Discussions
Should BlogCatalog Restrict Visit 4 Visit Posts, SU Exchanges etc
Posted by TonyB • 7/19/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
The BC Team is really curious to learn what you think about discussion threads that include topic like "ill visit your blog if you visit mine", and other type traffic exchange Discussion posts.
Do you see see much value in a visit for visit type thread?
Do these type of thread seems spammy or are they adding real value?
How much value do they add?
Most important : We don't allow link exchange and link offers on here should we do the same with Visit for Visit and SU/ type exchange offers?
User Comments
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I think any thread can add value, but you do get overload.
Whatever happened to finding a thread related for stumble,digg e.t.c. and using that.
What puts me of the most using long threads is they are very log and hard to read sometimes, perhaps if they were in pages of say 15 it would be easier to use. -
BC - you can find threads related to digg/stumble etc. by using the Tag Cloud. BC has gone for a more free flow Discussion format than one where we pre arrange how areas of the discussions should be categorized.
In the future it is likely that we will add a search functionality. Not sure that 15 v 25 will make a huge difference though its something we will discuss and test.-
I just looked and there was at least ten in the last week.
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IMHO, visit 4 visit thingy is not much give me a value, but SU exchange is work great for me. -
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Ok maybe not search, but if you come to a board and see a stumble thread, why do a lot go and start another and the very next day start another. I think if you could page disussions so they are easier to read you may find it changes things
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BlogCompetition...I agree! Perhaps we should have a Category or Section just for Scratch My Back Ill Scatch Yours?
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I'm guilty of starting a discussion yesterday that asked for a stumble. I believe that was the first discussion that I ever started requesting one and I did ask a few people to review my blog today. I should have have just asked on my own blog where I do have the SU button. I apologize SitePro.
I find no problem in sharing a resource or article with BlogCatalog if it benefits the BlogCatalog community in some way. Ex: Articles on Blogging and what not.
The Show me your blog, stumble me I'll stumble you threads are getting out of hand and I think that the team will have to decide where they draw the line. Sorry again for adding to that problem.
I don't know how the BC team feels about this, but maybe you could set up a forum for Blog Contests that those hosting a contest could post in?-
PrettyLady... its fine with me. Just really curious if we there is a creative solution for us to use or just let things roll as they have been.
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I think the problem lies when there are so many threads requesting one. Maybe as you suggested you could set up a catagory just for requests.
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All of the offers seem spammy after awhile, due to sheer volume if for no other reason.
I'd be fine if there were truly a daily "this is my post for the day, please read it and/or comment and/or link and/or digg, etc, etc," but I can't imagine that there is a way to keep everyone involved to that limit.
Bottom line: we all want our blogs read, dugg, stumbled, linked, etc, but it seems a losing fight. After awhile, you get immune to it all and I'll typically purposefully not go to someone's site who hammers us all with such posts. -
I wouldn't mnid at all if you guyz restrict the "visit for a visit" posts. Some are interesting and sometimes there's a cool discussion going on, but too often they don't add a lot of value.
As for the SU posts, I wouldn't mind if you guyz restricted that also, there are a lot of other places people can go to exchange stumbles (the stumble project forum on lovesickalien is a nice place to start, and a lot oof BC members are on there)
my 7 cents
(yeah I just found 5 cents on my desk, so I thought I could add that to my 2 cents) -
AGAINST ANY KIND OF CENSURE. dont. -
They are extremely spammy and honestly, for me they are worthless. I want to be read because of content, not my level of begging and whoring.
I don't think they should be eliminated because it does work for some people... maybe have an entirely different section... not a discussion but something similar to the new broadcasts... where its a simple visit 4 visit thing.
As for a category for them, isn't shameless blog promotion broad enough to cover that? -
Options so far:
1. Restrict exchange for exchange
2. Set up new forum for BlogContests and include visit 4 visit as a component
3. No restrictions / No Censorship < let culture of community dictate and blacklist people who abuse freedoms
4. If you are JP... donate 3c to GoodKnife each time you exchange peeps.-
only 3c?
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50% more than your 2c
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Ph... the problem with putting them in shameless self promotion, if you dont want to see them, is they still show up in the main threads when you visit discussions.
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Exactly.
I imagine that most people, like I, don't go section by section (General, BC Help, Shameless, etc.), in essence nullifying the sections (no offense).
It would be better served if all the begs could be in an entirely different forum, as Phattitudes suggests. Then, those who enjoy/participate in them can go there, and those that wish to avoid them go to Discussions. That way, no censuring happens. -
BlogCabins.... that does seem like a good solution. I dont go by categories ...either. Pehaps the section needs to be all on Traffic Generation for your Blog.
Maybe we could add some tools within the new section that make the process even easier. eg. ways to keep track of lists of URLs... so that you dont have to repost the entire list of URLs to vist.
