Leaving the same comment on different sites
Leaving comments on other sites is considered to be one of the backbones of getting comments in return. The concept of commenting is simple: one picks a post to respond to and writes a comment about it, letting the author of the post know what the commenter thinks about that post. Lately I’ve noticed a trend in commenting which is, in my view, equivalent to commenting with no useful information simply to attract attention to a particular site. This is basically the concept of leaving similar comments or the exact same comment on different sites.
Whether it’s “I love your site” or “Wow, what a long read!“, I’ve noticed some readers coming to my site for the first time and leaving comments that I’ve then noticed posted on other sites by the same people. That’s comment trolling, or comment spamming, simply to get a site more visibility or comments. This falls within the realm presented by my earlier post, “Ethics of commenting - do they exist?“, in which I talk about the art of commenting also. Of course, there are users who really intend to leave similar types of messages on other sites because that’s the way they actually feel about different sites. However, if over time these users do not return or simply continue the same practice, I think it’s all right for site owners to delete such comments or even let others know what these commenters are doing.
When you’re commenting, saying “Wow, that’s a long post but from the first part or so that I actually read, this is what I think…..” is better than leaving a generic remark on the site that you’re also going to be leaving on a dozen other sites with the exact same wording or theme. The online world is slowly changing, and building a reputation online is becoming as important as making a site more popular. In my view, copy pasting the same comment onto multiple sites will push down your reputation in the eyes of those who notice it.
What is your opinion about this? Have you noticed anything similar? Do you think it’s all right people to leave similar types of comments or even the exact same comment on different sites they visit for the first time?
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( November 29th, 2006 at 6:29 pm )
Hahah, I think I know what made you write this entry… Hahaha…
Anyways, yes, I do know what you mean about those type of comments. I get them very often… Most of the time, though, it’s just a one-time thing, but still, I do know what you mean…
Well, I’m actually iffy on this topic… A lot of people think that commenting on an entry is the same thing as signing a guestbook, since guestbooks are kind of out now, and blogs/comments are in, so that’s why they do that… I don’t mind if people do that, but not often… I understand that they see it like a guestbook(most of these people are newbies, though), so I’m ok with that. I usually don’t “return” the comment, just going back to their site thanking them for commenting…
But yes, anyways… I don’t mind it too much, but if it’s on every single site, then that’s a different story. Most of the time, I just see it on my site only… So it’s not too bad.
Ok, I don’t want to go on and on about this… LOL. I’ll talk to you later!
( November 29th, 2006 at 9:14 pm )
where’s the penguin????
Ahhh i forgot to text you. actually i remember, but i changed new phone so i lost all my contacts. how was the surgery?
I developed chicken pox and it’s soooooo painful!!!!!
( November 30th, 2006 at 8:53 am )
Hi, this is my first time visiting your site, & I really, really like the clean, organized look you’ve given it. Very nice.
Now onto the post. :] Yeah, I’ve noticed the same thing with commenteers. Most of the time when people do that, it’s when there site is new or doesn’t have a lot of commenters? They leave the basic response “OMG! Your site is gorgeous! Exchange links?! Pleaseeee. I love your site. Comment back.” & that’s it. I personally blog to get feedback from others, but lately I’ve been keeping my blogs short as hardly anyone reads the entire posts anymore & only comments on the minor points of the blogs, not the major ones I’m trying to address.
Nonetheless, I agree with you on comments becoming generic. It’s kinda sad, yeah?
( December 1st, 2006 at 5:18 pm )
New blogs need a lot of attention to get started with.
Its better to get started with a good reputation rather than a shit load of spam comments. This will at least ensure that in the long run you have more visitors.
( December 3rd, 2006 at 3:02 am )
so sad…still no penguin after so many days. the lost penguin must be very lonely
( December 3rd, 2006 at 7:13 pm )
OOO, new layout! It’s always nice to change things up a bit, don’t you think? But I do miss the penguin!!!
I hope that I have never done that, left a similar comment at different sites. Hopefully, I didn’t. This post sounds vaguely familiar though.
