June 22, 2006
Bolden Eats Up Comment Spam
Today the City Paper's Loose Lips column draws our attention to something we have suffered for far too long -- comment spam. And no, it's not the Jonathan Rees and his inane ramblings (or those of his curious aliases). It's the real stuff.
According to LL, At Large D.C. Council candidate A. Scott Bolden's blog has been quite popular with comment spammers, so much so that the comment sections of some entries feature little else than offers for online gambling and diet pills. And this is a shame -- Bolden is one of the few candidates who actually keeps his blog up to date, using it to promote his candidacy and relentlessly attack incumbent Phil Mendelson.
We're all too aware of the struggles against comment spam. While we have managed to banish Rees to the margins of the blogosphere, spam offering everything from dirty websites to Viagra still slips through pretty much every barrier we put up. Such are the daily travails of bloggers.
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What's sad is that it looks like his blog is running on Wordpress, and there's lots and lots of tools available for screening comment spam in Wordpress. Maybe he just needs someone to clue him in?
Bolden's opponent, an elected official, Phil Mendelson has a website, too. It's paid for by city tax doallars and until just a few weeks ago, when Mendelson's campaign launched, his official council website WAS TWO YEARS OUT OF DATE.
What does this say about Bolden that he's letting his blog be overrun with really gross spam? It takes time and energy to deal with spam, but if Bolden's not willing to take care of his own campaign blog, that indicates he wouldn't be an attentive councilmember.
As an aside, I see that Jonathan Rees has joined in on Bolden's blog, via his aliases, along with all the foul porn and illegal drug spam.
Hey, it's only fair. After all, Bolden is right behind Rees in content spamming DC Wire.
Hey, it's only fair. After all, Bolden is right behind Rees in content spamming DC Wire.
Keep up the great work on your blog. Best wishes WaltDe