Our Top Commentators For February
Huge congrats goes out to this month’s Top Spammers Commentators. You guys (and girls) are the driving force behind this blog!

For your reward, each one of you will be receiving a set of John Chow dot Com and 1234Pens.com pens.
To prevent some evil person from trying to claim your prize by pretending to be you, I will be sending each winner an email asking for your shipping information. Reply to that email. Please do not email me.
Changes To The Top Commentators
Starting in March, the Top Commentator list will be reset every week. This will give readers who come in mid-month a chance to make the list without having to wait for the month to be over. I really don’t expect the names on the list to change by that much.
*Update - I have just reset the Top Commentators to weekly.
- Posted in Ramblings
- 205 comments what's your take?
sounds good!
Reply to this commentOoohhhh. I think it’s time to gun for the top spa…errr commentator spot!

Reply to this commentcongratulations to the “winners”
Reply to this commentAs for the Top Commentator list being reset every week, I don’t think I’ll hit the top ten again
Reply to this commentThat should be easier, just drop all articles in a virtual queue till the beginning of the week?
Reply to this commentYou have certainly done a good work by posting some 30 comments in less than 3 hours and getting me off that list..
Nice job(?),
Reply to this commentAllen.H
Wow 30 comments in 3 hours? That’s a bit much.
Reply to this commentAll I can say is …wow!
Reply to this commentAllen, that’s bullocks, I only posted about 3 times this morning so I suppose John’s plugin was messed - it wasn’t even showing up this morning. Thanks for the accusations though.
Reply to this commentActually, 30 comments in three hours isn’t that much if you haven’t been on the site for a while and are replying to a lot of other comments…
Reply to this commentSays twenty five now. That’s a lot of comments still, that much is for certain.
Reply to this commentIf you can’t keep up with the high comment energy here then I’m sure there are other blogs where your 1 comment/day average will make you a superstar.
This blog is like the Walmart of blog comments: volume is king.
Reply to this commentYou might be right, however, I doubt these statistics were really reset; I haven’t made up to 40 comments today, I doubt I even made that many in a week - I suppose it’s simply counting from 2 weeks back.
Reply to this commentQuoted from John below:-
“*Update - I have just reset the Top Commentators to weekly. This is why you may noticed a change in the ranking. We are now in mid-week.”
Yes, you are right.
Reply to this commentIve made over 30 comments in an hour today, Ive been a reader for a while and commented here and there, for a long time Ive been curious as to what a link in top commentors is worth in terms of traffic, so Im gonna give it a shot for a week or so.
Its just a shame the blog im linking to is in a bit of a state, I should really be focusing on posting, not commenting here, but its fun reading what you people all think, not a chore….
Reply to this commentHow I agree to this - I waited till end of Feb simply to get back on the top commentators list … Its next to impossible to catch up if you miss out in the first few days - weekly or fortnightly reset is must.
Reply to this commentExactly, I usually missed the start of the month and never bothered, doing it like this will encourage more people to give it a go
Reply to this commentThanks Jonix. It’s really not that hard to get on the list. And I’m sure with the weekly system John is now instituting, it will allow more more opportunity for others to join in the fun.
Reply to this commentRight! This morning, the top commentator only had 11 comments, not the top commentator has 69!
That’s a lot of comments!
Reply to this commentCongrats to the winners.
:) 
Reply to this commentHey John…how about some gadgets for your top 1 or 2 commentators? Maybe we can work on this with you.
Reply to this commentThat’s when pure spam would be rolling in, I really don’t think this is a good idea. Although I assume you aren’t serious too serious about it
Allen.H
Reply to this commentYeah right - especially if it was a weekly contest!
Reply to this commentUsually, and in fact all of the spam that I received on my blog are computer generated so far.
No, in fact i think is to keep the ‘gadgets’ out. Comments should be on quality over quantity, yea?
Reply to this commentThe only problem with quality of quantity is how do you judge quality? With the plugin that is being used, all it does is count NUMBER of comments, not really the quality of those comments.
Reply to this commentIt seems to me like everyone’s comments on this site are actually pretty good. People don’t really try to self promote, which is a good thing. Everyone kind of just says what they think, and that’s what we want to read.
Reply to this commentWe are not talking about that kind of spam! We are talking about comments like:
Great!
Me too!
Yeah!