What other types of tools could we program to help drive traffic to blogs from this new section?
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Understandable... but same thing if you have a v4v discussion category. They'll still show up on the main discussions page, no?
What about a subdomain/separate page for v4v specifically? With categories like Stumble, digg, 'rati fave me, etc. -
3 is the best.
and to be honest this freedom has give me the opportunity to talk, help, be helped, get visitors, learn
This togheter with all the good stuff made BC growning so fast.
I dont see any problem. if i dont like the topic i dont click.
I respect everybody interest.
I more then double my visit and adsense in the last 2 weeks here in BC.
I have supported BC.
I give and i get that's the spirit.-
I have to disagree with you there. I don't think it is censorship. Blog Catalog does not allow link requests. Is that censorship?
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If I had my druthers (sorry phrase of the day), I'd integrate a separate page for V4V, so that it remains a freedom to be used, but that it is self contained in one area. Again, with categories for each thing, such as general visits, technorati, digg, stumble, etc. Then I would say create a discussion category for blog contests, because they do need their own place as well. It would certainly solve the clogging of v4v post.
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Once we start categorizing areas... it becomes a slippery slope...and we end up with a phpBB or vBulletin type feel.
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What you need is a new forum board. I dislike the ones you are using. lol I have always liked phpBB or vBulletin.
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I think they're ok as "Shameless Blog Promotion." However, I've noticed that the same individuals keep starting the same thread after the initial thread drops from page 1. Not sure that's ok. -
we also been able to moderate our self by isolating clearly SPAM . i like that spirit. we share different interest and protect the community
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Another suggestion would be to add a functionality where you can pick multiple categories at a time to view. For example I could pick all but "Shameless Blog Promotion" which would solve the issues for users who do not want to read these types of threads.
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thats good. individual choice. NO ghetto
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A great intention, but most people, like myself, probably don't single out a category. I stick to the discussion page as a whole. I'm cheering for a separate forum.
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Individual choice monitored by the culture of the community.
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thumb up -)
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I'm cheering for a new forum board. With that I say goodnight all. Night Tony!:)
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sleep well . funny i just wake up
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A new forum board would work. I think of Shameless Blog Promotion more as a "heads up" area for someone to in general make folks aware of their site. At least I BELIEVE that was the intended purpose.
The Traffic Exchange idea as a separate forum that doesn't show up in the Overall listing would be helpful.
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hehehe... it's only now that you ask re "visit for visit post value"? I wouldn't have commented had you not asked...it's not only the above that you have to be concerned with "if adding real value"...you admin guys sure need an editorial team to weed out all other "posts just for the sake of being posted" type of posts. Honestly, since you had already asked our opinions, your discussions forum resembled so much my email spam box, with a bunch of pathetic junks cluttering around well, a few supposedly "not junk" mails.-
I must say, I like your honesty.
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I don't mind the v4v type posts except that there are so many of them, they movie the other threads out of the main discussion page faster than I can get to them.
Spammy? Not really. Annoying? Sometimes. What would be nice is if you set a cookie for us and gave us an "Ignore" button so that we don't see a particular thread again if we don't want to.-
RT ... a hide thread type option could be great.
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My vote goes to this suggestion. -
My vote goes to changing to Vbulletin, but a hide option would work.
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vn...fair enough..though we arent looking to police the discussions.
Your spam box must be different than 99% of the world's as most spam that net users receive tends to be commercial offers typically focused on dysfunctions and shortcomings in performance.
I guess Im looking at a different discussion area to you and/or the mass generated emails that I receive are substantially different to yours. I haven't noticed to many masss generated comments on these discussions. Have you?-
Not mine! They spam my feedback form.
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wow, glad to see this up here. I think I agree with most people here - there are just too many of them. I always ignore them because, we do have the 'what did you post today' thread and I've read quite a few of those. And they do make it harder to see the other discussions as frustration quickly sets in and I'm new here. I like the discussions, even if they are 'blog promotion' like the donor one the other day. In the end it's quality anyway. But pure begging w/out offering anything intellectual is a turn-off.
I like the idea of a completely separate area for those requests, one that doesn't show each thread in the main discussion area.-
There is a balance - google in any case has wised up and will grade sites with relevant links not just the number of links. Maybe an EBAY / LINKBAY type discussion board where people can blindly link and be merry could work here at blogcatalog.
This is different to shameless blog promotion - we post a deep thinking question - some answer it on the board, others at or blog, some do both -it all adds to the debate - often with no links at all but dam good content tha becomes part of our legacy and therefore visitors return.
In much the same way as we check the "company" that people keep, Google is looking at your web site and checking who is it linked from and are they "right" for your web site. Still want all those links now?
One of the best things you can do to enhance your web site is to attract links from relevant sites (good company for you) rather than just getting links from all your friends and contacts, or anyone who'll give you a link.
