Yippee! Somebody Loves Me!
Although I consider myself still in the elementary school level of WordPress, I am proud to be more seasoned as I begin year two. Every so often someone mentions one of my posts, and a pingback arrives in the moderator’s box. Of course I follow the ‘ping’ back to the source, and I read – with honor – what someone has said about my post. Of course I thank him or her!
A snake in stealth mode…
The “Please moderate” notice states that someone commented on the post, although recently I’ve trailed lots of pingbacks only to find that my post is one of many in a long string. Most likely these people don’t even visit my post but copy and paste my entry along with the others and rack up visits to their own posts. I don’t appreciate being manipulated to follow a pingback, only to find a duplicate list copied from the challenge home page. If a comment were left behind, I would probably visit the pingback page and linger for a while on more than one post.
“Are you SURE you want to do this?” No! I’ think I want it to go in the spam folder!
Those pingbacks reek of spam; does anyone else share this irritation, or am I being too sensitive? Many times their posts are well written and interesting, but the queue of sites that have been copied and pasted alter my respect for the post. Is there a code of ethics for pingbacks on the weekly challenges?
I treasure your comments and pingbacks and love exploring new posts by people who leave a trail. I don’t, however, appreciate generic pingbacks with no reciprocation.
They don’t bite, but I wish they’d stay out of my tree!
I welcome your feedback!
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
I have just started to copy and paste addresses of people’s blog that post the same as I do. I also usually select the “related” before post. I then go and visit the ones that WordPress has decided that are similar to mine. I have found though, more and more in the spam folder of outside places with “to visit the original post go here … “
hey! thanks for your comment, and yours is a perfect example of someone who participates in the challenges and then passes along ‘selective’ others with an honorable sensitivity. you put thought and respect into your selections, unlike the ones whose pingbacks seem more like spam.
thanks!
z
Well, I’ll tell you what I do with all pingbacks. I don’t post them among my comments, and although I will check to see where they’re coming from, I mostly don’t respond to them. I don’t mark them as spam, I simply delete them. Of course, I’m a bit of an odd duck – I don’t participate in challenges.
You realize there’s “like” spam, too. Every time I post, I get a small pile of likes from people who clearly aren’t doing anything but trying to drive traffic to their site. There’s nothing sillier than comment sections filled with nothing but responses that say, “Thank you for liking my site”. Spamspamspamspam……
Of course, one reason WP does so much promoting of their challenges is that all the cross-linking gets more hits for WordPress. 😉 That’s the same reason the dashboard was redesigned, with our stats now part of the main page. It generates wordpress hits, which they can then tout as part of their profile. If you go to your stats page, you’ll see that the URL begins with wordpress.com.
As the old saying goes, if it’s on the internet and it’s free, you’re the product, not the customer. It’s true for facebook and it’s true here. 😉
your posts and comments are always full of class and wisdom. no, you don’t participate in challenges because you are one of those rare graceful well-bred people who is quite happy sitting back and watching others leaping over challenge hurdles!
yes, i’ve noted those ‘like’ spammers, who run through a dozen posts in one minute’s time then race to the next blogger to do the same!
hugh curtler often writes about the pool of – i want it now i want it about me- spoiled brats that have morphed into equally-dysfunctional narcissistic adults! i suspect these ‘like’ and ‘pingback’ spammers were never taught to be respectful to others! they’re too caught up in their own journey to the top of the like pile!
your feedback prompts us to think about how the wordpress community works!
thanks, amiga!
z
Most pingbacks are from Lazy people who 1) don’t want to reblog your post 2) want to get theirs noticed 3) have added your link somewhere but don’t want to go into detail or write something about you.
that’s a great way of looking at this problem!
thanks!
lisa/z
If you don’t want them to appear at all, go to Dashboard / Settings / Discussion and you’ll find a little check box called “Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks)” – just uncheck it
si, though i usually appreciate and enjoy the pingbacks and thank the fellow blogger. it’s the ones that come from the photo challenges- sort of like someone breaking line without asking or saying thank you!
