I use the Technorati link for “blogs that link here” on my blog fairly often to see what other folks are saying related to my posts, to check out their blogs, comment on them, etc. In the last week I have noticed an inordinate number of links (like one for every post I have) from a blog named usmediaweb.net, and a person calling themselves “mr. denali.”
This example is my post from earlier tonight, copied in its entirety and reposted on usmediaweb. The site is calling this “The CC Anthology.” I call it irritating, unnecessary robot replication. Technically, it looks like what they are doing conforms to the letter of the Creative Commons license I am using, which is attribution-only. They are giving me credit for having written the post, and quoting me in full. But I find this not only useless, but also irritating. When I look at the Technorati links, I’m looking for HUMAN BEINGS who have referenced something I’ve previously written and thoughtfully reflected on themselves. I’m looking to engage in further conversation on the issues at hand, not see evidence of what amounts to a spam robot’s tracks.
Thankfully the primary blog spam filter I use, Spam Karma 2, filters out robot comments like this because they are posted so fast after the blog post goes online, and because there is such a short delay between when the robot program opens the blog post and then posts the copied post, which registers as a pingback.
I hope the great folks at Technorati can figure out how to eliminate these types of blog linkbacks from their listings. It would also be nice to not include the blogroll linkbacks, and just the actual posts that refer back to the original. Technorati remains my favorite search site for keeping track of conversations in the blogosphere… I just wish people wouldn’t invent and use technologies that produce unnecessary, duplicative, confusing and time-wasting posts like usmediaweb does. I suppose they are doing this to try and drive traffic to their own site where they have ads. Get a new profit model, guys. The edublogosphere is for human conversations, we don’t need automated post duplication like this.
It would be nice if there was some way for my CC license to indicate these types of full-copy robot posts are not welcome. For now I guess I’ll just have to look over these irritating link-backs from mr. denali.
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On this day..
- Experimenting with WordPress on the Google Cloud with Bitnami – 2016
- Transfer Video from an Android Phone to an iPad – 2014
- iPad Media Camp FAQs (July 2013) – 2013
- Convert Text Into Audio for Free (on a Mac) – 2011
- Great case for Educators building PLNs for PD – 2010
- Through my Students’ Eyes – 2009
- Ready to mobile-blog our vacation – 2009
- Places to post video for higher education types – 2009
- They Have Names – 2008
- DanCoyote ZeroG SkyDancers at MODLA in Second Life on 10 July 2008 – 2008