That's our philosophy anyway and we're convinced google is wising up to on line prostitution of link baby link. We sell flowers, we post about health, food, general, travel - a wide scope but all we touch fall ito those categories in some way and add to our blog.
If we had to choose between 20 well posted comments on our blog (from people here at blog catalog) and NO links VERSUS 20 lnked sites and NO comments on our blog, guess what - we'd go for the content over the links!
Anyone else? No link required if you answer :0)
Flowers Doo-bye, Group hug optional. -
I hope you didn't think I thought your discussion had no value - I wouldn't have gone to your blog multiple times and posted here otherwise. My point was, if you include a call to go to your blog and it's an interesting topic, I'll go. If you want blind visits and diggs, I'm not your call. Quality counts. That's the same for my blog, I do'nt want people going just to go, I want them there because they want to be there.
I like the 'linkbay' idea a lot actually. I've noticed some are willing to pay for reviews (to me that's odd, I've always seen free reviews offered here and by other people who come to the blog. Heck, I know I'm working on mine and feedback to me is a free review - people telling me when they can't see a link, how font appears. I've had that and value it) so I'm sure there are those that will pay for links and diggs, stumbles, etc. For some the payment might just be a stumble in return, for others something different. -
For sure V, agreed.
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i think p.l.should "chair" a new forum board....tony what do u think? -
I don't know there is a lot of censorship here already. What is another level of it?-
Should I open the door for you?
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Rose: you may not want to start throwing stones. Everyone has the right to weigh in their opinions. You seem to do so often enough, even when it's not solicited. -
No one was throwing stones, but if you want to line up I don't mind tossing a few at you. (Now, please ignore me & I will ignore you) Thanks! Seeing how he thought this place was censored already, I thought that I would be the first to show him the door. Have a nice day and you can put away your claws.
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Christ you are such an attention whore...
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Done and stumbled! -
Ross- go to your room. lol
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Personally, I wouldn't mind if you restricted the visit for visit thing (I'd be glad), but I'll bet you'll annoy a lot of people. A separate category would be nice. Self-policing or, if you will, a BlogCatalog culture, will never take care of the problem by itself. Maybe some of your "censorship" efforts should go towards making sure people post in the right category? Someone above also pointed out that the shameless category is actually quite useful for learning about new posts, so the visit for visit kind of ruins that.-
It is a delicate line to walk indeed.
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Most things you people say make sense, and I agree with them.
The only big problem NO ONE pointed is that you can't see the quality unless you visit lots of blogs and then determine which one is of any interest to you. And you can't visit blogs if blogs don't promote "themselves".
Eventually, the good ones will stay apart and will continue to grow. The bad ones will fall.
But hey, don't speak of quality unless you have choices. Because if you have only 1 blog you can't say it's good simply because you have no terms of comparison. To determine what is good and what is bad you need to have at least 2 of them.-
oiloffmar writes "you can't visit blogs if blogs don't promote 'themselves.'' Maybe. But this is a blog catalog, right? It has categories to help you poke around. Also, even if you accept the necessity of promotion here on the forum, you can do it without visit for visit. When I find someone saying something interesting here, or speaking good sense, I will click on their avatar and go to their profile. More often than not I'll make it all the way to their blog(s). On the other hand, I tend to ignore those people whose only contribution here is "visit me", "stumble me," etc.
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Letting everyone know your blog is out there is one thing (which is where Shameless Blog Promotion comes in handy), however the constant stream of begging for traffic is another and should either be contained elsewhere on the site (or have functionality built into the forum to hide those threads).
I'm sorry, but I find them annoying too.
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i think its vital.
perhaps a category of its own would be appropriate...
but i think the networking that goes on is vital to this place being a success.... the last thing ya wanna do is take away from that. -
NOOOO CENSURE. where is the problem here , somebody is annoyed of promotions. I dont like sport -for example- and when i read the newspaper i simple ignore it. Or should i complain and ask to cancel o move that section??
I think it has been quite tollerant and self disciplined here. what is this need to put this new role. I didnt see really any SPAM.-
The analogy would work if there was a separate section for these kinds of messages. I can ignore sports in the newspaper, because it is all in one section. Imagine if there was sports on every page of your newspaper mixed in with the information you cared about. That's the problem I have. I want to be able to tune out those kinds of things. That's why I advocate a separate category.
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How do you see guidlines as censorship?
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Absolutely spammy. I've nothing against people promoting their blogs - it's why we're here - but thread after thread of 'you do me and I'll do you' is like reading my spam filter.
The one-time show-up-to-vote-so-I'll-vote-for-them is not the sort of traffic I'm looking for anyway. Shouldn't be what anyone's looking for. -
stoneman: "I tend to ignore those people whose only contribution here is "visit me", "stumble me" - it's a free world, do whatever you like, and let other do whatever they like as long as they comply with the legal terms of blogcatalog.
