Discussions
guests and members
Posted by timethief • 5/05/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: fake reviews, guests, internet marketers, relationships, spammers
- (1) Why has BC Admin created such a thing as Guest accounts?
(2) What exactly is a guest?
(3) Is "guest" a label or role that can be applied to an internet marketer, who lacks a blog, but who intends to use this social network to make business contacts and to locate possible clients and employees?
(4) Why is it that guests are not required to have blogs?
(5) Which features can "guests" currently access?
(6) Why are guests being given access to any features at all?
(7) Does BC Admin have any plans to expand the number of features guests currently have access to in the near future? If so, please expand.
(8) What contribution do guests without blogs make to the BC community, which is comprised of members with blogs?
(9) What value can BC members derive from entering into relationships with guests, and particularly, with guests who lack blogs?
- Discussion:
(1) Have you experienced any BC guests?
(2) If so would you care to share your experience(s)?
(3) Do you believe that guests, without blogs do now or could make valuable contributions to the BC community?
(4) If so please share what you believe these valuable contributions currently are or could be.
User Comments
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Is this new? Or a standard feature?-
I'm sorry but I don't know the answer to your question. In fact, I don't have any answers at all so that's why I posted questions.
I do have experiences to share and NOT one of them has been a positive experience. -
opps wrong spot
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I have also noticed that there are BC members who do not have blogs at all.-
Have any officially reviewed and rated your blog yet?
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No, not yet. I just run into them on the discussion boards and wonder how it is they don't have blogs when I visit their profiles.
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What do you mean by Discussion boards please?
I'm aware that guests can post to group discussions, if and only if, the Admin of the group checks the option box that allows them to.
These are the options the Admin of any BC group can choose from:
Non-blogggers
- Not Allowed
- Require Approval
- Allow all
The Admin of any BC group can also choose either one of these as well:
Membership Type
- Open
- Closed (Owner Approval)
When the BC New Users group was spammed for the third time, I closed changed the settings to Non Bloggers - Not Allowed and the spamming stopped. -
The main discussion board, the one this thread is on. I don't ever venture into the BC groups. The one for Personal Blogs is a total waste and full of link droppers. The other groups hardly have any activity.
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Are you sure about that? I have never noticed a guest posting to the main discussion boards.
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It wasn't a guest, it was a member with no blog. Archiegottlieb has no blog and frequents the boards. I didn't understand why he didn't have a blog and asked him. Got no response.
I think BC is feeling the financial pinch like everyone else. If it can drive up visitors by allowing guests (with the hope that the guests turn into members), it's drives up revenue.
I don't think they mean to allow spammers in.
I do agree with you that certain activities, like reviewing blogs, should be restricted to members w/blogs. -
Archie had a blog and removed it.
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I don't have experience with guests and don't really have any experiences to share.
I do think that people should be able to join BC without having blogs. Some people might be interested in learning about blogging and what better place than BC? Also, I have readers who are not bloggers (they are in the minority though); therefore, there are some people who are interested in reading blogs and talking with bloggers who are not blogging themselves.
Basically, I feel this is a great community that centers on blogs--and both people who read and write blogs are welcome members (imo).-
(1) How do you feel about guests without blogs having the ability to review and rate your blog, knowing that the numbers they assign will affect your BC Blog Rank and where your blog is displayed in the Directory and in search results?
(2) How do you feel about guests who have solely commercial sites and or sites with pornographic or soley commercial content that cannot be registered at BC having the ability to review and rate your blog, knowing that the numbers they assign will affect your BC Blog Rank and where your blog is displayed in the Directory and in search results?
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I had a guest click the review button for one of my blogs and enter an advertisement for her own blog into the box and then enter a rating for my blog.
She did NOT even visit my blog. I visited what she passes off as her blog and the contents are such that it cannot be registered at BC. She LACKS the ability to write interesting, informative or engaging content but she can take snapshots of nudists - whoopee doo daw day!
I clicked the "Report This Comment" button. I completed the form by explaining why I was reporting it and asking for the "spam" to be deleted, and then clicked the link sending it to Admin.
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/official-blogcatalog-groups#comment_91546...
Admin did delete the bogus review that amounted to spam. But I'm concerned about these guests and exactly what functions they have access to. -
Hmmnnnnn. I am not sure about that. On one hand, I feel that people who read blogs should be able to write a review based on their personal opinion of your blog. Perhaps it would be useful to have a separate review section for those who are 'guests' and not bloggers themselves.
It wouldn't really bother me if they were given those priveleges, as long as they are serious, respectful, and honest in their opinion. I do feel that people who aren't bloggers can have an interesting take on blogs--particularly since they don't blog themselves.
I guess it would not bother me if they did review my blog, as long as it was well-thought-out, honest, and flattering
(just kidding on that last!). -
... as long as they are serious, respectful, and honest in their opinion.
If they aren't serious, respectful, and honest in their opinion, then what? -
what about bloggers that don't possess these same characteristics? what should we do with them?
