I went to a popular website and tried to comment on a post. To leave comments, you can log in with your Facebook, Twitter or OpenID, or just enter a name and email address. But when I tried to log in with my Twitter account, it accepted my username but when it came time to Submit, the button was disabled. OpenID displayed an error, and Facebook is just a massive privacy violation because it would allow the site and all its friends to crash on my couch and dirty all the towels and clog up the toilet with godknowswhat.
So I logged out and resubmitted with just my name and email address and then the form worked and responded with the usual, "comments are moderated and will appear upon approval" message.
It's been 24 hours yet my comment still hasn't been approved, although two clearly obvious spam posts appear in the comments at #14  for "profitableprofit" and "daylogames."
I emailed the editor of the site about the Twitter glitch and got a reply that they would look into it, but still haven't had my comment approved and posted to their article.
The article is about social ranking on the Internet and how the author feels the need for social networks to have some influence on the success of the future of search and that social rankings of some kind are essential. Or something, I don't know. I mean the author is a PhD student and I have just a lowly Master's (in Library Science, of all things. I mean, you need college for that?)
So what happens when someone is in control of your social status? Right now, I can go to Twitter or Facebook and every idiot is equal to every other idiot; no one blocks me from commenting to Brent Spiner, unless he, himself blocks me. But why would he block me? I RT his ass all over the place.
But moderated comments that block actual comments while allowing spam only prove that the gatekeeping system is flawed. Or worse, that some people will publicly praise an open Web while secretly working to close off as much as possible, to keep out the riff and/or the raff.
When I see these propositions where the Web is remade in some idealized image, in this case, a socially-ranked one, all it makes me think is that someone has a plan to keep the rest of us out.
I told myself I wouldn't cry because my makeup runs, but as you can see, I hate rejection. So here is my comment that the site still hasn't approved:
See? Totally harmless and not spam. Not sure why it wasn't approved. Maybe it was what I was wearing. Maybe I should let my bath robe slip open a little more when I hit Submit. Ooh, what's that? You like that?didn't this all get covered back with Google bought Dejanews and then Blogger? didn't everyone agree that social networks are completely unreliable and irrelevant to the rest of the world? and that's why Google separated "blogs" and "groups" from its central search ?
but now that more people are being social, we expect our search companies to recognize us and treat us with the respect we feel we deserve.
but advertisers pay Google's bills, and if Google streamlines all social network search into mainstream search and the advertisers complain, then where do you think this will go?
yes, the social networks create tons of content, and the creators believe it's worth something to others and want it crawled and ranked just like all the other crap out there.. but go back and find the original opinions when Blogger was first dumped into maninstream Google search and *everyone* that all their search results were crap.
I don't think the world cares about being social.
when you start demanding that your social status be recognized by everyone else, frankly, and forgive this completely objective observation, you become an asshole.
