There’s something interesting and alarming happening on Alex King’s blog. It seems that one or more websites using WordPress are spamming Yahoo! Answers. Because his site, and other WordPress developers and designers, are included in the blogroll by default in basic WordPress installations, people are accusing Alex King and other WordPress developers or spamming.
Matt and the WordPress developers put links into the blogroll of WordPress installations as examples of blogroll links. You can leave them or lose them and add your own. There are no rules or regulations about who is your blogroll list. It’s simply a way of creating example placeholders.
Since spammers and splogs are not modifying their WordPress blog installations, these links sit there.
It’s really easy to blame those people. It’s also easy to blame WordPress. But that’s blaming good folks for what bad folks do with good programs.
Dear Yahoo! Answers Visitors–
I’m sorry to hear that someone is spamming Yahoo! Answers.
Please understand that just because a web site links to mine does not mean that I am somehow responsible for their site or their actions.
Removing King or other’s links from basic WordPress installations will not change things. Accusing, name calling, or spamming these folks will also not change things. Reporting the splog itself will help kill of the splogging blogs.
For information on how to report splogs, see Reporting Spam Blogs – Splogs.
And get smart, folks. Blame the right jerks and spare the innocent.
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Site Search Tags: splog, splogging, web splogs, evil bloggers, evil blogs, alex king, splogger, sploggers, copyright theft, copyright violation, content theft, blogrolls, spam blogrolls, comment spam, spamming
Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network
Lorelle on WordPress 
5 Comments
This is like arresting the neighbour of the thief instead of the thief himself.
I think these people blaming wordpress guys don’t have any common sense..
It’s not about common sense, think it other way. What if you haven’t heard about WordPress? How would you know that these links are from default installation of WordPress? No one can be blamed of all this except those spammers. Those people who are abusing Alex are just frustrated of seeing spams on their favorite Yahoo! Answers.
I think the confusion is understandable to a certain degree, but the attitude of some of the people seems a little extreme. It is a shame that someone who has given so much to the WordPress community should now have to suffer because of it.
I get a lot of this not because of the links, but people assume I’m personally responsible for every WP blog in the world. It ranges from the ignorant, like Alex quoted, to lawyers, to the FBI. It used to bug me but I’ve mostly gotten used to it.
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