btw, thank YOU for your feedback!
z
Yo llegué a mi límite con el tema de SPAM….aaarrrggghhh!!! Although I don’t get pingback spam, I have ‘closed comments’ on all my posts older than 15 days which were the ones being incesantly targetted by spammers… As a person from wordpress recommended: BE SKEPTICAL…jajajaaaa so I am, read you soon, Alexandra
smart attitude about closing the comments after a certain time. thankfully wordpress has caught all of the true spammers, though the ones from the challenges need a new filter!
yes, be skeptical!
thanks for your feedback!
z
I too am a beginner in the blogasphere! This morning I ‘re blogged’ a post of yours that really touched me and I thought my followers would enjoy your insights. I don’t know if I should have asked your permission first? I hope I didn’t offend? I just noticed the little icon on the post that says, ReBlog and voila! Please let me know if I should ask permission first next time? Thanks!
Everyone feels differently about the reblogging issue. I never reblog, I don’t ever read posts that are reblogs, and I have a notice on my site that I prefer my posts never be reblogged. Like many other people here at wordpress, I wasn’t pleased when reblogging became an issue, because it’s a clear enticement toward copyright infringement.
Tumbler and Pinterest have gotten people used to sharing material around, but that doesn’t mean they are involved in copyright violation, too. I’ve often thought about leaving WordPress because of their encouragement to people to infringe on other’s work.
I guess my advice would be to just look to be sure there’s not a “please do not reblog” notice, or drop an email and ask. It doesn’t take any time, and people more often than not would say yes. If I’m using a photo from someone else, I always ask permission first.
NONE of this should be taken as Z’s opinion! She can answer for herself – so much depends on the blogger.
Wow! Thanks for telling me that ! I feel so ignorant about blogging etiquette and offending someone is the last thing I want to do. Live and learn.
yes, it’s always nice to ask before reblogging. i totally agree about copyright issues, and that’s one reason i stay way clear of pinterest. when i read that one signs rights over to facebook, i backed even farther away from that one! i have had one copyright infringement in my past, so that’s why most of my images have the copyright on there – it helps down the road if the issue ever is challenged.
thank you so much for your wise and sound feedback!
z
hey!
i am way behind on the notification window but am catching up now! i agree with you about how easy it is to pass other blogs along, and i think that a large percentage of bloggers are pleased to be told that they did something so well that others want to share! i think as along as there’s a nice preface to go with the reblog that’s ok..
as a working artist, i am a bit gunshy because of a copyright infringement that happened years ago.. how surprised i was to see one of my photos in an international magazine, and it got there by someone sharing a photo that someone shared with them and credit never went back to me. i was upset with the magazine for not asking who owned the image, but i was also upset with the person who shrugged and said, ‘i thought you would be happy!’ he never mentioned it to me!
there are people who say an image came from google, yet googles images often come straight from our blogs.. but that’s another post that someone should write!!!
thanks, holly; you are always welcome to reblog my posts, and i am honored! one of these days i’ll be visiting friends in panama, and i hope we can cross paths and meet in person!
z
Thanks for sharing. I wondered about the pingbacks. They are often left with no comment. I think people should at least comment on a post they leave a pingback.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
“Pingbacks” and “trackbacks” are nothing more than a notice that someone has linked to your blog. They don’t require a comment. If I quote someone’s blog and leave a link in the body of my text, they will get a pingback. If someone links to me, I get a pingback. Pingbacks aren’t inserted directly by a blogger in your comment section, they’re an automatic function of the internet.
If you go to the WordPress forums and do a search for pingbacks, you’ll get a lot of information about pingbacks and trackbacks, including how to disable them.
thank you so much for your comments! you’ve addressed not only the pingbacks but also reblogging. your honor and character shine through every post you write, and with your comments, you’ve given all of us food for thought!
the ‘spam’ pingbacks arrive only after i’ve entered a photo challenge; some of the posts are good ones, yet at the end they list a long queue of other blogs, verbatim from that challenge/home page. i doubt if they visit any of those posts they mention (20 to 40 or so!), yet we all follow the pingback to see who mentioned us and what they said. (and they said nothing!)
thanks!
z
i agree. if they acknowledge that they’ve seen our posts, that’s ok.. but i doubt if those people even look at our posts!
thanks, and be encouraged and blessed to you as well!
z
They don’t bother me at all. I just look at the address and it tells the story. You can always trash it, or ignore it. Ping? Pong.
