post

Let’s Not Spam MyBlogLog

It  certainly  feels  like  every  single  blog  is  talking  about  MyBlogBlog’s  acquisition  by  Yahoo.  I think TechCrunch gets the “Best Title” award: Yahoo Buys MyBlogLog. No, They Didn’t. Wait, Yes.

Well, I am the exception, I am NOT writing about the deal

smile_speedy

When I first installed it on my blog, I thought this was all about providing useful outbound stats (who clicked what..etc).  Then the faceroll showed up, and before we noticed, MyBlogLog transformed itself into a social networking tool for bloggers.   That’s all fine, I like it and use it. 

But recently I am starting to get spammed.  Probably not “bad” spam, just a network’s growing pains – contact notifications from people I’ve never before heard about.  I went through this with LinkedIn, until I established my own “less is more” ground rules.   Now, let’s recognize that LinkedIn is primarily for business, and by definition is more restrictive  – online contacts there should really reflect one’s real-live network.  I feel MyBlogLog is more open, there is room for creating new “friendships” online – yet I think it would be helpful to establish some protocol before contact-hunting escalates to far. 

Making someone a contact is not the only way to network, and if we don’t already know each other, it’s certainly not the right initial step.   That’s what joining each other’s blog communities and sending messages are for.  But frankly, “interesting read!” is not a message – if this was a blog-comment, it would be borderline spam.  Which brings up the other point – if you join someone’s blog community, supposedly you’re interested in actually reading the blog itself, will likely engage in a conversation through comments or trackbacks, and soon you will really know each other – that’s the right time to add them as a contact.

By following this simple protocol, we can keep MyBlogLog spam-free.  What to you think?

 

Comments

  1. Interesting read!

    🙂 Sorry, couldn’t resist….

  2. I fully agree. I suspect that part of the problem is that it is not clear what the “etiquette” is, as well as what the terms mean.

    I use mybloglog as well, and found myself confused about admirer, community member, friend, contact, etc. If someone adds me as a contact, do I also need to add them as a contact?

    A simple definition of what is what and guidelines on how it should be used would be very helpful. What you’ve described above sounds like a good start, hope mybloglog folks adapt something similar.

  3. 🙂

  4. How to be Dead Wrong – On MyBlogLog

    As a professional skeptic, I am often slow to react to what others see as ground breaking news. For example, I just don’t get MyBlogLog…

  5. This sounds good to me. Yes, I’ve been joining the MyBlogLog communities of blogs that I actually click on and read, then perhaps enjoy enough to favor on Technorati and keep up with by commenting…

  6. I agree as well. There is definitely something to be gained via the sense of community, which is why I signed up.

    The whole friend, etc thing, I am not sure I get.

  7. Zoli,

    Operating a successful blog like ZoliBlog.com, which has a current Google Page Rank of 6, expect to receive certain amounts of spam.

    For the most part though, I would think your blog would mainly consist of legitimate posts entered by ethical individuals.

    I follow your blog on a regular basis. You have a ton of valuable and unique content.

    Keep up the great work!

  8. Hi William,

    Thanks for being a regular reader:-) Since I wrote this post (almost a year ago), MyBloglog spam got a lot less, I think they took some important steps to reduce it.

    I receive a lot more spam directly to the blog, but since my move to WordPress, Akismet and Spam Karma take care of it:-)

    Happy Holidays!

  9. Zoli,

    My company is currently developing our first blog. We’re very excited about our new blog. You should have my email address. I’d love to further discuss your experiences with blogging.

    By the looks of ZoliBlog.com you definitely know how to maintain a professional grade blog! I don’t find this one bit surprising after a quick glance at your LinkedIn.com Profile at:

    http://www.linkedin.com/in/zerdos

    Zoli, you have a rather impressive background.

    Happy Holidays to YOU!

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