Word Verification

I hate, loath and despise word verification. It frequently stops me from commenting. Do people really have that much spam they can't manage?

Comments

Michelle said…
In a word, yes. And some of it is so icky that word verification is the lesser of two evils IMHO.
Dom said…
I feel the same. If you're that worried about spam, turn on the approval. That way you can just prevent spam from being published instead of torturing your readers. I don't comment 99% of the time if it's a WV blog.
I get quite a bit of spam and don't like it at all. Some of it is just people trying to advertise their web sites but some is about porn stuff. I go back and forth with myself about turning it back on again. I don't mind commenting with it on I don't think it's that bad.
Carol said…
I know I should be more patient. A lot of the time I have to do the verification 3 or 4 times, because I'm just not good at making it out. Perhaps the best thing for me is to just not comment on blogs that use it, instead of ranting :)
Carol said…
I should also say, this is educational for me. I don't get much spam so I'm not aware of the need for verification.
Michelle said…
To spare my readers WV I switched to moderated comments for awhile, but that took significant time each day, time I'd rather spend riding or reading others' blogs. Most blogs I follow have WV, and usually I find it easy enough to do. Once in awhile there's one that's difficult to read, so I just click the refresh button and it usually gives me one that's much easier.
SprinklerBandit said…
I turned mine off. I can't stand it. The WV was really, really hard there for a couple weeks. I don't mind typing in a couple of letters, but when I am squinting at the screen and trying my hardest? Yeah, not going to comment. It's pretty easy to turn off--just google a solution.
SprinklerBandit said…
Oh, and I don't have spam problems. Once in a while I get a spam comment, but the filter catches most anything anyways.
Margaret said…
HATE WV!! I have my approval turned on for after 5 days or so. And every post gets sent to my email address.. so I just mark it as spam and delete it. EASY. I think most people just don't know how to work it. I also hate "approval" on new posts because the "conversational flow" can't happen...

Honestly, my filter catches most of my spam.
juliette said…
Carol,

I am in complete agreement! I turned my word verification off when Blogger started their Spam Filter. It catches all the spam. I have stopped commenting on most people's blogs because of the WV problem. Not sure why they just don't use their spam filter. It is so easy.

I have three websites (painting) and two blogs with .com addresses. I get more than 100 pieces of junk email in my box every day and I delete them and have done that for years. It probably takes me an extra minute each day. It has nothing to do with blogging and I laugh when I see people use WV as if their spam problem is gigantic. They should see my email!

I truly believe Blogger realized that their spam filter catches everything so they made the WV so difficult and ridiculous so people would use the spam filter instead! Didn't work! As an American, I think this is a national thing. I'll preface before this rant that I do I like being an American, but we are so obsessed with "following the rules" when really we don't understand the "rules" - you should see us merge lanes on a highway! It is pathetic how we line up like cattle in a single long lane thinking we are being "good and correct" with an empty lane that is intended for use. You would not believe it! It is WV in cars!
When I'm pressed for time I'll skip commenting on WV blogs - it is annoying to have to try multiple times, and then sometimes lose your comment.

I use the comment moderation on my blog since WV cropped up, and after getting a super hateful comment.

Good to hear from you!
I don't have WV on for that reason, hate it. I am also one of those where if WV doesn't accept my comment after the 2nd try then I don't try a third time unless I really have something to say.
Amy said…
In agreement I hate it also. I have never gotten spam on my blog and don't use WV or moderation. Try commenting from a phone on a blog with WV, waste of time!!! So I too don't comment on WV blogs often at all.
Kelly said…
Ok - you and others commenting inspired me to turn off my word verification feature. Hey - I want all the comments I can get!
TBDancer said…
My problem with WV is two-fold: The word I'm supposed to verify is all twisty and wopperjaw and it's hard to read and "replicate"--and the NUMBER that now appears in a faded photograph is difficult if not impossible to read. So I have to WV a couple of times because my GUESS isn't as good as a mile ;o)

Other than that, LOVE WV. Just LOVE it.
Lori Skoog said…
Ditto Grey Horse Matters. I found that if you turn off accepting anonymous comments, the spam and porn disappear.
Oak Creek Ranch said…
I don't have WV on my blog because I hate coming across it on others. I find, like the others, that the spam filter catches them well and I use verification to screen out personal messages. I find it very frustrating to try and figure out the WV and won't give it more than one shot. If it doesn't like my first guess, forget it.
Cut-N-Jump said…
I don't have word verification or the 'aproval' on my blogs. I would hope that everyone commenting is adult enough to behave in a reasonable manner. I had some spam comments show up, but deleting it pretty quickly seemed to work and weeded them out
Carol said…
I felt kind of guilty after writing something so negative, but it seems I touched a bit of a nerve. Thanks for all of your feedback. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble reading those things!
Now I can comment on your blog more Kelly :)
Jessica said…
It makes me crazy sometimes it takes 3-4 tries to make out the stupid made up word they have concocted!
Glad im not the only one.