Just as everything else on this planet, regardless whether you're tv, joomla, opera or blogcatalog you can't please everyone. That is why each person has the ability to choose what to do.
stoneman, as I have seen from you in the past you tend not to accept other opinions for the mere fact they are not the same with yours. It's like I want to buy a Lexus and you come and say Lexus is sh*tty, buy a Infiniti instead.
I repeat: as long as people abide by the legal terms of this online platform, they are free to do whatever they want without the need of those NOT interested in what they say, to come and start giving "advice" and indications.
It's a free country - last time I checked...
PS: you may all be new to this online experience (including you guys, yes, those at blogcatalog), I've been around for many looooong years. Let me tell you that interacting with people following votes and visits, and now lately diggs, stumble, and other social bookmarks, is extraordinary. You know why? Because each and every person gets to choose who to visit, what to comment, what to learn.
For instance, many of the bloggers on blogcatalog, myself included, have tried and still try to promote blogs. You'd be surprised to know how much I learned from a lot of bloggers with whom I interacted. Ross for instance, www.rosshetherington.com/ had a very interesting post on London Games new logo, which is simply crap - and it costed almost $500,000. GoSmellTheFlowers has wonderful posts about life. And I can keep the list for a full day...
I've learned a lot from others who promoted their blogs, and honestly, I wouln't have looked for those blogs or for those keywords, but since they were in front of me, I visited them. I trust each and every one of good faith bloggers had something to learn from the blogs promoted.
If you don't trust me, fine. Go ahead and shut down. But don't be surprised if blogcatalog goes down as well. -
I like the option to disable categories on an individual basis. If I don't want to see the "Shameless Promotion" category, I would like to be able to disable it in my profile settings.
I agree with what Stoneman says. If I read someone's blog and like it, I will stumble it, even if they didn't create a "Stumble Me" thread begging for it! We need to incorporate that into our culture. Stumble whenever you read another Blog Cataloger's blog, not just when they ask for it. Same goes for Digg, etc. If we can get that idea working (doubtful), then we won't need anymore stumble exchange threads.-
Yes, geminito, this is fair. Choose what to read. Like a newspaper, like tv. Choose yourself. But don't eliminate something you don't like because many others like it.
Let's say I don't like blogcatalog. Do I come here and start posting idiot information and try to spam the others? NO. I choose. I choose to leave. -
To go with Identikit's newspaper analogy some more, and since you're using it too, oiloffmar, Blog Catalog is trying to please a very diverse group of people with different reasons for blogging. To keep everyone happy, they're thinking about how they could create a win-win situation so that people on both sides of the "visit for visit" fence can be happy. Newspapers do that by offering nooks and crannies for everyone. Newspapers also have a ton of ads. But they create a mechanism for people to navigate through the stuff easily, so that each type of user is happy. They also never fill their front page with ads. There doesn't need to be an argument here. Instead there need to be creative ideas that will make all of us happy---or at least as many as possible.
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Take it easy, oilofmar. I didn't suggest that we ban anything. I was talking about our own private profile settings.
Try to keep this discussion civil. Bold fonts are not necessary.
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How about a classified section, like in the newspaper? Then people looking for mutual diggs, etc., could do as they wished. Indeed, they could go straight to that section and bypass my silly remarks. In turn, I would be able to bypass the classified section.
But you might need another word for the section. Otherwise people might take it literally and start selling stuff there. -
somebody here is promoting itself as moderator ?????
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It's called a "discussion" identikit. You might notice that I revised my original position in light of your contributions. I'm trying to think of something that would make us *both* happy.
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Wow, this is getting nasty.
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Identikit was being subtle in comparison to what I've seen from you. Notice how he and I managed to get back on the right track below?
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and NO ghetto here.
community we share all the same things. As been succefully for BC . Why should they change somethnig that goes very well ???
In the other hand they want the community to grown . we all grow togheter .I read your thing stoneman sometimes i agree some other i dont. so i personaly partecipate at all part of the community. why should i jump from one "ghetto" to another.
What is this snobish actitude . The professors and the shameless
Is that what you want??-
It's not snobbish to dodge the "visit for visit" posts. I look at literally everything else---including many shameless posts. (I've posted some myself.) But it is sometimes hard to find that other stuff. At least I think that is what the initial point of SiteProPlus's question was. Snobbish? Don't hold my occupation or tastes against me. I also tend to dodge the "prayer needed" things. Not because I'm mean, but because I don't pray.
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[duplicate. sorry]
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Remember too, you said you don't read the sports section of your newspaper. That makes you a snob? That is bad? Come on, propose a positive solution that would make us both happy. Though I must say, any change has to be a great one, otherwise I would go with the attitude, "if it ain't too broke, don't fix it."
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that is what i mean i dont like but i never thought to ask to take it away. i just skip it. but is there and im happy that is there. horoscope is there and is fine. just not for me. you know what i mean?? i know you, deep inside, like me too.
