I’ve mentioned in previous Blogbook posts that favorable comments from visitors are hard to ignore, even when the source appears “suspicious.” On the one hand, I’m pleased that someone appears to have enjoyed a post. I’d like to thank them and encourage them to return. But when the comments and the source have little or no direct relationship to the topic of the post, an excess of caution seems warranted. Here are some examples (I’ve edited them for typos):
From Cinemaaa.com on Illegal immigration, a humorous post about liberals sneaking across the border from the US into Canada: “I’ve added a Trackback to your entry on my weblog, I found your entry interesting.”
From Free WP Themes on Beginnings Part 1: “Nice post. It helped me a lot in my college assignment. Thank you for the information.”
From Croatia on Near-Fatal Accident Part 4: “I really loved reading your blog. It was very well authored and easy to undertand, unlike blogs I have read which are really not that good. I also found your entries very interesting. I had to show it to my friend and he enjoyed it as well!”
From Pokerspiel on Blog Backstory: “Hey your blog design is very nice, neat and fresh and with updated content, it makes people feel peace and I always enjoy browsing your site.”
From Pell Grants on Oasis Backstory: “Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I bookmarked it.”
From odziek damska on Blog Backstory: “This is an epic post, maybe I should add add this blog to my blogroll?”
From physical therapist on Do Home-Built Airplanes Come With Barf Bags?: “This post is very useful. Thanks!”
From Kit Viser on Blog Backstory: “Hello there, might I post content to your blog ? Tell me in case you are interested.”
Of course I’m interested, but not without vetting the source, and I don’t know how to differentiate between a person taking a break at work to cruise the web and a hijacked computer looking for victims. To any genuine visitors who feel unfairly maligned, my apologies. Convince me, and I’ll welcome the interaction.