Generic comments that are made only for a +1
Reply to this commentYeah I would have thought so, but then the idea behind a top commentors list is to encourage more comments is it not???
Reply to this commentdefinitally a great idea, nice pens also
Reply to this commentCome on guys don’t do this - A link on the JohnChow.com is much more valuable for you as a blogger than a small gift.
I think working towards links is much better than simply commenting for gifts
Reply to this commentYup, I want to know what one of those links delivers in terms of traffic.
The paid links above are not cheap, ok commentors are underneath, but I tend to want to see other readers blogs rather than the paid add’s, I regularly visit the top commentors blogs….
Reply to this commentSounds good I might have a try at making it this time.
Reply to this commentYeah its fun if you have an hour or two to spare
Reply to this commentIll give this month a shot perhaps, I can stay in the top for a week.
Congrats to those commentators that can put out a huge amount of suggestions and comments all the time.
Reply to this commentWay to go spammers !!
Reply to this commentSpammers? That’s quite the generalization… Somebody’s jealous it seems.
Reply to this commentI am. I want a pen.
Reply to this commentI just want the ‘love’ from when John spams technorati again!
Reply to this commentYou mean being in the top 20k isn’t good enough for you?
The “ping” made it look like a unique blog to Technorati.
Reply to this commentI know! I’m in the top 15K now!!!
Reply to this commentI hear you Steve…I’m right there with you!
Reply to this commentNice Steve, you beat me with that, I’m ‘just’ in the 21k right now
Reply to this commentSo when will TLA start allowing us to sell links for $250?
Reply to this commentYeah, my rank jumped from 159,432 to 73,706 over night!
Reply to this commentWelcome to the club Saman! it’s a great place to be and learn!
Reply to this commentThanks Jane, it really is!
I really have learned a lot in my short time here! There is a great community here too!
Reply to this commentDon’t worry Derrich, I’ll likely be creating a contest on my blog once I get my Chow pens. They’re apparently a hot commodity, so I’ll help to spread some love.
Reply to this commentBeautiful, Marc. Keep me posted. I’m all over that!
Reply to this commentAre you giving away the pen you won?!
Reply to this comment142 comments by a single person in a blog! WTF!!!
Reply to this commentI had more than that when John first fired up the top commentator plugin!
Reply to this commentThat’s just in one month! But there are a lot of comments to reply to!
Reply to this commentMe too..
Reply to this commentYep, you see if it’s a component of your traffic development strategy, the time investment can have some great ROI.
Reply to this commentCommenting on the article, commenting on other comments, and so on got him pretty far I guess.
Reply to this commentHave you seen the Top Commentators list TODAY (03/01)? That record will be broken by tonight…and so will John’s server. Probably.
Reply to this commentThanks for allowing me to spam your blog ánd get rewarded John
Reply to this commentAnyway, it’s a smart move to reset it more often, more people will get a chance that way.
Yeah, I never thought I would get rewarded for spamming, but look at the results, I got free pens
Reply to this commentActually I think Nomar does the best job of this out of everyone.
“hi nice post :D”
or something everytime.
Reply to this commentBut Nomar has not been able to profit on his spamming.
Reply to this commentI’m sure he’s seen *some* improvement in traffic. Heck, it’s because he’s always around that I found myself at his blog.
Reply to this commentWhereas I have
Trust me, it’s not easy to stay ahead of the Nomar “hi nice post :D” count and try to make useful contributions. But I try my best
Reply to this commentInterestingly, of course it would be hard to go against something of that nature. That is, if one wants to add in value to the content and discussion as well.
Reply to this commentYou can call it - ‘actively’ staying tuned to JohnChow then.
Reply to this commentI like this one, the word “active” leads me to believe there is something positive about spamming…I like it a lot!
Reply to this commentNo, hopefully it is not termed as ’spam’. It is a rather crude word to use for active commenting.
Reply to this commentSpamming is never ‘positive’, for sure.
I know lyndon, I was just pulling your leg a lil.
Reply to this commentYea, you almost did, didn’t you?
Reply to this commentYeah, I’m looking forward to my pen too

Reply to this commentYou forgot the traffic from the site which is also a gift for your spamming !
