Spamming in comments

Every once in while someone posts a comment to one of my photos with a photo and a link of their own - occasionally even medium sized!

I personally feel that the only image in a photo page should be that photo. Posting another photo, even if somehow related, is like stealing "center stage", deviating the reader's attention from the photo to something else. In a way, it is like spamming - trying to attract people to go somewhere else instead of appreciating that photo. So when I want to include a reference, I simply post a normal text link (URL) to the relevant image.

When someone does this to one my photos, I write to them and try politely make them see my point and ask them to replace the photo. Most are quite understanding and I've never had any problems.

Recently, however, a person wrote to me saying that he really could not understand why would this kind of behaviour bother anybody. After I explained to him, he claimed to understand my point, but was reluctant to change his ways, since this was how he managed to drive traffic to his own pages, and that ws his main goal. In the end, I just deleted the comment altogether.

Having said this, I realize that part of the fun in participating in a social network is precisely the opportunity to INTERACT (i.e., bi-directional communication) with other people, and occasionally it makes sense to include images in the conversation. I find that blogging is perfect for this, as it allows you to make your statement, and other to comment at will, even posting their own images if they want to. This is one the things I really enjoy here in Ipernity.

So, to start the discussion, here is the question - how do you feel about this - does it bother you when someone posts their own picture (with a link) as a comment to your photo?