Some of you may have noticed the New Media Photographer Web site was hacked on Thursday.  My apologies if you were directed to a malware page or if a virus attempted to download to your computer.

As I understand it, the issue originated on the server-side based at GoDaddy.com.  It has affected a number of WordPress sites including some well-known blogs.

I wish to thank those in the New Media Photographer community who alerted me to the issue. First, thanks to my wife, Shirley, for alerting me to the fact that some of our friends’ blogs were under attack by the virus. (My apologies for acting like it wouldn’t happen to my blog.) Also, thanks to Frederic Sune for raising the red flag, to Joseph Cristina for his technical support via Skype, and to Scott LePage, who took the time to call my office to alert us to the problem. All involved helped  call attention to the matter so the problem could be quickly fixed.

I was able to fix the issue within an hour thanks to the generosity of the people at http://sucuri.net. I followed the instructions found on their blog , uploaded the script, and cleaned out my system.  They even have a free service to monitor your site for malware.

On a happier note, I hope you like the new site design. I’m sorry it didn’t get a better introduction.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Rosh

This week Rosh talks about Google Wave, a new seminar – selling photography and his thoughts on a new daily newspaper.

• New Media Photographer: A photographer who publishes to the web.
• Time: 30:00
• Podcast hosted by Rosh Sillars
• This podcast is about social, digital and new media and how it relates to the photographer.
• Topics on this week’s show: Words on web sites matter, Rosh is optimistic about 2010, selling on the web seminars, What to do with Google Wave?, Fotomoto (display on your web site and manage on their site), Facebook for photographers, Detroit Daily Press
• Podcast network commercials from Dave Warner Lensflare35 and Jim Goldstein EXIF and beyond
• Photography news by Trevor Current: Ushareimages blog, twitter – @ushareimages.
• New media photographer comment line link love: none
• New Media Photographer Twitter @newmediaphoto
• Tumblr.com New Media Photographer
• Friendfeed – New Media Photographer
• Itunes New Media Photographer subscription
• Comment line 206 202 3568
• Email New Media Photographer
• New Media Photographer
• Rosh Sillars Photography Portfolios
• The Rosh Group, Inc.
• Prosperous Artists
• The Driven Business
• Tags: new media, digital media, social media, photography, photographer, photography marketing, business of photography.
• Do  you have a recommendation for the new media photographer award?
• e-mail

I recently had an issue with another blogger about my one of my comments.  I made a quick but relevant comment on his blog, which I really enjoy.  The host of the blog took exception to my comment and accused me of being a spammer.

I must concede that I had a few red flags in my post.  First, at the end of my post, I said, “thanks for sharing.”  If you have a blog, you know that many of the spam posts say, “thanks for sharing”.  My bad.   Second, as you may know, I often place http://www.newmediaphotographer.com under my name.   Three, having a short post with the elements above is a clear strikeout.

In my defense, I’ve been commenting and an active participant on this blog for a while.  I am mindful of the quality of my comments, especially when commenting on a new blog and using the newmediaphotographer link signature.

The blogger and I exchanged a few emails on the topic and all is well.

But, this situation brought up an interesting point.  What is the etiquette for commenting on a blog? 

I’ve inquired with other bloggers, read a number of posts on the topic, and have found as many points of view as there are blogs. 

My point is that blogging is about sharing information via the Internet. The foundation of the Internet is linking between pages.  Blog comments need to be sincere and related to the post topic. 

This is my definition of a spam comment: One that contains generic information, or a response or statements containing a link leading to an unrelated product, service, blog or web site.

As a photographer, artist, blogger or business owner,  a link to your portfolio, blog, Flickr page, web site or biography adds relevance and depth to who you are as a commenter and member of a blog’s community.  A link on the page is an invitation to readers to learn more about you.  This should be encouraged, not frowned upon.

A number of bloggers feel that such a link has elements of spam and a number of blogs have software running that will block and mark comments as spam that contain links.

I also run anti-spam software. But, in my opinion, link-blocking software, editing and moderating is “un-internet” and are counter to what the web is all about.  Yes, it is important be concerned about the integrity of your blog.   But, to not allow guests and community members to share personal and relevant links is extremely selfish.

It is true that often a link is attached to the commentor’s name within the title of the comment post.  But, knowing there may be a link attached to a name does not invite the reader to explore more about a commenter.   If you know anything about web site design, you understand that it is important to make the layout simple, easy, obvious and inviting. 

By placing my web site or blog link below my name I am inviting interested community members to learn more about me and visit my blog.  If you don’t invite people they will generally not take the initiative, even if all they have to do is move the cursor back to the top of the comment. That is still too much work.

Normally, I might receive five, ten, twenty referrals from a post if I place my blog address under my name.  The more relevant and interesting my comments, the more traffic.  That sounds fair to me.

I tried some tests on a few blogs where I frequently post comments.  In some of my comments I just placed my name. Within others I left my name and new media photographer (no link). I also put new media photographer rather than my name, in some cases, in the standard blog link.  All the posts had what I considered to be good comments that would normally generate traffic.  In the end all the posts offered the same result.  No traffic. 

I’m sure if I offered extreme views and controversy I might get some traffic.  But, those types of posts wouldn’t normally be authentic coming from me.  I just want to be a part of my favorite blog communities and offer quality responses, information and commentary.

Yes, we want people to visit our blogs and web sites.  If quality comments are offered within the blogosphere, we should also be rewarded with traffic. If our sites offer good content we will be rewarded with subscribers. 

What do you think?

Photographers are often targeted with the wedding or celebration email scams.   I received one yesterday and one today (same letter).  The subject was “Booking” and it was obvious the person was new to writing in English.  Not only that, both emails where received at 9:43am. Automated?

If someone offers you an opportunity without wanting more information about you, your prices or additional samples of your work, their is a problem.  

Of course, never, never, never give your checking account number or any account number so the nice person can transfer your fee or travel expenses ahead of the event.  You may find your account a little short the next morning.

If you are still not sure, follow up with the venue to see if your party actually has a booking.

Rosh