Recently, I've had a number of great questions about blogging, its good points and its bad ones. Instead of complaining anymore about the kind of trolls I don't like -- after all, I adore real trolls, just not the Internet kind -- I will give some hard-won advice to people who may be wandering about blogging, following, etc.
1) I never used to make people type in a random non-word in order to prove they were real people. I never had to. I require students to comment, so I didn't want to place any barriers to their efforts. Big mistake. Always at least do the minimum comment moderation.
2) Do arrange to have notice of comments sent to an email address you check often, ideally one for that purpose only.
3) When it comes to Google followers, and placing the gadget on your blog, stop. Read how it works. Follow its directions on how to block members. Then block, when needed.
4) Some really nice people, I mean people you'd actually willingly spend time with, make some bewildering choices for follower names and avatars. You can't always go by that. You just need to look at people's links associated with their names and images. But don't click on them unless you feel really safe doing so. You could get all kinds of icky viruses that way. I have not clicked on follower links, but I'm being very careful these days.
5) If you become a Blog of Note, do not announce it and celebrate with a contest, as I did. It just tripped more automatic spammy and bad types of programs (you can see how up on the lingo I am).
6) MOST IMPORTANT: Remember that when you get new people on your blog, they will overwhelmingly be lovely people who you are thrilled to have. That certainly has been the case for me. That's why I got so annoyed by the joy-killers who found their way here. I want our new friends to always find this a welcome place!
15 comments:
Oh, what a shame that you've had blog trouble!! I've had some spammers, too lately... really makes me mad!
Your blog is fantastic. I don't ever comment, but I do always read! In fact, I was so inspired by your Sleeping Beauty re-write that I've been working on a Sleeping Beauty story of my own... it started as a short story that I meant to enter into your contest, but now it has grown into something much bigger and I'm working toward getting it finished and published as a novel (a girl can dream!).
So, while some people are ruining the fun, please know that your blog is much loved by others!
~ Marisa
Great info! I just became a blog of note... luckily I had just had a contest! lol.
PS. I don't have word verification - but will put it up, at least until the initial hits have come in. And my word verification for this comment is "backene" which reminds me of Backne haha. I love word verification... sometimes.
I agree.
A great post. I love your blog, and read but haven't, so far, commented. I'm sorry to hear you've been having some spammy/not great blogging experiences so wanted to share some of the smiles and let you know, I think your blog is fab!
Your blog is lovely. I've just discovered you. I'm a great lover of fairy tales. I shall be back for more!
This is my happyland. :)
I hadn’t noticed that you had put up a non-word and I usually hate stuff like that but I can see the reasoning behind it. Usually when I comment on a post I read all the other comments first and there were some really strange links and a bunch of advertising that just has no place on this blog. I haven’t done any blogging since I had to create one as an assignment for another class and I feel like this is one that I will continue to come back to even after this class is over…I would hate for the blog to be saturated with so much junk when it really is such a lovely place to spend some extra time. I’m glad that you got some of those spammy followers taken off of here and I really hope that you don’t get another overwhelming amount of them in again. ☺
Like a few others, I've never actually commented, but I wanted to express how nicely you write and how much of a shame it is that you've had such unneccessary trouble. Congrats on becoming "Blog of Note"...it's actually how I discovered you. How I'd love to have the title myself!
x
"...the kind of trolls I don't like..."
Aha ha ha ha! What a delightful comment. There are relatively few places on the World Wide Web where that comment makes sense. Very clever!
"If you become a Blog of Note, do not announce it and celebrate with a contest, as I did. It just tripped more automatic spammy and bad types of programs..."
I found this very interesting. I read your previous post about the sudden influx and related problems (I've been following for a while now and am very happy for your blog becoming a Blog of Note) and suddenly found my obscurity quite comforting. ;-)
Hi, I signed up to follow, hopefully you'll allow me to stay, I'm not a troll, at least I don't think so, but it was the "Toads" part that caught my eye, as the sub-title on my page is : Mr. Toad's Travel Diary... oh, and I love fairy tales...
Purple Bee likes this stuff indeed
hey, im trying to start up a blog - take a look and let me know what you think..
I think that happily ever after still exists, but the meaning has changed, and is also different for everyone. To me happily ever after isn’t everything being perfect. You are in a great marriage that has been 20 something years, and it “lovely to you,” to me means you do have a happy ending. Nothing is great, not even in fairy tales. In fact, most of those fairy tales have such dysfunctional stories between their family or lovers. Happily ever after to me is being happy with your life, within reason. Of course I am not going to be smiles at all times, but overall satisfaction is a great feeling. Happy with my career, happy with who I am, finding someone to share life’s journey with me, and having great kids, all will equal a happily ever after for me. I haven’t achieved all of that yet, and I am not saying I must get all of those to be happy. However, right now in this time frame for me that’s what I see for my happily ever after.
Colleen B.
KW,
Don't be discouraged. I've read a lot of blogs lately, and yours is the most put together and genuine of all the ones I've come across; you, clearly, operate in a niche market; fairy tales -- the REAL fairy tales -- aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea. But you've managed to craft a site that is successful in bringing together people are of disparate beliefs, nationalities, cultures, and even languages under one basic commonality - isn't that the whole point of literature? To bring us all together and teach us what it means to be human, regardless of whatever differences may arise?
There are always going to be trolls - just as there will always be predatory wolves in the forest - the key is to remain vigilante and keep them at the door. Don't let them in, Prof. You've got a great site.
-Adam K.
First of all, I completely agree with Adam's comment above - although I wish I could speak as eloquently as he does!
I was flipping through the pages of posts looking for one concerning Disney versions of fairy tales, but decided to come back to this post. Since enrolling in this class, I feel like things all around me remind me of fairy tales, or maybe it is because I am now more aware of the impact the tales have had on our society? EIther way, this afternoon I attended the preliminaries in a persuasive speech competition, and was surprised and interested to see the title "Censoring Disney Movies." As the speaker began, I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. The speaker believes that Disney movies need to be even more censored than they already are. I wanted to stand up and tell her, "Read the real fairy tales...then you will really be asking for censorship!" She explained that some Disney versions have sexual connotations and language that is inappropriate for young children (ages 6-13, according to the speech). She even had still frames from the films depicting some of the sexual natures - such as the tower in The Little Mermaid. I feel that if the speaker would have looked into the background of Disney movies and where their stories actually came from, she would realize how much the movies have already been censored from the original versions.
Abbey H.
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