Points hungry

A possible misunderstanding?

Published on May 2, 2004 By MasonM In Blogging

There have recently been two articles written that kinda made me stop and think. Am I being chastized here? Or inulted? Or am I just coincedentally invloved?

One article involves writing articles with express intention of gaining comments. OK. I did write one "list" article which asked for people to add to the list. Yes, the article does ask for input (comments) from readers. Was the article written with the sole intention of gaining comments and points? A resounding NO! This article was an honest attempt to learn why others write blogs here at JU. How else can one learn these things without asking for input?

The second article involved being the first to post a comment on an article one has written. OK, yes, I did do that. I wrote an article which was intended to get some humor and entertaining input and possibly some good stories from people. Nobody responded to the article and I did post a single comment in which I injected a bit of humor and was prepared to let the article die a peaceful death.

At this point I must wonder if the person writing these two articles had mine me in mind when they were written, or was I just one of several? I don't know.

I did feel the need to write this in defense of myself and my writing. I do not actually care one whit about points or rankings. I write articles which appeal to me. I do enjoy reading comments attached to my articles, as I enjoy reading comments attached to other's articles. I feel that good comments (both good and bad) can make one a better writer. But, I do not write articles just for the sake of getting comments. That's not why I'm here, nor is it (in my humble opinion) why most of us are here.

I like to be able to tranfer things from my mind to a medium where other people can see. reflect upon, and hopefully learn something from it. If nobody ever commentes on a single article I have written, that's fine. I write to write. If I ask for input and I get it, that's great, I can learn from that. If I don't get it, I can learn from that too.

If I am just being "touchy" in this, I apologize now. I am hardly a thin-skinned person and take no personal insult from anything written here. I am simply concerned that, if I was being considered in these "blogging sins", that my intentions were not clearly understood.

Personally, I think if you write just for the comments, points, and rankings you are wasting your time in some ego-feeding pursuit that is actually pointless.

That being said, you may feel free to comment or not.

Comments

illusivedreamer

on May 02, 2004

Well said Mason. I saw the article you are referring to,,,,,

"The second article involved being the first to post a comment on an article one has written. OK, yes, I did do that. I wrote an article which was intended to get some humor and entertaining input and possibly some good stories from people. Nobody responded to the article and I did post a single comment in which I injected a bit of humor and was prepared to let the article die a peaceful death."

and thought it to be humorous. I knew what you were saying. I think that most people care nothing about this point talk that seems to be a lingering thought on others minds. I also believe that the average JoeUser has the same thoughts about why they enjoy writting here. I know I certainly do. I like your articles and will be glad to give my input when I feel it is worth giving.

dharmagrl

on May 02, 2004

Dude, take no notice of Smartaz. He's no Emily Post of blogiquette.

You didn't comit any sins that I saw...nothing all of us 'regulars' haven't done at some point.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

BlueDev

on May 02, 2004

I wouldn't worry about it MasonM. I don't think either of those articles were directed towards you, nor were they meant to be malicious in anyway. They were just somewhat sardonic observations on some recent trends that have surfaced here.

Write what you want and screw the blogging "sins" and "rules". I come here to read what others think, feel, and experience. Not what they think will get them the most points. And your writing certainly falls into the first category.

MasonM

on May 02, 2004

Believe me, I enjoy (and am guilty of) sardonic humor. Just wanted to make my position clear (because I have committed both 'sins') with regard to the points thing.

Humor is humor and above all else I believe we need a sense of humor to stay sane in this world.

gothic impulse

on May 02, 2004

I probably commit point sins everyday ...but I too don't care about the points .... I just love reading and commenting on articles ..and OMG I have even been guilty of chatting in some Forums.

I like to learn about the people behind the articles and don't consider th points involved.

Hmm ..is there some kind of rules on this?

Jess

Sherye Hanson

on May 04, 2004

You write very well. I didn't answer your blog, because I don't enjoy fill in the blank sort of blogs. Just experiment with writing. Some blogs will be responded to and others will be ignored. I appreciate comments even if they are short because I know someone is reading them. I don't always comment if I don't have anything to say.

