A few months back I installed a WordPress plugin that allowed readers to tick a box when leaving a comment to be notified via email when more comments on that post came in.
The idea behind the plugin is a great one – it extends the conversation on posts beyond their normal period of time (usually as long as the post appears on the front page of the blog).
The only problem with the plugin is that it reports to anyone who subscribes to the comment thread not only legitimate comments but any comment spam that you might get.
I have pretty good comment spam filters that pick up the vast majority of spam at ProBlogger, but I have an ongoing problem with Penis Enlargement comment spam. It is not a large problem (no pun intended) as only the occasional comment gets through – but every time they do get through I find myself wondering how many readers who might have subscribed to that thread are getting notified that my blog is being spammed (complete with a title that doesn’t really help my blog’s reputation).
I’m unsure what to do at this stage – I’ve only had a couple of readers mention it so far in passing (in fact I’m unsure how many are using the subscription plugin at all) but it’s not really too good for business.