Lets put it this way. A BC a day keeps the AdWords away.
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thats right im giving my point of view. dont take it personal. i actualy like you -)
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Now you're embarrassing me.
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[duplicate: seems to be a bug with my browser]
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sorry i didnt mean that way. its just that im against boxes . i think an option to disactivate the actual category will make every body happy. i personaly will look at everything and as you noticed i reacted immediately to clear spam.
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In the long term, those tit-for-tat visits and stumbles are never going to match a genuine friend, admirer, or collaborator. 10 "forced stumbles" is never going to compare to getting a single, real one both in terms of its effect and how you view it--it's about more than numbers.
As for this site, it would be good if they had their own category outside "shameless promotion" as I quite like reading peoples' site introductions and general information.-
What you just articulated is EXACTLY what I was thinking! Thank you.
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what about me??? im interested in both general discussion and promotion.
Im not an horse with blinders -
I agree with this idea and that is what I was going to suggest too...i like it when other people look at my blog and see it when I wouldn't be able to maybe get them as an audience to mine. (I noticed mine was deleted the other week there when I offered to visit others blogs because I like to see others and how they do things.) -
taylor blue: they have been deleting "link for link" posts lately. Maybe yours looked like one of those?
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maybe...It doesn't matter...I still love blogcatalog!!!!
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I quite like the layout of this forum, it's easy to read and wade through. I would hate to see that change. But, I agree that an alternate way to post/view V4V posts would be nice (and almost seems necessary).
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Tony, no offense, but the layout of this forum is very cluttered. You have to wade through everything unless you click on categories or the cloud. The cloud was a nice touch. Thanks!
Tony, could you integrate vBulletin or SMF into the system that BC is running or would that be an option? Have you considered that? -
I used to wish this forum was more like the standard forums I see on the sites of software developers, but the layout has actually grown on me. I'm with rippin on this.
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I like this forums layout I am sick of the standard phpbb and vbulletin board layouts, if this had a search function it would be a step in the right direction.
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What Kevin said.
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I like the layout of this forum too.. I do agree about the search option but I have been to other forums and it's not as user friendly as this one. It's such a pain to move from one thread to another. BC doesn't have that problem.
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ROSE:
"No one was throwing stones, but if you want to line up I don't mind tossing a few at you. (Now, please ignore me & I will ignore you) Thanks! Seeing how he thought this place was censored already, I thought that I would be the first to show him the door. Have a nice day and you can put away your claws. :)"
Oh, you do think you're very clever. I will lob stones right back, Rose. I would like to ignore you but it seems that you will NEVER GO AWAY like you promised to a few nights ago.
As far as censorship goes: HE IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT as somehow your "Goodbye cruel BlogCatalog" discussion miraculously disappeared. If anyone needs to be shown the door it is you. You're a troll.
Claws are out for the day, sweetheart.-
I asked for it to be removed if you must know as you and others used it as a platform to personally attack me and make a joke out of why I was leaving. Something that was very serious! When I returned and just wanted to be left alone, you and pointlessbanter both had to put your two cents with remarks that I was sucking a$$. I don't kiss anyone's a$$ and that goes for Tony's. I contribute a lot to this forum and am an active participant. If anyone is a troll here, it is pointlessbanter and one other member, but that is not for me to say. Now you can continue to bate this topic, but I'm done talking to you.
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You want to know why so many people attacked you is because you repeatedly jump down the throats of others. I kept my tongue bitten for a long time but I finally decided to start cutting into you hoping you would go away.
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All people did in that thread was show their true colors and I'm actually glad it took place as now I know just what some of you are about and how far you will go to hurt someone. Some of you will stop at nothing and that includes making a joke out of something so very serious. It makes me wonder why Molly left and deleted her blog. Was she too being attacked? Your attacks at my looks did not work now did it? I'm still here. Please bite your tongue a little more.
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You could get the year right. It was 1997.
You have the right to your opinion, but as long as Sitepro feels my discussion add value then I will continue as I have been. If you don't like them- don't read them.
My discussion add just as much value if not more as your "I need a stumble discussions."
While some may not like me, there are many who do.
This is a network, not everyone is going to like everyone and it is time you and the kitten lived with it. Now I would love to sit and discuss this, but I have more important places to be and we are getting off topic. -
Okay guys. Maybe we need a separate thread where we claw rip each other to pieces. This is a useful discussion thread, but if it gets out of control, they might end up deleting the whole darn thing again.
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erm, talk about censorship. Was Pointlessbanter's response so offensive that you had to moderate it? I think this is one of the reasons I haven't been on here as much..
This is becoming a one person show in here and rest of us are all mum.
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identikit: I wasn't alienating you at all, it's just that Siouxfire summed it up succinctly in fewer words.
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I was just saying that. Sorry Mark, I'm done.
