Tips To Make Other Bloggers Hate You - Comment Crazy
Mig at Red Dog is feeling in a devilish mood. She has some evil blogging advice about sure fire ways to get your fellow bloggers to avoid your site and never come back. She’s tagged me to add some more evil blogging advice.
This could be therapeutic, so let’s have some fun. This is strictly tongue in cheek, so please read it in the spirit it is intended. This list could go on forever, so I’ve limited my tips for how to make other bloggers hate you, to comments and commenting. And of course, I’d love you to comment at the end. 
You need to read Mig’s list first. It’s great!
Tips For Blog Commenters - How To Make Other Bloggers Hate You - Comment Crazy
Mig covers the usual “I agree…” comment, followed by spamming the comment thread with a link to your site. I think to be truly annoying, it’s better to -
1. Make sure that the site you link out to is completely irrelevant to the post and the current comment thread. You never know if someone reading the freelance writing comment thread may be interested in your link to world wide wrestling tips. It’s still a link right, and a lot of blog owners will let it through, so it’s worth a try.
2. Why stop at one spam link? Everyone adding comments to the post about top business writing strategies, is hanging out to read about your goldfish pet tips. You know they are!
3. After you’ve posted your links and your “Please check out my site. or I agree…” comment, don’t come back and comment or add anything further to the conversation. Your time is far too valuable. Your time is better spent comment spamming other sites… so many sites, so little time…
4. Flaming is a good way to get noticed. Stir up contoversy in your comments. After all, you’re doing the blog owner a favor. Everyone knows that controversy is good for traffic, right?
Now blog owners, if you truly want other bloggers to hate you, and readers to run away, don’t muck around. You need to get serious.
Tips For Blog Owners - How To Make Other Bloggers Hate You - Comment Crazy
5. This is an easy one. Make it as hard as you can for readers to comment. Readers love a comment obstacle course, and the more hoops they have to jump through the better. If you can camouflauge the CAPTCHA’s so they can barely be read, and add a few number puzzles as well before the comment is approved, they’ll love it.
6. Never reply to comments at your blog. You are far too busy.
7. Never visit other bloggers who comment regularly at your blog. You are far too important.
8. Never visit other blogs which link to you. You are far too busy and important.
9. Never thank your readers or acknowledge other bloggers by linking out to useful sites. Always remember, it’s all about you!
And If You Follow Tips 1-9
10. Prepare to shut down your blog. You will only be talking to yourself on your blog… an audience of one. You will have no readers, no interaction, no traffic and no fun. Buy a diary or talk to your dog. No one here is listening.
What Tips Do You Have Which Can Drive Readers Crazy & Make Bloggers Hate You?
I’d love you to leave a comment… he.. he
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I’m tagging some fellow bloggers. These bloggers are definitely not the type I’ve talked about above. These are bloggers to love. I’ve chosen them because I think they’ll have some fun with this challenge.
If you choose to take this on, I can’t wait to see what you write.
Gayla, Char, Carl, Denise, Jeanne, Alfa, Calvin, Robert, Dana, Alicia, Lori, Easton and Julia.
Credit: Comment button is courtesy of Paper Napkin for International Delurking Week in January. I’m just giving you some early practice.
Your list is way too funny! When we are done with this we join to create a tutorial on “How to Be Cocky and Vexatious” and publish it as .pdf on all our sites.
And by the way, don’t forget to visit my site…
He.. he.. Evil blogging if fun. I love your idea about the PDF. Count me in!
Now, I’ll just leave a few links I know you’ll interested in… hey hold on … this is my site… I need to come by your site and do that…
Yes, please do. I love it when you spam me.
This topic very interesting. Thank you for posting. Will bookmark. Please you maybe like my site.
[insert irrelevant link.]
Hi Mig - I have it in writing now. I have your permission to spam you… okay, this could be fun…
Hi Dana - LOL. You made me smile. What? Only leaving one irrelevant link? You’re letting me off lightly. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m tired of deleting that particular comment. I’d consider some snarky post back, but it is Viagra, Levitra and that kind of site doing it. I told my husband that if he ever has those issues, he is going to have to find other alternatives. Although they may not be directly involved, these sorts of business practices are almost as annoying as the ones that call me at home. Like back when MCI kept calling me, asking me to buy their long distance service. I finally told them that if they called me again, I was looking for another long distance provider because mine (MCI) was driving me nuts.