This is what I do. If it’s from a challenge I welcome it because it brings more bloggers to my post and/or blog. There has only been one that I rejected because when I checked the source it was a new blog with practically nothing on it. that made me feel weird so I rejected that one.
do you think when someone copies and pastes the long list of blog sites, that people follow them and look at the posts? i am doubtful, but it does make me go to their site to see who said something about my post.. sometimes they have really nice sites, but adding that final segment cheapens it.
thank you as always for your feedback!
z
perhaps not.
it’s only when there’s a photo challenge, and ‘real’ bloggers are participating. at the end of their post, they add a long list of others who have entered, and i doubt if they’ve looked at any of those posts.
thanks so much for your comment!
z
z, when I first read your post, I was upset. Then I felt a bit sad (and to be perfectly honest I got a belly ache). I am one of those copy and paste people. Not often but I’ve done it a few times. Never for personal gain. I felt badly because my reason for doing so was misconstrued – by you whom I have the utmost respect for – and possibly by others. I guess not understanding all the ins and outs of blogging, WordPress, ping backs and whatever else I’m confused about, I did it to make seeing other blogs easier for people to click on. Lesson learned. I, in no way, meant to deminish the value of anyone’s work. The funny thing is, after reading your comments and seeing how it might help bloggers get more hits, views, likes, and followers, I’ve come to realize it didn’t work for me. I’ve gotten very few visits due to my indiscretion. What does that say for my talents? ;-).
No offense meant – to anyone.
hey amiga
i have been travelling today and am now home. i have scanned the comments and will wait until tomorrow to reply to them.. to all but yours, which i wanted to address NOW. you are so sweet and so kind and would NEVER be grouped in the same ‘class’ as the people who copy and paste each week during the challenges., but never seem to find their way to my blog to say they liked or to follow or anything! i never hear from them until a copy and paste pingback waves the little flag to ‘come see!’
i am always grateful to anyone who has been thoughtful enough to comment. i am always happy to have those ‘real’ pingbacks that were made by real people who are there with positive or constructive feedback.
if your stomach hurt for only half a minute, that is/was too much. i would never want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make them feel uncomfortable. please know that you are a bright shining light, and i am surely not the only one who cherishes your presence!
please sleep well – no tossing or turning or lost sleep over this!
i cherish your friendship!
z
z, thank you. I admire you and your work so much. I appreciate the time you took to comment. Gem
wordpress gives us an amazing variety of interesting people, and every so often a really special one touches my life. you, for sure, are one of those people, and you spread your positive energy to many others as well. don’t ever change!!!!
z
🙂
When you write a post there are “Recomendations” for other posts that may tie in to your topic. From time to time, I will add one or two to the bottom of my story for the day. I always READ them before I add them, because they don’t always pertain to the point I set out to make. When I share those stories I do it because I appreciate the other writer’s point of view and genuinely want to promote their work.
More recently, I have gotten into writing and found more pingbacks from other participants who have written using the same prompt. So far, 99% of the spam actually does end up in my spam folder and I trash it.
Spam stinks, just copying and pasting also stinks. And, since reblogging a post from a good friend who immediately asked me to pull it and explained her reasons for doing so, I have had 3 people do it to me. I totally GET IT. Once it is posted elsewhere it then becomes ‘out of your immediate control.’ Shoe being on the other foot, I too would have preferred to have been asked first.
I wonder if we all complained if WordPress wouldn’t listen? They have in the past.