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how about a poll ??
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I think that that is what this is. They won't be able to just go by the numbers anyway. They need to hear a bunch of opinions and then they will figure out how it all fits into their overall vision for BlogCatalog. Like it or not, this ain't a democracy. Fortunately, the powers that be are benevolent, even if they do have to throw their weight around a bit when people get nasty.
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A poll sounds good.
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I'll say right off the bat that all those 'I digg if you do' posts are a huge turn-off and I wondered if that was all the discussion area of the blogcatalog was for. If I hadn't seen a couple posts with more actual thought, I would have never come back. There's a difference between promoting and introducing your blog and hundreds of individual threads which, as Sioux said (paraphrased), are for numbers really, not readers which is what I thought blogs were for.
It would be great if there were easier ways to find the posts here with real actual information in them.-
Of course Mark. I figured you would be.
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???
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SiteProPlus cited two good ideas:
* Set up new forum for BlogContests and include visit 4 visit as a component
* Individual choice monitored by the culture of the community.
I prefer the second.
"Shameless Promotion" is a good existing category for visit4visit posts
Nobody forces me to read 'visit me, I'll visit you' posts, and I doubt that many others are under compulsion, either.
I submit that visit4visit campaigns are pointless, except as a sort of sport. I doubt that links, long-term viewing patterns, and other significant traffic-building happens as a result of visit4visit.
But what do I know?-
Norski writes, "But what do I know?"
Ah yes. The most important lesson that every good husband and father has to learn. -
stoneman:
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As a sign of my appreciation i sent a bit of traffic from SU in your historysurvey.blogspot.com wich should be on the way now
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I'm speechless, identikit.
By the way, could you maybe explain your user name? I have the darndest time trying to remember how it's spelled. Maybe it would be easier if I knew what it meant.
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Identikit Aps is the name of my undercover grafic and design company.
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And why "Identikit"? Does it mean anything? Or does it just have a cool ring?
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sorry did you get?
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identikit is when you give to somebody or somenting an identity. Used also by police to identify a person. Undercover because it was an hobby until we - me and girlfriend from norway - quit our job to be full time blogger.
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Cool-- I kind of was wondering what the meaning behind the name was, too. Maybe THAT would be an interesting discussion... Why folks have chosen their various user names. It goes a long way toward getting to know each other, I think.
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The problem with the stumble and the digg posts is that people still gain readers. It might not be from the BC members directly but you get a bump. I know when I have promoted a handful of blogs in here I always see a spike in RSS subscribers. In the end it does lead to good traffic so it is useful to the forums but I guess what the general question is to what extent?
Maybe we should just flat out create three threads digg, stumble, technorati and place them on the sidebar of the page. You can post your requests there and if you post a new thread it gets nuked. Instead of creating another sub category for people to post the wrong thread in or just deleting it across the board we could do that. Every couple of weeks/months clean it out and start again....-
good idea
i tried to say so earlier, but BC seems to have crashed again --- just liker the last time the flame wars were going on --- maybe computers have feelings too?
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OMG ... This thread is getting too long. I don't even know how to read it.
Many stumblers like me are already moved out to somewhere. We don't ask for stumble exchange here any more, because we don't want to flood this place. Also, it's not the right way to do stumbling.
I believe BC has the right to stop any kind of conversation. With the freedom to speak our mind, that make BC stands out from other communities.
I ignore those discussion that I am not interested and move on.
Look at BC's Alexa traffic ranking in the past month. Without all of our contribution, BC won't gain so much traffic so quickly.
Let people speak their mind. As long as there is no black mail, offensive content or advertisement, I am fine with it. -
wasnt me
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wasnt me
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I don't think people who are adding other bloggers and exchanging links really care much about the others blog. It's a way to be seen. The more links u have out the better chance u will be seen.
I don't have anything against it, but I don't think I have joined any recent.. I joined linky love because it listed my blog in a topic area with blogs that are like mine, and it boosted my technorati rating also.
I do know that u have to find people outside of the blogsphere to really boost readership. I mean people who are online looking for info about any topic. They become regular readers and commenter. -
I agree with Terence that this site would not be so popular without the discussion forum and the promo threads.
But it doesn't hurt to see a thread like this, once in a while, to keep the promo threads under some control. -
I am actually starting a forum at www.15blogs.com since by nature its a promotional site... I figuire it makes sense for SEO and repeat visitors, so why shouldn't BlogCatalog stay the same.
If it ain't broke don't fix it. Look at the Alexa traffic for BC, something is working.
Chris
www.noheat.com
Tech News too Cool!
&
www.15blogs.com
Get your Blog Seen, your Source for Link backs, Diggs, and Stumbles.-
Is it me or did they just delete both of your new Stumble threads? Maybe they've reached a conclusion then? Or is BC just acting strange?
