Not done
So, there’s this website called Sulekha which apparently means good writing. And they have this very brilliant idea of living up to their name. Spamming blogs.
They have appointed a special, clever, smart young chap specifically to do the said spamming for them. Would you believe it – India’s first Comment Spam Executive.
Now this guy, who calls himself Karthik Kannan goes around blogs leaving a version of the following comment (from my previous post, in which I very specifically mentioned I had nothing to say.)
Hi,I am Kartik Kannan at Sulekha.com (www.Sulekha.com) and I’m writing to you about your blog.
Before I proceed, let me apologise for this unsolicited comment in your blog. I googled for good Indian blogs and found yours.
Ok, now to why am I writing to you? I’m compiling a list of the best writings in Indian blogosphere and showcasing them on Sulekha.com. Sulekha (means ‘good writing’) has been encouraging good writers and showcasing great writing for well over 6 years.
I want to include your blog entries on Sulekha by creating a parallel blog for you. By creating a parallel blog on Sulekha Blogs, you can dramatically boost the number of people viewing your posts and commenting on them.
To know more click hereCheers,
Kartik Kannan
Team Sulekha
Would you believe it. He has only my best intentions in mind. He wants me, little me, to enjoy greater readership. He is so fond of my writing, so much awed by my writing skills, he wants to show it to the world.
Yeah, right.
Like Sulekha has nothing to gain from it.
Like they aren’t violating a bunch of copyright laws.
Like Sulekha won’t be making any money out of this. Oh no! They, he, only wants me to enjoy a wider audience. How so sweet.
But you know what Karthik. I will let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass. I don’t want to be associated with a company that spams blogs, do I? I have a reputation, you know, to keep up with. And next time, perhaps, you will take heed the first warning you get when you go out of the line.
Karthik. I am wondering if you consulted with your seniors in Sulekah. I know a famous blogger who recently joined the company. I am wondering if he would have approved. I am wondering if they even know of your activities. I might worry about my job and possible legal action if I were you.
Just, you know, a word to the wise.
Related: Other bloggers have written about your “friendly commenting”, Karthik. You might want to lay off a bit now. Lie low, you know.
Kaps
Chenthil
Prabhu
Witchy Angel
Krithiga
RSS/XML
April 6th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
The best of it all is the, “Sulekha (means ‘good writing’)” part.
April 6th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
It reminded me of suraikaai
April 6th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
This is turning out to be a full blown link love. We should demand a unconditional apology.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:39 am
And your crazy commenting system suspects every one of my comments here to be spam. Change that fucker first. (Ok now this is surely to be sectioned)
BTW, if Karthik isn’t too offended by this, then he should be rather pleased by the amount of publicity his work is getting. It was rather worth spamming. After all, not all our readers would pass up on an opportunity to ‘increase their readership base’‘.
April 8th, 2006 at 3:32 am
[...] This day, I ping some blogs on my reading list and find some mighty annoyed posts. Apparently, not everyone takes an occasional off-topic comment (Ok, fine. Spam if you like.) lightly. Chandru, for one, was mighty pissed. I admit mypajama.com is still an infant and perhaps the others are only too relieved to finally find a spammer who is actually visible. They get more hits, more comments, more spam and are generally more hassled. [...]
April 8th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Hey Chandru,
I understand your annoyance. First off, it wasn’t the intent to spam. We were trying to rope in select bloggers into Sulekha and hence the mails and comments. Agreed it was overdone but that’s no excuse. In hindsight, we are probably better off not doing it this way. Thanks for the feedback. Corrective actions have already been done.
I’m now gonna post in my views which I also did in Chenthil’s, Kaps’, Krithiga and Prabhu’s blog.
For over five years now, Sulekha has been the home for thousands of bloggers, many of them passionate about witing. In addition to providing Sulekha’s bloggers a vast, global audience, Sulekha has tied up with Penguin, Indian Express, Mans World, DNA to publish the best blogs Sulekha is also developing a revenue-sharing mechanism for popular bloggers who command a wide audience. Sulekha has always sought out and welcomed talented writers to write on Sulekha and many have accepted our invitation, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. These invitations were sent to only a selected set of bloggers who we determined were exceptionally talented. We now understand that such public solicitations are not welcome by all and we have decided to suspend posting these invitations as comments on blogs with immediate effect. We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank you all for your feedback on the same. If you have any comments or questions, please write in your thoughts at editor@sulekha.net.
April 8th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I got an invite too! Does that make me a member of the ‘selected set of bloggers who Sulekha determined were exceptionally talented’ club? Yay!
April 10th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
These reservations, even after nearly 60 years of Independence is a shame for our country and is nothing except vote bank politics.
I think all the major political parties now have their hands full by appeasing SC/ST/ OBC/etc.
However, they are forgetting one important segment that is students in the age group 18-25 years. Can this section forgive the likes of Arjun Singhs and V.P. Singhs?
Are these politicians not prompting growth of disgruntled students and may be Naxalites.
Can they expect votes from this section constituting at least 25% votes.
Which political party would like to tap this vote bank? Anyone interested?
April 11th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Chandru, remember one thng – ALL spammers have your best interests at heart – or wherever
in any case, why so much of this veiled threat about a senior blogger working wth sulekha and so on? am sure this Kartik chappie didn’t take up one morning and decide to spam bloggers… direct your ire at sulekha and not the person itself…
April 11th, 2006 at 11:57 am
[...] I got the email too and I ignored it. And what has been puzzling me is the strong negative reaction from bloggers that this email has provoked. I first came across it on sambhar mafia and went on to read a few other blogs he had linked too. Chandru, for instance, has a very strongly worded post on this. [...]
June 2nd, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Did you see Alpha’s LATEST post about her mirrored blog on Sulekha?
June 2nd, 2006 at 10:06 pm
[...] Sulekha are back at doing what they do best. Step on toes. After the previous spamming blogs episode and the subsequent blog-rage and the subsequenter explanations/apology, I thought the issue had died down. [...]