"Suspicious comments" and "Spam comments": LJ decision to 'block' spam

[prue84]

Originally posted by heeroluva at "Suspicious comments" and "Spam comments": LJ decision to 'block' spam is a big FAIL!

So I've been noticing in both my own journal and communities that I haven't been able to see some comments even thought it says there are more comments there than are actually showing up. Instead I'm getting a place holder that says (Spam comment) or (Suspicious comment).

Why are these showing up like this you may ask? In their rush to fight spam LJ has created a new filter that're AUTOMATICALLY TURNED ON in ALL journals and communities, which screens comments that are made with 'suspicious links' ie links that are not on their safe whitelist, so pretty much the majority of the internet. There is no noted way to add to the 'whitelist'.

What really gets me is that they didn't inform people that they were doing this until a week after it was done and that it was automatically turned on.

So how do I turn it off you might ask.

That's simple. Go to your Settings, click on the Privacy tab, and half way down where it says Spam Protection uncheck the box next to "Comments containing a link to a non-whitelisted domain will be marked as spam and moved to a special section." This applies to both personal journal and communities and the opinion has to be manually changed in each one.

While I understand how this could be a good idea, I think they went about it in a very backhanded way, and have implemented it poorly. There was no message to anyone that the link has been screened. It's automatically done. This went on for over a week before they said anything about it. There is still nothing in the FAQs about it even. The only way I found out about this way going through the support pages where people were reporting similar issues.

Please share this!

ETA: This links really illustrates the problems.

Comments

[ghostpiano.livejournal.com]

Oh LJ, when will you learn not to change things. *shakes head* They never learn do they? :P

Speaking of which... woah, crazy amount of new options for posting comments! From LJ, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID... what is in this insanity. XD

[prue84.livejournal.com]

No, they will never learn I fear. I can tell you, there are many people out there who had enough of this s** sometimes they pull out and are already migrating to Dreamwitdh.

For the many logins. It'd be great, but I don't thing there are many people without LJ that read and comment at LJ. OpenID it's great, so you can comment from a Dreamwitdh and vthe other way round, but what about FB?

Bah. -.-

[ghostpiano.livejournal.com]

Most of the people I know who use LJ (which is mostly just TFLers) have their entries protected anyway, so I'm not even sure how you would post from another account other than LJ anyway? So it seems rather silly to have all of those options to me. *shrug* Facebook and Twitter are just taking over the world, so every site wants in on it. :P

[prue84.livejournal.com]

They are perhaps trying to wink to a vast number of the LJ world, who are fanfics readers and writers, and you could stumble upon a fic while searching from google or delicious? Dunno, really.

But yeah, those two are taking over the world. Do you remember the fuss when, some months ago, LJ had the wonderfully idiotic idea to let the comments be crossposted to FB (and by doing so letting comments to protected post to be viewable even outside LJ friend filters)?
Instead of fixing other things (the absurd coding, anyone?) they're trying to make LJ more FBable, which kinda suck. :(

[ghostpiano.livejournal.com]

Haha, oh yes, I definitely remember that hoopla! Crazy, crazy, crazy. Even with all its annoying changes in an attempt to make it seem "more hip" or whatever, I won't be leaving LJ any soon. It's kind of second nature to me now to come here to vent privately. As long as that doesn't change, I'll stay.

[prue84.livejournal.com]

I used it mostly for fandom and I'd never leave too. Fortunately only a small part of the people I stal... ehrm, watch, are on DW, and thanks to OpenID I can get the notifications, so...
Long live LJ. As long as it doesn't change into FaceBook II ^^"

[ghostpiano.livejournal.com]

Exactly! (I have a deep, DEEP loathing of Facebook. It makes me physically angry. :P)

[prue84.livejournal.com]

Do tell me. I never joined and I'm happy to stay that way! I only joined Twitter to follow two actors and sometimes send Clo a message when I don't want to spend the sms, so...
Damn, I feel old everytime I say I'm not all for FB: don't know there in Canada, but here in Italy you are supposed to be all crazy about FB or you're notbody and nothing.

[ghostpiano.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's definitely the same here. Facebook is all consuming. I hate it. I hate how it basically controls people's lives, and it makes you feel so inadequate. And for me personally, it just makes me really uncomfortable. I have an account (which I pretty much never use) basically because I'm on the 10 year reunion committee for my high school, and we've found since everyone and their dog is on it, it's the prime way to keep in touch with everyone. And to keep in touch with a few odd people who I'm not necessarily friends with now, but have known for a long time and don't want to completely cut ties with. But otherwise, it just makes me really angry. I hate it. I don't like random people being able to see things I say back and forth with my friends. That's just weird and creepy, and frankly, none of anyone else's business. But you pretty much can't avoid it now... like I said, Facebook consumes our world now. It's depressing.

[prue84.livejournal.com]

Exaclty my point. I'd never join especially for not being found by my old schoolmates. I never kept in touch with any of them and there is a reason, so why making myself be found? So they can laugh again because I'm not cool or slim or whatever? Just... no! XD
I admit the reason why FB was build in the first place wasn't bad per se (find your long forgotten relatives around the world, friends you lost because they moved etc), but now that site is shitty, all people online instead of working, everyone "stalking" everyone, and those idiots games... =_=