Blogs just aren’t good for community conversations anymore.

Blogs are becoming one way streams of information for a couple of reasons, but I think the main reason is this:

95% of all comments are spam

That’s from the front page of Akismet, the default spam filter for Wordpress blogs. Sadly, it’s true and it sucks.

There are a few people who regularly read this blog but are constantly flagged by the filters and end up in the enormous pile of spam. I’ve gotten over 300,000 spam comments in just four months, so to dig through that pile ends up crashing my php scripts (no kidding).

Just today, I got an email from one of the leaders in affiliate marketing, ShareASale’s Brian Littleton, about this topic:

If we are talking about new media, and new ways to have conversations online about business topics, why are we still using such antiquated techniques of spam protection.

A spam filter that filters out real communication is worse than the problem it is designed to help with.

I’m giving up commenting on blogs for a while…it is just too frustrating!

And he’s absolutely right.

There are much better places to have community conversations such as forums, groups, IRC chats or Facebook (which is how Brian and I primarily communicate now) or even Twitter in some cases. Blogs have lost their ability to create community because of the spam problem.

I’d also add that blogs are adding to the spam problem by incorporating slimy tactics (yes, that’s subjective… but this is mah blog) like paid reviews via PayPerPost and ReviewMe. That’s not the main point of this post, so please save your “we’re just trying to make money” arguments for somewhere else.

Nevertheless, this all doesn’t mean you, your company or your idea shouldn’t have a blog. Blogs are still the primary vehicle for getting out messages in a one way flow of information.

For instance, if CJ had a blog they could fill us in on their perception of the current class action lawsuit against them. That would be a fascinating read. And don’t say that it can’t be done, because even the most recognized brand in the world (Google) fights off attempts at brand damage via it’s own blog (with comments disabled) not to mention people like Matt Cutts (with comments enabled). Microsoft does the same thing. So does Sun and Oracle. Yet, in our industry blogs for networks are still taboo with the worthy exception of ShareASale.

So, blog and blog well (no paid reviews), but keep in mind that creating a sense of community on a blog is downright impossible because of spam. And I write this with incredible sadness because I’ve always hoped blogs could rise above the spam morass, but there are outlets for communities such as Facebook and forums, so seek those out to scratch that itch.

Or… can we save it?