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Bad Blog Reviews- Is it Wrong....
Posted by acousticguitarist • 5/25/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: guitar blog ratings
Bad Blog Reviews- Is it Wrong to give a bad blog review?
Here's the scenario:
someone adds me as a friend
I go to their blog
It's full of ads, like every article is selling something
I give it one star rating and say what I think about it
Then I beat myself up thinking it was a bit mean
User Comments
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If you were being onest then no.-
i was very honest
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I HATE BLOGS LIKE THAT! You did a good thing!-
I've never done anything like that before, generally I like to be on good terms with everyone
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The review is supposed to be given honestly, so no. -
I think I'd feel the same way Tony, but there are some who just want increased exposure so they add "friends" indiscriminately. In that respect they can hardly complain about an honestly felt review.-
Well I mean they got the exposure they wanted, they just jumped in to some chill waters naked afterwards.
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Mark, you did a great video post the other day.
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It depends on the blog itself.
For example on my blog - I am all about finding casino deals and advertising affiliates.
But I have a personal touch to it.
So - I would hate someone to come in and say "you're all advertising - so you get 1 star... "
When in reality - the work that I do to find and place them on my site is a LOT of work.
LOL!
But you go to a personal blog that has no other content except google ads - then the blog sucks.
But - yanno - it truly depends on the content and the type of blog it is. -
Well, Most people are like... "You scratch My back and I'll scratch Your's!" kind of... Get My point? I mean, I have seen, even here, people leave stuff like, "Hey you visit my blog and I'll surely visit your's"; same goes with the comments thing; Worst is when just to receive a good comment you deliberatly write some goody goody comment on something it don't deserve! That is wrong!
So, honestly whatever you feel, you should feel free to talk and write! I don't think then you have done anything wrong. So Chill! -
I agree with WagerWitch, and would like to add that all constructive criticisms are good, but simply flaming a blog isn't really an appropriate way to review. (I'm not saying you did that, just as a general review and life rule).
So long as the reviewer understands the content in which they are reviewing, and makes constructive comments then there is no need to feel bad whatsoever. -
If it's an honest review designed to point out some areas of improvement, then nothing wrong with that.
I object to the "nice blog" reviewers who then give you a 2 or 3 star review. That just ticks me off, as it's completely unhelpful information.-
I agree, I think all reviews should offer constructive feedback - good or bad.
Throwing someone a poor review and stating "Your opinion sucks" or throwing someone 5 stars and saying "I like you" is kinda lame
It certainly doesn't help you, the blogger. -
@thriftshopromantic
I agree wholeheartedly with you.
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Why bother? I just block them. -
I would definitely wanna know if my blogs sucked or wasn't appealing to readers. So I guess constructive criticizm is good.-
Though I'm not sure if saying it sucks is constructive...though I guess it could lead you to doing something more constructive than writing a sucky blog...
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Personally,I would never give a negative comment or review. What's the point? As Robert Frost said when he was teaching (about his students): "Life might fail them. I won't." -
@acousticguitraist
I don't use that approach myself. I change from my Firefox browser to an IE browser and I click in. If I see an advertising covered blog that's obviously being pimped out for an income I take a look at the blog post content and run it through plagiarism checkers. Next I run the links in the blogroll through the badneighborhood checker.
If I get "positive" results from my investigations, which is frequently the case (scraped content, plagiarized content, links to drug peddlars, casinos, gambling sites, prono, etc.) then click out, without reviewing and rating the blog and I use the block feature.
Also note that we can remove members who have marked our blog as a favorite from our blog's neighborhood. Here's a link to a post I wrote from the BC New Users group that tells you how to do that.
www.blogcatalog.com/group/new-blog-catalog-users/discuss/entry/who-has-mark...-
Yikes- she said gambling sites... Sorry.. that's my bag.
But I know in my heart that my site is a little bit different -- not much maybe - but just a tad different than just your typical ad blaring blinking gambling site...
Sniffle...
And I don't plagarize... Whee for me... LOL!
No seriously - I do know that Gambling isn't really a topic that everyone enjoys as much as I do. (Trust me - I KNOW it has it's downfalls and it's been related to PORN... which I don't mind by the way... LOL - wow, my morals must be horrible...) But I also enjoy sharing it with others, IF they like the topic...
And my site is a way to allow me to take care of small things (Cause I don't make a TON off of it - trust me, the Gambling industry is a hard one to break into.) It does allow me to play online - because some of the places turn your exchange of players into "credits" to play online - which is HALF the FUN for me.
And because, maybe I'm silly --- I really believe that someone - or me --- can HIT THE BIG ONE! Maybe after a million years and half a million dollars - But - I have that "ETERNAL HOPE" that it can be done...
Anyhow - I truly hope that y'all don't think of me as like this "EVIL" person because I do blog on gambling - and do believe in it - as a fun thing... (oh - and the politics of it... Oh my gosh) anyhow... I hope that doesn't make you think I'm an awful person because of it... Or that my blog is horrible or anything.