Reply to this comment“Yeah, I never thought I would get rewarded for spamming, but look at the results, I got free pens”
I take it they work ok, hope im not wasting my time here
Reply to this commentExcellent change to the top commentators. It should result in less comment spam and newer groups of people contributing to the blog. Of course, there will be the die-hards out there that will continue to be the top commentators
John: Ever consider adding the do-follow plugin to your blog? Curious about your thoughts on this plugin.
Reply to this commentOn a site with such high traffic you’d be asking for trouble. I think John’s got just the right balance at the moment to avoid spammers and junk comments.
Reply to this commentYeah, having the list reset weekly will have a lot of people fighting for the top spots! I can only see there being a lot of comments like:
Yeah!
Reply to this commentMe too!
Great!
Hopefully, there isn’t such nonsense or rubbish in the postings. At the very least, we can keep it conversational.
Reply to this comment“Yeah, having the list reset weekly will have a lot of people fighting for the top spots! I can only see there being a lot of comments like:
Yeah!
Me too!
Great!”
Indeed

Reply to this commentNot any more trouble than he already has. The nofollow tag has no influence on spam anymore (questionable as to whether or not it ever did). I’m a supporter of the do-follow plugin personally and think it should be adopted throughout the blogosphere. We’re fighting spam with the right tools now like spam filters. The no-follows were a stop-gap measure when they came out and they failed to stop the gap…
Reply to this commentYeah its a bit of a shame that the no follow came into play, running Akismet does a great job, there are other things you can put on as well. I dont really think the no follow makes much difference.
A lot of spam is posted by bots, so there is zero effort in doing it (for spammers) its obviously worth their while just for clicks, regardless of whether its a follow link or not.
Reply to this commentCongrats to all the top ten.
Also, resetting the numbers every week will allow for the possibility of different people to be in the top ten, but harder to run contests for just a week.
Reply to this commentThere are some pretty prolific commenters on this site. Good work guys.
Reply to this commentThanks Dan for your observation - we will definitely continue commenting
Reply to this commentThanks John. I was surprised at how quick you contacted us for delivery info. Am I going to have anything extra included in my package John
Reply to this commentI think Jane wants that ipod accessory we saw earlier this week
Reply to this commentLol Gary, of course, what else could we be left to believe?
Reply to this commentIn my opinion, that would be a pretty ‘misfit’ gift to give out, wouldn’t it? Though there might be interested contenders for it. Gosh!
Reply to this commentThis is true, I wonder if John has given it a test run yet? Nothing wrong with wanting to “hear some music”
Reply to this commentI’ll be he’s pluged it in - but I doubt he’s done a full test run - yet
Reply to this commentMisfit? All a matter of perspective I suppose… You’re talking about a guy who starts rock fights you know…
Reply to this commentI also want Jane to get the iPod accessory
Reply to this commentOh man, just imagine the traffic her site would get!
Reply to this comment*imagining* …the traffic too, of course.
Reply to this commentI take that as a “YES” to the review request of the OhMiBod
Reply to this commentCongrats to all the spammers!
Reply to this commentThanks again
Reply to this commentNomar, I love you
You’re the toughest guy to beat out in this game 
Reply to this commentNot if I have anything to do with it.
Reply to this commentHmm I think I’ve found a bug with the top commentators plugin. I’m on the list but it’s showing someone elses site. I guess its not checking for duplicate names or double checking against the email address.
Reply to this commentSame thing happened to me, I had to start using my last name so that it would read my new site…my old site would appear after entering only “Jane”
Reply to this commentWas having the same problem with my comments that I used to leave in Jan were visible. But luckily I see that the problem has been now resolved and am back with my name pointing to the right blog !
Reply to this commentThis is really good !! I need pens
Reply to this commentHonestly, the linkback is way for valuable!
Reply to this commentYeah, I actually wrote a post about that a while ago. For those who prefer pens to backlink though I’ll be helping them out shortly
Reply to this commentAre you really going to eBay your pen?!
Reply to this commentHey dude you can get more pens from John by the
Hi Nice post strategy.
And may be you can start a shop with Pen’s for Spammers
Reply to this commentIt’s hard to compete with all these John Chow “comment whores!”
Reply to this commentHEY! OK, you’re right.
Clan Of Evil right here baby!
Reply to this commentWe learn from the best!
Reply to this commentI hope your not insisting that is me!
Reply to this commentInteresting idea to get your readers ‘hooked’ onto reading. haha.. Any new ideas besides the pens?
Reply to this comment