Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

I’d like to show off three posts I’ve made whose comments have been hijacked by random groups of people for a purpose entirely different than intended. It’s strange when you write a post only to have its purpose corrupted in the search engines and in the public view by people leaving comments that take it someplace it shouldn’t go. Luckily, I’m not responsible for their content, otherwise I could get arrested and charged for crimes other people are doing on my blog!

The first example I present is a one-liner I posted a long time ago declaring that “BetaNews has a preview of the next version of Photoshop.” However, people have turned it into a repository for sharing serial numbers and activation codes. At first, a few people asked,

• Photoshop CS2 and illustrator CS2 Crack please
• Please send me adobe photoshop cs2 serial number and authorization code, please
• Please send me de Photoshop CS2 Crack or the keygens and the phone keygen with a guide how to crack it please!

After that, it must have ranked in the Serps for Photoshop CS cracks, because people have started posting numbers and activation codes in reply. There are now 292 comments on that post, and most of them have nothing to do with the beta news.

Then there’s the common flamewar, which has erupted on my Duke rape case post. With 97 responses, we see gigantic paragraphs of debate being passed back and forth. Some comments are even in all caps. Eventually, it boils down to slinging insults:

• LOGIC and COMMON SENSE:(for which you have absolutely none)your opinion,it’s like a nose,everyone has one.
• These soul sistas are about as smart as my rectum. I hope they go to jail.
• You have as much compassion as a pit bull has for a cripple rabbit!!!

Finally, my favorite, is where a post about Daniel Radcliffe has turned into a multinational online chatroom! Currently at 1692 comments, and climbing, young teens are taking the opportunity to chat with each other. One even impersonated Daniel Radcliffe for a while before being indicted by his peers:

• Dan: NATALIE HOW OLD ARE YOU??
• Dan: I NEED A GIRL!!!!!!!
• Natalie: 12 plz dont block me
• Natalie: so can u add me? naty0x
• Dan: i said that i can add you to my msn natalie.

It goes on and on and on. Very amusing if you take the time to read it. Sometimes a bit scary.

There are basically four options to dealing with this:

1. Delete the offending comments and close the post
2. Close the post, but leave the comments there for posterity
3. Lecture the commenters to make them stop, but leave the comments open, deleting new comments that don’t fit your standards (very time consuming)
4. Let whatever non-spam commenting behavior occur on your blog

I always choose #4, but what do you think, my fellow bloggers?

4 Responses to 'Blog Hijacking Via Comments'

1. Dossy Shiobara said:

   on June 13th, 2006 at 7:02 pm

   Re: the Daniel Radcliffe page … I have four syllables for you: PA-GIN-A-TION!!!!111!11lelevent!@#!#!

   Damn. 1600+ comments. On one page. The guys at Gravatar must *hate* you. (1600+ requests for Gravatars, every page load. Yow.)

2. cibbuano said:

   on June 13th, 2006 at 7:22 pm

   I saw let them fly… it’s kind of interesting to have that randomness occur on your blog.

   At 1600 comments, though, I guess I’d just delete the post. Man, that’s huge..

3. Cashy said:

   on June 19th, 2006 at 5:16 pm

   FREE VIAGRA PILLS!!!1

   i simply had to leave a message, ive never read your blog and just stumbled on this exact page searching for somthing completely irelevent. how ironic

4. ben said:

   on July 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 am

   this is my serial number whats the activation code??
   S/N: 1045 - 1087 - 0660 - 3806 - 0623 - 7119
   thanks ben

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