If you've read this blog, you might have noticed there aren't that many comments here. It is simply because most comments I get are spam. Or if not spam, at least written so that they look like spam. And in truth, I do think some of the comments I've accepted are spam as well. The best thing about spam messages is, that at times they make no sense whatsoever, especially in contrast to the blog posts they were used in.
Here's an interesting message I got for my "review" n a Chinese shlock sci-fi movie Wandering Earth:
Emphasis on what was channeled her secret desires to change a lot like you. Emphasis on the second degree that keeps it nice and shiny and wet. Why on earth each partner was like a red Rose when I was in. You cannot find idiots like that no matter what forevermore when he meets up with my own. My bump now right here as you read this article to find some of the 19th century. In Fragmentation an organism has to match the shoes in the hands of time is right. Blake a recruitment consultant from the time and before penetrating any other body part time thing. A petition demanding a remake of the final thing to do no Yes. Blair says all the hair in their German and Dutch names which are. Moreover music also noticed another pattern just as the sleeper sharks.the sleeper sharks are deemed to be. I'm out to the attacks of music it is more mature with surprising. I m writing this that I'm sure that taking this step was more. Obg with stockings and go out shopping I often buy female in society. Every guy has written a book about her experiences with leukemia dying to get out of that.
I mean, what? I know, it is an automated message, most likely, sent out in masse to a tonne of sites at once, but still, what? Not only does the message have anything to do with the movie, but it also seems to be very little else than a jumbled mess of things that have very little to do with each other either. First of all, what kind of post is it has meant for? And secondly, how would this kind of a message pass even the worst spam filter in the world? Maybe it is just a snafu made by a poorly implemented spam bot, or maybe there is a Chinese mass spammer out there, who has no grasp of English, but who still does his job by copy-pasting random phrases, hoping to achieve his quota for the day.
Here's a message I've seen many times. It pops up in different blog posts, but the latest try was on Mixed up Fairy Tales review:
Its not my first time to go to see this website, i aam browsing this website dailly and obtain fastidious information from here all the time.
Not the worst possible spam message, but spam nonetheless. What really makes it obvious is the word "fastidious". The message probably was made by an actual human, who tried to make it sound positive and nondescript enough to pass as a genuine message made by someone, who wanted to leave something but didn't really have anything to say. But, the word "fastidious" just jumps out, as it just doesn't seem to fit the context.
Here's another message I've seen popping up a couple of times. The wording might alter a bit, but the general message is usually very similar. This is from a mini-review for an old Amstrad game 007: License to Kill:
I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don't know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you aren't already ;) Cheers!
It does seem innocuous enough and something I'd even be tempted to let pass. However, it doesn't really have anything to do with the actual content of the blogpost and all it tries to do is stroke the ego of the writer. While I'd love to think I could be a famous blogger, I don't think this particular well-wisher was being genuine about it.
Here's a message that in a similar way is trying to appeal to the ego of the writer, this time posted to my review of Eric the Unready:
May I simply just say what a relief to find somebody that genuinely knows what they are talking about on the internet. You certainly realize how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people should read this and understand this side of the story. I can't believe you aren't more popular because you most certainly possess the gift.
While I do love to think I know what I am talking about and might even possess a gift of some sort, the context is, again, the king. I mean, what is the "problem I bring to light" here and furthermore, how do I make it "important"? It's just a review of a bad game, not some sociopolitical essay about poverty.
And for a final piece, a nice little message that was posted for Eternam review:
I do trust all the ideas you have offered on your post. They're very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are very brief for starters. May you please extend them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
Again, context. What does this message have to do with the actual context of the review? While I may give it the shortness of the review, what is there to expand upon?
While getting spam is frustrating, it would be nice to have actual people who care enough to reply to what I post here, spam still is interesting. It's interesting on the grounds of how it works, mostly, considering it is either fully or semi-automated. The messages are either constructed by some sort of AI, that then tries to determine what would be an appropriate place to post them based on the context of the text or there are people, who poorly construct the messages, which then are blindly spammed to where ever possible. In either case, the result is a less than satisfactory attempts in trying to poke holes in the ice in order to see where messages with predatory links could potentially get through.
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