Dana - Luckily Akismet has eaten over 6000 spam comments on my blog since January. I find that amazing in itself.
But I also find that most spam is very obviously spam. You’d think they would be a bit more creative, and at least spell things correctly, to be a little less obvious. Surely, most sites have some sort of spam filter like Akismet. But I guess they wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t some sort of pay off. If I’m not sure if it’s spam and it seems genuine, I always check the site, so I guess they’re getting traffic that way too.
Thanks for tagging me, Yvonne. I need something fun like this to do.
Dana, I think you’re on to something!
We could become really hated if we called people at home and asked them to visit our sites…
(Now, where did I put that long list of irrelevant links to attach to this comment?)
Denise - Great to hear you’re going to join in the fun… can’t wait to see what you write.
Laura, that could be our revenge on telemarketers who call us at meal times. I look forwarding to reading your post too, Laura.
Oh this is going to be fun!
And oh, buy cialis please.. LOL.
Well now, all you ladies will leave me with nothing to do… I guess I’ll sit out here on this fine day and sip on a margarita. Chin Chin Yvonne and ladies
Ooh…I can start responding to telemarketers in broken English to please visit my site and just keep repeating it until they give up and hang up.
Yvonne - I love it ! What a great sense of humor you have. But seriously - it is a good reminder list too - sometimes we just get sooo busy.
This is a great list Yvonne, you do seem to be having so much fun over here these days!
It’s a slightly different point but I read some interesting pointers from Darren Rowse a wee while back about things that (genuine) commenters can do that annoy other people - like always including links to their own amazing posts (on topic, but it doesn’t hit quite the right note does it…), dominate the conversation, maybe commenting several times on the same post… and always being first to comment.
That last one made me laugh. I’d read some blogging advice in the early days which said that it’s a good idea to try and be the first person to comment on a high traffic site like Problogger as your comment is more likely to be read. I have been first (by accident honestly) a couple of times - and it does give a quick boost to traffic - but now I find myself thinking, oh now I’d better wait a bit or they’ll be thinking “oh no, not her again…”
Looking forward to seeing what the rest of your conspirators come up with
Joanna
Yvonne,
What an entertaining post–and, unfortunately, oh so true! But it’s great to be able to look at it through the eyes of humor! Thanks for the tag–and the compliment! I’ll have to see what blogger/commenter anti-popularity tips I can come up with…
Jeanne
@ Alfa - Have fun being devilish!
@ Sia - Welcome Sia. Sounds like you have a devilish sense of humor too.
@ Dana - I can see your evil grin, right now. Will you really do it? Read my article on Telemarketers for some ideas - How Do You Handle Unwanted Phone Calls When Writing. It’s not comment spam if it’s my own site… is it? I’ve tagged you too. Thanks for adding to the conversation.
@ Char - Great to see you here. Hope you’ll have time to join in the fun with the tag.
@ Joanna - Conspirators - that has a nice ring to it. I’m looking forward to reading the other posts. Interesting about being first to comment and Darren’s points.
@ Jeanne - Anti Popularity Tips For Bloggers - great title. Have fun!
Yvonne, thanks for the hoot. I particularly like the sourpuss granny type in the graphic.
For the record: I avoid comment unfriendly blogs, including those where I must sign up to leave a comment.
Matt - Pleased you enjoyed it.
Interesting that you avoid comment unfriendly blogs. I think I’ll take a leaf out of your book and be a bit more discerning. After all, there are so many great bloggers that do make it easy to comment.
I’ve found if the content is good, I tend to relent and play the comment obstacle course game. This is particularly true if it’s someone I know.
Me, comment? What comment? Why? Are you calling me crazy?