( December 6th, 2006 at 1:15 pm )
Chau — > Heh! Tell me! :p What do you think made me write this entry? lol
Hmm, I should have a rule like your site, where the comment has to be more than “Haha nice!” type thing, even though I love such comments from regulars who come here often or people who aren’t spamming their links.
Hmmm, very interesting comparison to guestbooks. That makes sense. Commenting is not the same as a guestbook but an evolution. People can use it as a guestbook occasionally but not all the time. maybe a shoutbox is appropriate for such a thing. Maybe I should outline the guideliness for leaving comments on this site, just like you and Valerie?
Jerine — > Chicken pox!!
That sucks, sorry to hear that! I hope you’re doing better now.
The Penguin is still here. I’m trying to figure out how to blend the penguin into the blue background. Surgery was so-so.
Brianna — > Hello, and welcome to the site!
Thanks for visiting, and I’m glad you like the organization. 
Yes, mostly it’s when a site is new and doesn’t have that many comments. Heh, yes, the comments are something like that. Yes, it’s kinda weird indeed, specially when, like you mentioned, people comment on the smaller points since they’re easy to read and not the major ones, the ones you’re trying to address.
Sawai — > Yes, they do indeed. Good reputation is the key, yes. Spamming like that won’t earn traffic in the long run.
Jerine — >
It’s coming. 
Birdie — > OOOO Big Bird!! lol. Yes, it is.
I miss the penguin too. I hope it gets here soon. :p
You haven’t left such a comment on my site at all, don’t worry. :p Heh, maybe we talked about this before? Or maybe you ran into similar issues before?
( December 7th, 2006 at 3:06 am )
spam comments are bad, they harm the very concept of blogging
another thing that I was doing in the beginning was to put the name of my blog intead of my name, to gain some publicity, but over the time I realized that this is not cool…
( December 7th, 2006 at 1:41 pm )
Yes, you’re right, they do “harm the very concept of blogging”,
.
Hmmm, that’s good also. But I guess many people will consider it as a form of advertising, no? As long as your comment itself is good, I think it should be all right if you substitute your name with your blog name once in a while. At least with a name people feel more personal.
( December 11th, 2006 at 11:55 am )
Long before commenting was an option, there were guestbooks. The same thing would happen, where someone would copy and paste the same “hey, nice site, visit mine” message into one guestbook, and click the links of other signers to leave the same message onto their guestbooks. All to generate traffic to their own site.
The best one I saw was a paragraph long message, where it was in the form of “hi, nice site. i really liked _______ and your _________ section, etc etc.” where the writer would glance through and fill in the blanks with the appropriate parts of the site. That or maybe it was prewritten and it just looked personalized because all personal sites back in the day were pretty much the same.
I had a message like that in my guestbook, which I really would have believed was genuine if I hadn’t seen the same thing on the other sites I visited, from the other people who had signed my guestbook. I think they would have gotten away with this a bit more if they didn’t make it so obvious by following/leaving a trail.
A lot of times people really do say “nice site” and mean it though, and they’ll say the same thing on almost every place they visit, but it’s because they’re not too articulate and don’t know what else to say.
Then & Now is interesting to compare. I haven’t noticed people doing this lately, just spammers. Which I guess is the same thing, but by spammers I mean spamming viagra and sex tapes and etc.
I didn’t really read through the comments on this post, but I’m guessing what I just said has already been said. I just thought I’d give my two cents anyway, since it was what I was going to say when I first read this (seconds after it was posted), but never got around to writing because somehow I always end up leaving you these really long comments. (sorry I’ve been lacking with the commenting/replying/basically any communication lately)
( December 15th, 2006 at 3:51 am )
Wow, thanks for the explanation. That helps a lot. Comparing it to guestbooks is really neat; people did abuse the guestbook a lot. It’s funny you mention the fill-in-the-blanks technique; I was wondering if people have templates saved to use when leaving comments.
I keep getting the spam you talk about, and they change a word or two to make it look different. Good thing I can delete all such spam comments in bulk.
It indeed is very interesting to compare the past and the present like that. Leaving a trail these days is easier than tracking that trail, still. Don’t worry about “lacking” in comments thing. I read your lj regularly and realize you’re busy.
Actually, what you said wasn’t said in the way you described it, so thanks for that. It really helped.