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Im acting strange. I noticed a duplicate thread and removed both by mistake. The decision as to what to do will come out of this thread....somehow.
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Thanks, I was wondering.
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site its because you keep itching your ear...
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Good thing the photo was taken a few seconds later.
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poll
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Gaak, I just read this entire thread and I'm exhausted! :-b
FWIW, a separate section/heading for the V4V should work (beyond shameless promotion thread -- which I see more as an intro to your blog, etc.) OTOH, I often skip over those threads when they appear on the present format. If the thread title doesn't sound appealing (for whatever reason) then simply skip it!-
To even keep track of things I am using the find feature of my browser. Can look for people or also terms like "seconds" and "minutes."
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So keeping with my motto of "Show me the baby and not the pain" I am showing you a baby (idea) and you can take it as a solution, or not.
I have a better idea, based up what I think should be filters. Why don't you let the community VOTE on what the category is. That way you keep a fast moving front page while keeping pertinent categories. People who want to vote and see everything on the front page of discuss. People who only want specific categories can hang out there. Any opinions or has everyone already tired of this thread of a over hundred responses.
Chris
www.noheat.com
Tech News too Cool!
&
www.15blogs.com
Get your Blog Seen, your Source for Link backs, Diggs, and Stumbles.-
I've heard of voting for things, but voting to determine a category? I'm trying to picture how that would work, and I'm failing. Care to elaborate?
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Keep "See and be Seen" Totally Separate from Discussions.
When one clicks on the "Discussions Tab" one will only find topics for discussion.-
I don't know about totally separate, but I like that phrase for a heading: "See and be seen." It has a positive twist, so those on it needn't feel discriminated against. But they would if they were nowhere on the discussion board. Watch out! Someone here might get mean, so you better duck.
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Again, I think the answer is.......
a seperate forum for link exchange (stumble, digg, ect).
also, someone would need to moderate and move threads that may be placed in the wrong forums.
i think this would solve alot of the issues that i see people are having with the "spam" discussions...
I dont think getting rid of all "spam" discussions is a good thing,
thats one of the reasons this site has experienced growth and gotten as big as it is now....... take that away and it will be the begining of the end, imo.... -
It does seem that the desire for mutual visits is an obvious point.
Whenever I have a few minutes, I find looking at who the bloggers I read have noted to be more productive than randomly trading visits anyway.
Writer -
I don't really agree with using the term spam. Most of the people here looking for Diggs and Stumbles or whatever have well written content that is just not being seen for whatever reason (new site or not established user base). I don't see it as spam, I see it as struggling site trying to gain userbase.
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i agree with you...
but the reason i used that word, is because most people who see those types of threads are going to automatically label it "spam"... which really is why we are having this discussion.
your right tho, its not spam...
and i also wonder who keeps deleting my posts, and why.....
i guess its not cool if i get a few backlinks and network with others... -
CitizenX, they started deleting direct requests for links a few weeks ago. You'll have to go about that a different way.
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I was not talking to you Mark.
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???
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I really don't ask for visits, and I don't get them either lol. but it's all fun anyway, blogging, and learning from other Bloggers so I don't have to beg for a comment or Digg ( don't like that site) or a stumble. I would rather better my content and people find it on their own, not by linkfarming to the top, that means I didn't get their by my writing, but being a good linker lol lol
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As a newbie...I am going to bravely introduce my opinion. Many of you are very, very blog/social network/groups/chatroom savvy. Me? I am not. I am just a regular, run of the mill, 35 year old mother with a consulting company who was told that every business needs a blog.
From my experience...I like Blog Catalog more than any of the other blog listing sites. I think it is easy, friendly and visually pleasing. It is not too cluttered, confusing or filled with mysterious codes, buttons or filters. I have found many blogs here that I truly like and read with regularity based on my interests. I like the ease of making friends, exchanging ideas and even offering occasional personal support.
I like the discussion area and I think it works well now the way that it is currently set up. Those that are looking for Diggs and Stumbles don't stay on the front page long. Interesting topics...like this one...truly stay on the front pages as they remain worthy of "Discussion".
Group Hug!!! EE-
a bit like the idea that i sent to BC by mail!?
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GROUP HUG - We're sooooo there! Its the cornerstone of our brand!
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PregnantX - I tend to agree with you.
This discussion includes some really great ideas. One that seems like it will keep the dynamic nature of these discussion intact yet create additional valule is to leave the discusssions the way they are and add a new section to BlogCatalog designed to drive traffic to blogs.
The new section could be called Seen and Be Seen and include...Digg/SU/Tech/V4V offers as well as some tools designed to drive traffic to each other's blogs.-
The more I think about this solution, the better I like it. And if it offers other ways to drive traffic, I should think those doing V4V would be happy indeed.
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a bit like the idea that i sent to BC by mail!?
is for siteProPlus - wrong positions $.$$$ -
identikit...certainly if the traffic generation section is effective... then premium $.$$$ options can be added.