Calvin - LOL. I’d never do that he..he… Stop trying to stir up trouble… although on the other hand, if it helps with my traffic…
Yvonne — a good post with lots of good points. Humor, if nothing else, has a little bit of truth associated with it.
As a tip, I’d add that a blogger should have a “comment policy” on a page in the blog. For example, mine simply notes that your *first* comment will be moderated and that once I figure you are not a machine, you’ll be good to go on the site for every other comment you make. I never had math on the comments, but I do on the contact information and I just found a way to not have to do that.
My worst comment gauntlet: reading a great article, trying to comment, having to REGISTER as a user, then — having registered — being told there wouldn’t be any comments on the system as it takes too much time to administer. Needless to say, I unsubscribed, have never visited the site again, and mumbled something about guns and bullets and surfed on to the next more interesting blog.
Oh…and blah, blah, blah, and the Green Bay Packers football team (American football for all you Aussie’s out there!) is 2-0 at the beginning of the season.
And here’s that irrelevant link: http://iamincommentheavenanddontknowhattodo.com
I think I have a good anti-blogging post now. I shall hopefully put it up by this weekend…
It may say some of the same things, but I think there may be a limit to the pet peeves I can come up with.
oh, and on comment hurdles it really depends. I find it ironic the number of hurdles people will put up and then lament about the lack of comments. I particularly don’t like the ones that make me sign in and wait for a confirmation email.
On the other hand, in my niche, there are a number of bloggers very concerned about comments and the people reading their site and viewing the pictures of their kiddos. Moderating comments is a pretty common method to control the discussion and keep their blog a place where they don’t mind their kids being. A lot of the blogs I read are there for the express purpose of keeping family posted on events and network with other homeschoolers. They don’t want the discussion that can ensue with those of other perspectives because it isn’t their purpose in blogging. If that is their purpose, I can’t complain about the hurdles they set up because it is perfectly justified. So long as they don’t complain about not getting too many comments. : )
Like one of my greatest pet peeves…disabling right click. But knowing why people do it makes me not quite so willing to just not read their site. I just subscribe and go through the rigamarole if I feel pressed to comment. (But they really should NOT host carnivals…that is annoying to have to go back and forth on every link!)
Scot - Thanks. A comment policy is a good idea. I can’t believe someone would put you to all the trouble to register and finding they weren’t accepting comments… that’s the ultimate in not being comment friendly. Aarghhhh!! I think that person wins the prize for the most comment unfriendly tactic.
An off topic comment plus and irrelevant link… a double bonus!
Dana - Thanks for accepting my tag to write some reverse psychology blogging advice. You make some good points about the purpose of the blog and the need for screening. I agree that asking someone to register and then having to wait for a confirmation email, loses the immediacy of the intended comment.
Unless it is something I really want to comment on, I don’t think I would be prepared to register.
Ok, I might have to copy that list and link back to you. I ABHOR those commenters that are like, “Good info. Visit XYZ.” I delete those - lazy lazy lazy people who don’t even read what I have written. UGH! I am think about putting a word requrement for commenters - like, “Comments must be 50 words or longer to avoid being deleted.”
AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is GREAT! And it definitely looks as if everyone’s noticed given the hour it took for me to scroll down all the COMMENTS to leave my own, lol. I can’t wait to dive into this one, thanks girl!
Suzanne - a word limit on comments… LOL. I know some bloggers moderate the first few comments before they let them through automatically.
Alicia - I knew you would have some fun with this. Can’t wait to see what you write.
Gee..after reading Denise’s, I just realized my recent entry qualifies. Oh well. You shall get your own when I get to it, since I have it half written and I’m not giving up on a post that easily.
Dana - I look forward to your tongue in cheek advice for making other bloggers hate you.
Hi, Yvonne!
Just finished my fiendish post. (Rubs hands together.) Used a different title than the one you liked, though. (It’s a bit long, but I’m sort of partial to it.) Drop by and check it out. (After all, you instigated it!) Here’s the link: http://www.writersnotes.net/alienation-abcs-alienating-bloggers-through-content-or-alienating-bloggers-through-comments/.
Thanks again for the tag! It was a fun write!
