Comments on: Reddit’s Flawed CAPTCHA: Adding Insult To Injury

By: Freelance website designer

Freelance website designer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:30:56 +0000

We have had so much trouble with captchas. We have tried all sorts of solutions including the hidden fields that simply get checked and the form isnt submitted if they contain anything, (because this proves the form was filled in by a bot…) right down to using captchas.

At the moment on http://www.freelance-website-designers.co.uk we have removed all forms and currently just have a email address displayed.

By: susan

susan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:50:02 +0000

I’m not fixing reddit’s code, not when they have ads. if they want me to fix their code, they better offer me some money.

By: brett

brett — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:46:04 +0000

Thats exactly why i dont use reddit. I hate their damn site, its ugly and the captchas are a pain in the butt. thank you for blogging about it. Also yahoo’s captchas are just as annoying and often I type stuff in properly and it wont accept it. They also make the kerning of the letters so tight I cant even read it and have to guess what I’m supposed to type.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:24:04 +0000

I spent 40 minutes on Reddit trying to submit 5 of my links. I got up to the 4th one and never came back to the site again. If it takes 40 minutes of red tape just to add links it’s not worth it.

By: AlexW

AlexW — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:37:31 +0000

No-one wants a dull, humorless web. I’m all in favor of using relaxed, ‘humanesque’ language when interacting with users rather than the common ‘robot speak’ tone most sites still use.

However the reality is, when Reddit ask you to fill in a CAPTCHA, they are asking you to do work for them. As a user, you don’t currently have a problem with spam on the Reddit site. As a company, *THEY* have an issue with spam, and they are asking you to perform — like a little mouse in a wheel — to solve theirproblem. Now, that’s cool. They aren’t alone there, but by necessity, this exchange HAS to be one of the earliest exchanges they will have with their new friend, ‘Mr First Time User’.

So considering humor isn’t a universal constant — something that is widely considered funny in Pakistan or makes yo’ mamma giggle may not make you chuckle so much — this is probably not the time to try out a ‘joke’ that has a pretty good chance (IMHO) of p!@#ing off more than the odd user.

Why not establish some rapport with the user, allow them build an expectation on the style of language you use, and then, perhaps get a little more loose and irreverent with how you speak with them.

It’s like trying a dirty joke at a job interview. It’s a high risk, low return play.

By: loofelevi

loofelevi — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:35:52 +0000

Sense of humour anyone?

Yup. I would complain about the whole captcha-for-every-link issue, but the “Your letters stick” is friggin funny.

By: twilek

twilek — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:12:20 +0000

Hey, it’s reddit. Don’t cry. It’s also not a professional-style site. So just dry the tears, get over it, and get back on. Because Reddit is the coolest.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:18 +0000

Instead could you ask a question eg. What is the home stadium of the Atlanta Braves?
then have a link to the relevant Wikipedia article.

How hard would it be for a robot to get around that? Vary the questions and you entertain your visitors and help them learn!

BTW i can’t stand those captchas. Those insults on Reddit sure don’t improve things. I like the way Digg handles registration process. Feels rewarding!

By: noobpreneur

noobpreneur — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:21:20 +0000

I think it’s hilarious - and yes, annoying and insulting :) - But Reddit does drive lots of traffic to my sites - at least it was my letters that stink, not me :P

By: simsim

simsim — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:34:04 +0000

Great post Matthew.

I’ve had my share of CAPTCHA insanity and made a rant about it:
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548798