~Lynda
thank you so much for your feedback, and it’s good to hear from a challenge participant who experiences the same problems. so far those pingbacks aren’t going into the spam filters.
i don’t reblog much either; if there’s a post i like, i prefer to tell others about it and provide the link — ahem pingback to their post!!! sometimes the other post is so well written, it begs to be reblogged.. but i like to write and ask first!
thanks again for your replies!
z
I’m naive about blogging too but I like all the ‘likes’ and pingbacks that I get for my posts. For me blogging is about communication. Sometimes I use you my blog to air my thoughts about issues. Other times it’s a place to share my view of world. If others like what I’m doing that’s a bonus. I see pingbacks like that too. Comments are even better. I love them. As I said – I’m a naive blogger.
si. i always appreciate an honest pingback. when a photo challenge rolls around, i think some of the participants copy the queue and never visit the sites. they want us to see their post but don’t visit ours. those are the ones that punch my buttons!
yes, comments are even better, and i appreciate yours!!!
z
I agree as usually the ping backs are for the weekly photo challenges. I don’t think most people read the posts but maybe put then there as either a reference or so you go to their site. I’m not offended by them though as sometimes I’ve enjoyed finding new blogs. But I agree is rather have some kind of comment made! 🙂
si.. i think they rarely visit the posts they ping back to, yet they hpoe that we’ll go to their post!
how are you feeling today? better i hope.
z
A little better but my son has the stomach flu (since Friday) so its been a bit rough. Oh well.
Never had an issue with ping backs and I’ve only reblogged twice because of the , what I thought , was an important topic. Never saw any postive aspecst for our blog because of pings..so , I guess I really don’t have an “experience” opinion.
those pingbacks only arrive when i enter the photo challenges. if your post is in the top forty listed (more or less forty) then you’ll most likely get a ‘please moderate’ pingback. a handful usually reach my inbox, and of course we have to follow it back to see what that person said and to thank them.. or to find that they probably never went to your post!
i agree with you about reblog when there’s a nice one to share with friends and subscribers.
z
I am such an innocent on WordPress that I don’t even know anything about pingbacks except that they exist. 😦
ah! how refreshing to know an innocent!
if someone writes a post and mentions another post and gives a link back to that post (the web address) then that person will be notified by wordpress that someone wrote something about your post and linked back to you!
i’ll try to send you an honest pingback so that you can appreciate one! if you enter one of the photo challenges, you’ll probably experience the ‘negative’ kind of pingback as well! the former are pingbacks that i love, and the latter are ones that frustrate me!
Ah, I think I get it.
WordPress does a pretty good job of spamming junk. I tend to ignore it and ignore the “pingbacks” as well. I read comments that seem to be based on what I have written — and repond to the good ones (like yours). But I trash the rest. I’m not in this to gain large numbers of readers. I just like the small community we belong to and love clearing my mind by writing what is disturbing me at the moment!
and i am grateful that you keep people like me informed!
z
I don’t worry about spam here I can ALWAYS DELETE!!! WHOO HOO!!! Not like You Tube where you can’t moderate anything. People say the WORST EVIL THINGS on You Tube. I don’t think I am going to EVER get a page there!
Alanais’s song Ironic pops into my mind; your comment was in the spam folder!
You are so right about horrid things that are said on YouTube. I wonder what makes people so warped and hostile.
thanks so much for your comment!
lisa/z
Your so welcome Lisa I ALWAYS read your blog! I am glad you fished me out of spam! You’d be missing the BEST quirky goofy responses to your posts!
I think people get that KEYBOARD courage! you know and just LOVE to trash others. . . It will be my turn soon! Super excited!!!
i think those spam filters are manned by machines! how dare they think that you’re a spammer!
it’s great having your energy over here! thanks so much!
z
You are SO welcome and I will enact my REVENGE out on that machine!!!