Jeanne
Jeanne - I just read your post… tooo funny, and a very clever title too. Thanks for joining in the fun with our evil blogger advice challenge.
Yvonne,
What are you doing - sending me all your spam? Askimet has caught nearly 24,000 spam messages since January on my blog. You get tons more visitors and comments than I do … so why I get four times as much spam?
Lillie - Whaaaat!!! 24 000. I started in January too, and I thought the 7007 spam Akismet has caught at my blog was pretty amazing. I promise I’m not sending you mine, (and please don’t send me any of yours). LOL.
I haven’t worked out what motivates people to send spam, albeit automated. They must get some response monetary wise or business wise, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. If only we could count spam visitors as traffic!
I’ve been wondering if 25,000 spam is an important blogging milestone - like 100 posts or something.
He..he.. I’m sure there must be an award. If not, maybe we could start our own. There has to be something we can celebrate about spam… turning a negative into a positive. LOL.
Done! http://writingspark.com/?p=567
Oh, and about the spam: I did a post last year called “The Best of Spam in 2006.” (http://writingspark.com/?p=298) I was thinking about doing one for 2007, too, though none have been as interesting - yet, haha. We should do a carnival or something.
Alicia - I’ve just zipped over and read your post… very funny. I knew you’re run with it and have some fun. Thanks for joining in. I think Mig who tagged me, wants to make them into an ebook if everyone is agreeable.
I also read your Best of Spam in 2006 post. I must start saving my spam. A spam carnival. You would be just the person to kick that off, Alicia. That could be fun. If you don’t have interesting spam, you could make it up, I’m sure. I knew spam had to be good for something.
Lillie, you may have an advantage in any such carnival or competition, with all your bonus spam.
Love this list! Hilarious!
Vanessa - Great to see you here. It was so much fun to write. You’re very welcome to join in and add to the offbeat blogging advice on your blog if you like.
Gosh, what a huge response for something that started as Wednesday fun. And no one tagged Yaro yet. I feel frustrated. I’ll go spam him!
And I thought Mig’s list had it all covered! Your list of advice for blog owners and the reactions it generated is just great. I should add going to other bloggers and lecturing them on how they don’t reply comments or never do the things you are too busy to do. And then also write a 2000 words post about how evil bloggers are ignoring you and invite them to read it via email
Alina - Pleased you enjoyed it. He… he… I like your suggestions.
I enjoyed this list very much, it was great! I’m fairly new to blogging, so I hope I don’t commit these crimes,
Smiles,
Michele
“Writing the Cyber Highway”
http://writingthecyberhighway.blogspot.com/
Mig - Yes, you’ve started something here.
Michele - Welcome. It’s a good list of points to be aware of, so you can avoid these “crimes”. Hope you are enjoying blogging. I invite you to join in at our Weekend Writers Cafe - every Weekend - Friday to Sunday.
Hi, I followed a link from SmallBusinessNewz.com and finally ended here. yes, it’s a funny list, but unfortunately much too short to cover all the possibilities.
I read most of the comments, and noticed this: “Laura, that could be our revenge on telemarketers who call us at meal times”. That made me recall this old link, that I still find quite hilarious…
http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/
Have fun!
PS: If you turn sound on, then you can also hear the conversation…
Hello Mads Dam
Thanks for sharing the telemarketing prank link. That was hilarious. I was laughing out loud with the others.
Hi Yvonne,
I last thing I want is to be hated. You have to be so careful when posting, writing comments and answering comments too. Your tips here will help me alot. I have bookmarked this site so I can come back and refer to these tips always. Thank you
Carmen Vj’s last blog post..Teach Me How To Make Money Online
Hi Carmen
Welcome. Pleased you found the list useful. It’s really just being aware of basic blogging etiquette.
I think if you always keep your community in mind, that’s a good guide.
1. Make it easy for them to comment
2. Encourage comments & conversaton
3. Respond to comments
4. Respect and appreciate your commenters
5. Think about community
Great way to annoy someone. Had a good laugh. By the way, know any good copywriters who are great at sales pages ? Let us know.
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