So far, we have tried to keep site monetization as innocuous as possible and focus on community building. There seems to be a tension between social aspects of sites like BlogCatalog and driving traffic. At the moment we are starting to see the tension more clearly and it seems like we are at a point where we should start creating more tools to drive traffic to blogs.
However, even if we introduce these tools, the primary focus of the Blogcatalog team will be to strengthen the community so that bloggers can connect, grow and learn from each other. -
yes, i vote for this. a seperate section for traffic/money etc. some folks need more help than others to generate viewership and readership, they should be allowed to have their needs met, why not here at BC. (no need to completely do a shut-out of these types of posts) let's have a devoted section, instead. -
I think that is an excellent idea. Would it be sort of like a classified section where members could barter exchanges? Digital Point has theirs under a Freebie section in the forums.
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no, don't restrict the discussions. like someone said earlier those posts that catch the attention of a few, usually don't last long on the home page. plus newbies will ALWAYS come in and drop a link or request a digg, etc. that is not gonna stop or change.
folks should ignore the threads they don't like or aren't interested in.
what i would like to see, is a seperate or disntinction of posts from bc staff. like maybe an announcements section. but just for staff. -
I guess it depends what you want to become. The link exchange for exchange is a little bit spammy in my opinion.
I don't pay attention to any of the social middle school stuff so none of that concerns me.
I'd like to see good blogs featured and labeled into better categories so if I were looking for new but good say...political blogs I could quickly find them.-
"social middle school stuff"? Whatever do you mean?
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Has anyone else noticed that while there is a lot of argument on both sides of the "yes, restrict those threads" and "no, don't impose any limitations" issue, no one (at least, none that I've seen--with 160 responses I guess I could have missed one or two) has stepped up and said, "I really like those threads" or "I think there's value to those threads" or "It would diminish the usefulness of BC to me if we couldn't post those threads."
I'm not sure why, though.
Is it because no one feels strongly about it?
Or because the people who most make use of that kind of thread don't seem to participate in any other discussions on these forums, and so may not even know this conversation is taking place?
Or is it just that no one wants to be identified as the guy who's just in this community for cheap traffic?
If there are people out there who think these threads are useful and important, it seems it would be helpful if they'd weigh in and make their case. -
identiki and oiloffmar had some pretty strong feelings, I thought. Go up about 11 hours.
Also, Terence Chang thinks that BlogCatalog owes some of its success to the V4V parts of the forum. He says it has been a draw for many. He mentioned this somewhat more clearly on another thread. It seems like SiteProPlus recognizes this fact, as he is talking about adding a "see and be seen" section, even as he emphasizes the primacy of the social quality of the forums.-
But did you "hear" a single person say, "I personally benefit from those threads and want to be able to use them freely"? Even identikit, in arguing against censoring them, said, "I personally don't like them" (or words to that effect).
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Oh. I see your point. But their defense amounts to a declaration of needing the things, no? Both of those guys have been very annoyed elsewhere when I suggested they were overdoing it. It is important to them. I was able to learn a little more about how identikit thinks and why he uses these forums on the following thread: www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/anyone-see-blogcatalogs-alexa-ranking-lat...
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By all means, let the folks that want to stroke each other's egos do so, but let's get them a room. -
I am new here and don't know much about blogs, I keep adding mine and it gets declined and i don't know why? I is not bad blog. What am I doing wrong? can anyone help please?-
Start a new thread for that. Your question will get lost in this long one.
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I agree that nobody should be censored but I also agree that they should "get a room" and stop tooting their own horns in our faces. If I'm in the mood I will go there, but most of the time I am not. After reading through most of this thread it sounds like everybody is kind of in agreement.
Perhaps BC can set up the area and see just how much the area is visited and just how long it takes for it to fizzle out. I feel that it is spammy and it gets old quickly. I've not been an active person on BC but I just wanted to say that I agree with what appears to be the feeling of the majority here. We all want visits but at whose expense?
Don't evict anyone, just give 'em their own sandbox to play in! -
I guess I see no harm in helping someone get a good Digg going. I've seen some pretty decent pages ask for Diggs so I really dont mind doing it for someone else. I think it has more to do with the friendly atmosphere of BC that people try to help each other out. Whether its Digg, Stumble, or just advice. This community is one that will help the new guys out with whatever they need. That needs to remain open. MadameX I believe there are people out there that came for the Digg (Shameless promotion) and stayed for relationships. So yes I think its valuable and I wouldn't mind helping anyone on here drive traffic to their website.
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I'm strong against this idea. Don't take away one of the impetuses why people participate in the discussions.
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I think it is cheap and licks of desperation. -
getting a room is great. A separate area like craigslist is great. Those tumble me for you and pay me to do this for you are a turn off to me. But I'm fragile at times
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