
Report and block. I don't know if xanga currently blocks IP addresses, but they could implement that if they haven't already. Some people would know workarounds, but many would not.
I'm also not above toying with the religious spammers.
Also, I have a tendency to mis-read titles so I first thought this said, "A Proposal to Reduce Xanga Sperm".
I like both ideas
And friends lock does end tend to solve the spamming problem, but these ideas will be better for people who don't like friends lock
Thank you to everyone for your comments.
@mycontinuity - It would solve it, but would then create another set of problems. Not everyone who reads my blog (my grandparents, for example) are inclined to set up a Xanga account, etc. Plus, the more friend requests I receive, the more updates I get, sometimes of folks who, while I enjoy their interactions, may not be people from whom I need frequent updates.
@we_deny_everything - Exactly - someone who signs up for a Xanga ID but has zero entries doesn't seem to be a very active contributor to the community.
@agmhkg - It sure it!
@VampireOfSeduction - Sometimes, a second read clarifies titles, doesn't it?
@summereque - Yes, friends lock has its drawbacks for some folks.
@democratforchrist2020 - That would be my preferred option, too.
@Günter Gartenhaus - Agreed.
Haven't had a problem with it, but I only post once a month. 'Delete' and 'Block User' work well enough for my purposes. I can see why some people would like those options, but I'd want to be able to opt out.
@Love_in_102 -
Here's the blog that the XangaTeam did. LINK
Good ideas!
block them
@christao408 - Oh yes the factory in MN cranks it out 24 hours a day. Austin, TX has a Spamarama every year. Popular stuff, just not with me.
I report the privates messages, but annoy the comments.
Personally I think it is a great idea. Xanga could take a few lessons from WordPress. I have a blog there and every time someone comments I have my settings set to go to spam for my approval. If it was not set this way I would be bombarded with a slue of over-sea's sex ads. My blog here must be too new yet as I'm not receiving any comments as of yet.
Zero clue, cuz I'm not a techno wizard. Guess I need to get unlazy and be a real friend to you now before I get locked out...
I also have an account on LiveJournal, and when I get the occasional spam comment, I get an email alerting me to a suspicious comment. Only I can see it until I decide to unblock it. I don't think I've ever unblocked any of those comments, though. As I recall, I've always deleted them, and they get reported as spam in the process.
not sure why they are not already doing what you suggest...but thumbs up here.
i haven't get any of late... but that's because i haven't posted that much recently, i guess
No significant spamming on my site. One of the benefits of being unpopular.
great idea. It is really annoying.
none yet on xanga but i get it a lot in the chat box on facebook i click the x a report it as spam
none yet on xanga but i get it a lot in the chat box on facebook i click the x a report it as spam
I've had some problems but for the bad cases, I use friends lock for a limited time, and that takes care of the problem. Moderated comments capability is a good idea.
I received five EXTREMELY lengthy spam comments in a totally different language in like five minutes today. This has been happening all week. 9_9
@musterion99 - Many thanks for sharing the link. I kept looking for "xangateam" forgetting that it is "thexangateam"...
@LKJSlain - It seems worse recently, doesn't it? Within an hour of writing this post, I had received four or five long spam messages. Ironic.
@SoullFire - Ah, I hadn't thought about using friends lock as just a temporary measure. Maybe that's the solution? Still, Xanga really should have moderated comments capability.
@grannykaren - Interestingly, I don't think I've ever received Facebook spam.
@Inciteful - I don't know if I would categorize you as "unpopular"...
@janusfiles - That is exactly the sort of feature I would like to see here.
@armnatmom - Ha ha... hopefully, I don't have to resort to friends lock because my grandparents would be locked out, too.
@Rick_Rivera - If you would like, I can send some of the spammers your way! Ha ha...
@HisDownAzzChick - That's what I do, but the damage is already done. I'd rather have those comments filtered and identified as spam.
@YourOuterCritic - I agree that any added features should have an opt in/out option.
@christao408 - You're welcome.