Interesting converstion with news good for us all. I have also been wondering about the pingbacks. I’m rather naive too, and hope that they are not meant to be a bad thing. I rather ignore them now. Head in the sand – if I ignore them they are not there…?
hey lovely and talented woman! si, i usually ignore them as well, though when i follow them back, then i’ve become that fish that bites the bait and gets reeled back to the site!
z
I have had blogs I know well and follow reblog some of my posts. At first I didn’t know what it was. I always check it out first to make sure it is true, and then thank them. I have received some that I do believe are spammers because they don’t go anywhere. You keep trying to locate your post and never find it. Spammers usually link in that manner. I delete them as spam. WordPress does catch a lot of these. I created a reblog page because there are so many wonderful posts that I enjoy; and if someone visits the page and wants to check out that particular link that I felt was wonderful, they have that option. I am not forcing it on anyone and confusing anyone in thinking it is mine.
i agree totally,, and many times others have pointed me to a post that i would never have known about had it not been for the reblog option.
reblogging doesn’t bother me either, especially if they say a kind word! like you, i try to thank them, as it’s an honor.
thanks for your feedback!
z
Hi, very interestring, Z. I think we need this kind of discussions, and sharing of experiences. 🙂
thanks! i just published another that addresses copyright infringement. one more is in queue for those who are new to wordpress and don’t understand what pingbacks are!
after that, i’ll go back to sharing tales of life on the equator.
z
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I have to chuckle at your post about pingbacks. When I started linking other pages in my blog to one of my blog posts, I immediately received a pingback. I thought, “Wow! That was so fast! How did I get a pingback when I just posted?” When I checked.. it was from me! 🙂
I’ve had a running debate with myself about the WordPress challenges. On the one hand, I like the exposure, on the other hand, I don’t like the competition for the most “likes” or the most comments and they seem to bring a lot more spam into my mailbox. I was going to write a post about link baiting…It took me forever to figure out what that meant. lol I enjoyed reading all of your comments on this post. Thanks for bringing up this subject Z.
Ah, “Link Baiting!’ Thank you for that term!
I like the challenges because I love exactly what it states: it’s a creative challenge for me, and I participate to challenge myself. Sometimes the topics don’t catch my attention, but others do. Then there are the people like “Island Traveler’ who are just plain nice people, and why not play softball in that field? The Wild challenges are about the outdoors, so each week I am easily detoured into participating!
My biggest problem is there are not enough hours in each day, and I certainly ydon’t want to spend those precious hours in search of copyright violators or chasing ‘link baiting’ folks!
Thanks so much for your comment!
z
It’s a pity I didn’t join in this discussion when you first posted it, but my sentiments remain the same. Ping backs are a way of acknowledging similar posts by fellow bloggers. It’s ironic that some folk don’t appreciate getting them when I wish I got more… Funny isn’t it?
Z, I hear you and yes, it is rude to send a ping back and not visit the blog in question… I’m writing a post on this soon…
Eliz
You wrote a very sound and neutral post that will help others understand pingbacks and maybe hep with the conscience of pinging without visiting the blog.
yes, i am always greatly thankful when someone mentions something I posted. and thank YOU my dear friend, for the last pingback! Z
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I read your post and welcome that; thank you for sharing. I too was wondering whether or not to accept especially after it asked ‘ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO’ I was like hmmmm this is a red flag, no I wasn’t sure. At first I thought well, I don’t want to disrespect another blogger by not accepting and letting them get more hits. THEN I thought screw this if it’s automatic – I do not like those bots or auto finds where they keyword search you out. When I started Twitter I was excited that I had four followers in one day (those nice people with their nice pics and nice profiles) then my husband laughed and said “yeah, babe. it’s porn”. I was confused. How could this nice person (click) OH MY, it IS porn. SHAME on them!!! Why would they do that? Why would the pretend to be a normal regular person and use that adorable wholesome picture to fake themselves into your timeline? If people want to see porn, they’ll look for it, it doesn’t need to look for them. I declined this ping-back. If a person visits me and pings that’s one thing but if they don’t leave an actual comment and didn’t “do the work” then I have no guilt or regrets denying it.
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how i missed this, i do not know! thanks for the feedback! i often wonder who many people talk back to the computer when it asks, ‘are you sure you want to do this?” — many times it’s a technical question, and i am in a remote area and NO i am not sure but it doesn’t give options of other choices!
thanks so much for your feedback!