Verification, Moderation, Hurdles to Comments??? A Personal RANT

I've noticed that an increasing number of Bloggers in general are using the verification process to weed out comment bots. And I've also seen quite a few blogs that I frequent who've gone to moderated comments. These measures to prevent spamming and offensive comments kill the spontaneous flow of the conversation between the blogger and the reader, IMVHO. I, too, have used verification on my own blogs from time to time, when I seemed to be the target for these bots, but I try to take the verification back off just as soon as the spam storm seems to have passed.

I say all that to say that personally, I very much dislike to comment on someone's blog, only to find that I have to fill in a long string of letters. Usually, I've taken so long to compose my comment, that I end up having to fill out two sets of letters, because the first set has expired. There are even a few sites I've seen that make me do the verification thingy, and then they moderate the comment, too!!

I've been on dialup for the last week, and it's really made me appreciate just how cumbersome this whole verification process is. If you choose to Preview your comment, then you have to put in another string of letters in order to Submit your comment. Not to mention you have to wait while the slow dialup loads all this stuff.

Well, can you tell I'm just a wee bit peeved? Yes, I know the bots are out there. Yes, I know they can be a real pain. All I'm saying is, some of you have gone overboard and turned the prospect of commenting on your blogs into a real pain, too. I hope I've given you something to think about, anyway.


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BLOG VILLAGE was established on May 23, 2006, currently with a membership of 226 Villager blogs.