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I don't have an answer to that question. In fact, I'm still pondering why my serious, respectful, and honest of another member's blog was deleted. I did notice that a contact form has has been added, and that the images that lacked source links previously were inserted after my review. However, this is a 3 year old blog that's rarely updated and it has an About page that's still under construction. Here it is as it appears today:
About
This page was updated on 14.
Welcome to Planet Earth Peace Party.
This page is under construction.
Posted on September 13, 2006 by Gerry (Planet Earth)
Links
This page was updated on 12.
Links and Resources (Alphabetical Order)
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‘); ?>
Posted on June 12, 2008 by Gerry (Planet Earth)
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Why do people need to have blogs to post here? Especially considering some the the crap people with blogs post? Not everyone has a blog or wants one, yet many people read blogs, even though they don't have them. A long time - over 4 years - reaader of mine never had a blog, a couple stopped their blogs long ago, most of my friends do not have blogs, yet they routinely comments on a few blogs and they love to scroll through both blogs and social networks.
I understand your concern, but I a lot of spam and crap from those with blogs, so I don't think it will really be any different with guests. It may even get those here who rely on this place for their traffic some readers.-
while readily admitting most of the stuff I post is 'crap,' this place is called BLOG-catalog, and this is a BLOGGER's forum so yeah I think maybe you should have to have a BLOG to be a 'member.' -
@Cooper
No one said anyone had to have a blog to be a member and obviously they don't, because they are here and they are posting to discussion and reviewing blogs and rating blogs, etc.
One of these took it upon herself to review 300 BC member's blogs. They all received the exact same copy and paste review and rating. -
@cooking
I'm leaning in your direction.
BC is touted as being a member driven bloggers' community. If the community composition has already been expanded to include "guests" without blogs then what does "member driven community" mean now?
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Great questions. Guest accounts have been on BC for over a year now. They are a way to get blog readers and people to the site and engage them more with blog content. We have plans to make the Guest account a more valuable service for blog readers with different tools for them to be able to find and save and read blog content that matches their interests. You do not need a guest account to review a blog. You can review one without having any account. You simply need to verify your email address.
The women who reviewed the 300 blogs was in fact a blogger. So it's clear that the issue isn't one about bloggers and non bloggers but about certain people giving fake reviews. The question seems to be more one of how do you identify them and get rid of them. The fact that you can report your reviews is one way.
Regarding the blogger forum, you may notice that non bloggers cannot participate in the discussions, ie. the forum part of this site . Non blogger readers however make up the majority of traffic that blogcatalog receives and sends to blogs. So if we were to make it a requirement that only bloggers could read and see what's going on, most of the traffic to blogs from BlogCatalog would disappear.
Just like you find "bad seeds" who are bloggers in this community. That is people who either troll, or spam, or both, you find "bad seed" readers and guests. The question isn't how you eliminate all bloggers or readers because of a few bad ones but what can we as a community do to more quickly and effectively eliminate people who spam.-
@TonyB
Thanks so much for answering all the questions.
We have plans to make the Guest account a more valuable service for blog readers with different tools for them to be able to find and save and read blog content that matches their interests.
Ahhh ... the ipod thread
The question isn't how you eliminate all bloggers or readers because of a few bad ones but what can we as a community do to more quickly and effectively eliminate people who spam.
Agreed. I think that the members of the community have to be aware of how to report spammers to Admin, and understand that reporting is necessary and will be effective.
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Great questions. Guest accounts have been on BC for over a year now. They are a way to get blog readers and people to the site and engage them more with blog content. We have plans to make the Guest account a more valuable service for blog readers with different tools for them to be able to find and save and read blog content that matches their interests. You do not need a guest account to review a blog. You can review one without having any account. You simply need to verify your email address.
The women who reviewed the 300 blogs was in fact a blogger. So it's clear that the issue isn't one about bloggers and non bloggers but about certain people giving fake reviews. The question seems to be more one of how do you identify them and get rid of them. The fact that you can report your reviews is one way.
Regarding the blogger forum, you may notice that non bloggers cannot participate in the discussions, ie. the forum part of this site . Non blogger readers however make up the majority of traffic that blogcatalog receives and sends to blogs. So if we were to make it a requirement that only bloggers could read and see what's going on, most of the traffic to blogs from BlogCatalog would disappear.
Just like you find "bad seeds" who are bloggers in this community. That is people who either troll, or spam, or both, you find "bad seed" readers and guests. The question isn't how you eliminate all bloggers or readers because of a few bad ones but what can we as a community do to more quickly and effectively eliminate people who spam.-
Non bloggers aren't allowed to participate in these discussio forums? I have come across BC members with no blogs attached to their profiles. How is it that these members can participate on the forums?
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Yeah, I had a spammer drop his link in my blog review box without giving a real review. I reported him, I believe, a couple months ago. Anyway, the questions posed by timethief should really be examined. And solutions, brought up. I feel the problems the troublemakers create place a burden on the real bloggers on BC.-
hey hey
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I had one review posted by an unkown person and it too was just a link drop that was inappropriate. I wrote in for help and BC admin removed it.-
I have found that Admin responds to our reports on these bogus blog reviews and ratings promptly and deletes them as soon as possible.
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