It truly does serve it's niche... Honest.
And TT - I know you didn't mean that personally... I didn't take it personally... But it made me realize that "that's" what a lot of people think --- "gambling links" --- when they think of gambling... And that is my niche... So it was like... Oh no...
And me - well - sheesh - I just have to comment...
Sigh- go get that RockStar -- It'll make me shut up... Honest... LOL!
/end rant that has nothing to do with reviewing - at least not on the surface...
Key note --- I DO REVIEW and RATE Blogs... I do read a TON OF them daily in the forums --- and I LOVE IT!!!
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Some people probably aren't interested in a real review of their blog. If they have a blog full of adds and (mostly) plagiarized content they're likely just out for a buck.
Then there are people who do have a blog with original content and who are interested in a review. Most of them can't take it though. But that's not your problem. If they ask for a review, speak your mind. Because they might just belong to the kind of blogger that knows critical reviews can help them make a better blog.
It's usually very hard to get good constructive criticism on your blog. Friends don't want to burn you, strangers don't care to tell you. So if you're the kind of guy who does care to give a real review, stay honest and give that review.-
Hey you!!!
I LOVE reviews - and I enjoy giving them also!
(grin) Nice to see you over here!
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Hey acoustic, that is the whole concept of web 2.0 - as users of the BC system, we are charged with the responsibility of controlling the content. Your voice counts as much as everyone elses, even the wrongdoers
Not only is it your right but it's your duty to rate blogs as YOU see fit. Truth is that if you hate it because it's riddled with ads and just all around gets an A+ for sucking, chance is that there are others who will think the same.. instead of wasting their time, your review helps them know it's not what they are looking for, also their blog rank will decrease and it will be harder to find it in the directory.
@Kramer - It's usually very hard to get good constructive criticism on your blog. Friends don't want to burn you, strangers don't care to tell you. Very very true
@TT - I think instead of just blocking them, you should also report content theives, or does the 'block' feature send an alert to admin? It really should, if a bunch of people block it.
@acoustic - You rock for being honest, if everyone went around kissing eachothers asses, web 2.0 would be an epic fail.-
@codesucker
OOPS! I should have made it clear that I do report all content thieves previous to using the block feature. Also if they have sent me a demanding or spammy PM to my shoutbox here at BC, then I click the "spam" link on it so Admin are aware of who the member doing this is.
Slightly off-topic [rant]
I'm so sick of seeing members resurrect old "I'll review your blog" threads. Many of those were posted by members who haven't checked into BC for months. What part of click the BC username and check out when they last signed into BC do people just not get?
Others are members who did the reviewing for a limited time only, and who cannot lock the threads even though they are not continuing to do reviews. What part of when was the last time the member who posted this thread commented in the thread do people just not get?
But the ones that really peeve me off is the threads where members state I'll do a blog review. Then they post their review into the forum thread and fail to post it to the BC Profile page. Geesh! [/rant]
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There was only one time I can recall that I gave a blah review. Someone reviewed me said "nice blog" on all my blogs. I went and reviewed them. They had two blogs "Nice Blog" and "Really nice blog" were the reviews they got. -
interesting perspectives
thanks -
I always say treat others as u expect to be treated. You can b honest w/out being mean -
Happy Ending:
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The guy appreciated the honest review.
we're friends now-
Good news!
I gave an honest review of a blog that has an About page without any contents, except to state that it's been under construction for 3 years! . The same blog also has a Links page with zero links on it. All that's there is a snippet of broken code! I could go on but won't. Suffice to say that a full sized image from a news service with a source link to the service does not convince me that copyright permission was secured from that service previous to posting it into the article and publishing it. The upshot was that my honest review was removed.
I have a system for reviewing and rating blogs and I'm prepared to defend each and every review I do.
Also I'm a nice guy. If I see that a blog has noticeable faults then I tell the blogger in shoutbox messages how to fix them before I review the blog. That's why all my reviews have such high ratings. In many cases I actually coach blogger first, and review second. -
Good 4 yall
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Who are we to judge? I find something positive for the web log writer even if I do not agree with what they are projecting, unless it is offensive and then I let BC owners know. They can make the judgements. Clear conscience. When we look for the good we usually will find it. This is simply what I do. It is only my response to your question. -
Who are we to judge?
Everyone who reads judges what they read. Bloggers are blog readers and we most certainly do judge what we read.
We bloggers not only judge what we read but we also judge how what we read is presented to us. And we judge our experience of the blog in terms of accessibility and ease of navigation.
The feedback we give in our ratings and reviews ought to be useful to the mature blogger who is intent on improving their blog.
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In theory, no.
Nonetheless, you even think about givin' my blog a negative review, and it's panda stew time... -
In order for a review system to be effective negative reviews have to exist. I hate blogs like that also. They seem to like to add people as friends and then spam your sound board. -
I'd skip reviewing it publically, but give your opinion and advice in a private message.-
Do you mean only in the situations as described in the OP or every time you review a blog?
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