Gene Nash

on May 04, 2004

Hmmm, just stumbled across this. I wish somebody would tell me about these things.

Since the perpetrator of the articles in question was me, I should respond here.

BlueDev is right. It's strictly coincidence. I wasn't targeting anybody at all. The "not commenting on your own blog" article is strictly for the sake of the joke. I think it was Dan who said months and months ago that it was a no-no when he proffered the first comment on something he wrote. Not that I was targeting Dan, either. I just wanted to take the idea and put a humourous spin on it. I purposefully pumped up the volume on it, blowing out of proportion the "sin" of it, because I knew I was about to publicly commit that sin. Even the word "sin" was chosen with that in mind. I was making fun of the idea that there even are "blogging sins."

I'm not paying enough attention to your blog or your commenting practices to know you -- or anyone else, for that matter (except for Dan because he pointed it out himself) -- ever commented first on your own blog. Frankly I couldn't care less who comments when or where. I think all these "rules" are ridiculous.

The "ways to get comments" blog is half joke -- the way it was phrased was meant to be funny -- and half serious-- I really wanted to know what people's thoughts on the matter are. As you yourself said, "How else can one learn these things without asking for input?" Given that frame of mind, why would you not just assume I was doing the same instead of taking it to heart? (Okay, I just read all the articles on the first page of your blog, so I could try to see where you are coming from. I see we both used the word "silly" in our list blogs. You said "silly ideas," I said "silly list." Coincidental choice of words, I can assure you.)

The timing is also coincidental. I thought of the "Blogging Sins" article way back in March, but due to being gone for more than a month didn't publish it till now. If not for an unplanned, forced move -- that one would have been up in March. I just happened to post them both in one night, not because they were reactions to something I just saw. I just wanted to write something and they were the two easiest things I could write and post. I did consider holding off on the second one (the list one) for a while because they were too thematically similar But I wanted to write something so I posted them both anyway. It never occurred to me anyone would think I was talking about them personally. (And not just talking about them once, but twice, yet!)

As far as I was concerned the only person they made fun of was me, since in both instance I was the one committing the supposed faux pas.

I had a couple more "ways" I was going to add to the "list" article, but now I wonder if I should even bother. I wonder who else out there is going to take offence since there are those out there who practice the things I was going to add.

I am concerned about the amount of "taking things to heart" I've seen going on here lately. Is this endemic to JoeUser? Or is this pandemic? I guess in the communities I deal in, people just have thicker skins. I'm not used to this. This I will probably blog about. And that will at least partially be in reference to you and this article. When I refer to a specific blog or person, I try to link to that blog. That's how you'll know if I'm talking about you. (In fact, I searched for that "first comment on blog" comment Dan -- I think it was -- made so I could link to it, but couldn't find it.)

So to summarize: None of it referred to you, Mason. If I'd been talking about you, I'd have said so and linked to what I was talking about (provided I could have found it again). If in the future you have any doubts, please just leave a comment and ask -- "Hey, you talking about me, bub?" (Actually there're a couple things in this article I'll probably blog on in the future, both of which I was going to write on anyway, but you've just thrown more logs on the fire I was kindling. The first being the "thin skinned" issue. The second is the idea that there is something wrong if you blog for points or comments. This is about the third time I've seen that expressed recently and I disagree. So that will probably be coming.)

Gene Nash

on May 04, 2004

>> Reply #2 By: dharmagrl - 5/2/2004 3:52:42 PM
>> Dude, take no notice of Smartaz. He's no Emily Post of blogiquette.

trina_p

on May 05, 2004

I haven't read the blogs in question - but I get the points thing - I totally don't get what they're there for unless to bring out a competitive nature in some people??

I know that people read other people's blogs and can comment so I write TO people and ask questions and kinda expect someone to answer them - and it has nothing to do with points for my first 3 blogs I had no idea I was even being awarded points - it wasn't until I read the "scoring system" I even had a vague clue!

Just keep doing what you're doing dude

dharmagrl

on May 05, 2004

Smataz, you know I love you.

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