It has long been a curiosity to me that comments on this blog are often anonymous. The Outpost, as its name suggests, is not where you find the currently standard messages in the tango world about the necessity of hard work, finding a good teacher, apeing and admiring performers and so on. The tango community, country by country, and certainly in the UK, is relatively small. At the most popular milongas it is common to recognise most faces. It is not then surprising that most agreeing with the views here wish to remain publicly silent, or at least, anonymous.
However, The Outpost has recently received numerous spam comments. I wanted to share the most recent one with you to illustrate how sophisticated these can be.
"Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!"
A whole team genuinely wanting to express solidarity would not be afraid to say who they were. The anonymity and non-specific yet supportive nature of the comment, the flattery, and the fact that it is on the same post that is currently being targeted are the clues. Most people who write comments on blogs like the Outpost are querying, elaborating or disagreeing with something. There are comments genuinely supportive and for a moment I paused over the spam button with this one. It demonstrates how much spam has evolved.
