Unintentional deterrent
Posted Dec 5th, 2008 at 2:23AM UTC under TechnologyTags: Websites, WordPress
Anyone and everyone who has been dealing with some sort of user interaction with their website will, one way or another, encounter their fair share of spam. And with the current trend of user-generated content, comment spam is the most frowned upon.
The thing about controlling user registrations and comments is that, if it takes too long to post a comment or too complicated to register on a site, then chances are, you will lose your readers.
I myself have long been deciding on what to do. One thing was sure though, I did not want commenting open to just anyone who happened to come to your site. Asking them to register might just be too much of a fuss.
Having chanced upon a service called ReCaptcha a few months back made me realize that I can somehow get the best of both worlds. I first tried it out here, and then after being impressed with the results, I applied it to some other sites as well.
There was an unforeseen side effect though. Compared to before where comments seemed to just come in a steady flow, now is more of a trickle. It looks like not only has this feature been able to deter comment spam, it also managed to keep a few real people from actually making their comments. I just wonder if its because no one wants to really post a comment, or they simply can’t be bothered figuring out the new system.
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A Filipino living in South Australia, I am a family man, otaku, gamer, a gadget and multimedia lover, and a frustrated photographer, with a passion for Web development and the digital arts.
