Earlier tonite I wrote a response in the comments to this post on Entrecard.
I'm sure I'll be put through the shredder for the hard stance I advocate. but my honesty should not be a suprise to any of my regular visitors.
I am totally against Paid Posts Blogs being in Entrecard; as well as Clickfarmers - who only live to hit the magic 300 on each of their many accounts daily, without any regard for the bouncerate or content of the bloggers they rob daily. Please take a moment and read grahams post by clicking the link below inorder to get clarity on my response below. I know it may suprise many of you that I am taking this tone,
Graham: just a few thoughts after giving this a few days to digest more fully:
IMHO, the real problem is that EC's are being treated like Money; and they're NOT.
if people could learn that; we'd have Less "300 click a day" Clickfarmers; and a whole lot less splogs in the categories. Quite Simply, paying people to cash out in cash; instead of recycling the ec's back into the system is what really feeds the problem..
The Remedy is Simple
1. Return To a Non Cash for ec buyout ; and stop selling EC's.
2. reduce the maximum amount of clicks per day to a more managable maximum for the system; closer to 50 per account.
3. hire some behind the scenes techs to clean up the splogs and eradicate the dead blogs in the categories -
get it back to what it should be if you really want to count your Active population, Accurately.
4. Remove any duplicate or paid post blogs immediately, since they are not blogs inessence; and are the biggest pay-out items.
This is especially a conflict of interest with bloggers who blog for the love of writing; and they see the problem clearly, since these splogs are ADS, and that is a direct violation of the existent tos.
A Paid Post IS An AD there is no way around it
Then Graham, you can put entrecard on the auction block as a clean and lean social networking machine. that's what makes a sale, not consistent policy changes that do nothing to stabilize the economy or political structure of the unit itself.Remember to Listen to the People; As They Support Themselves. To Put the Spark back in - Make it once again about the members, instead of CASH OUTS.
End the payouts and you will be making the first step toward strengthening the whole.
then stop approving multiple blogs which are clearly splogs, that dilute the pool of quality blogs. those splogs drop the value as quickly as the clickfarmers.
IMHO, then - entrecard can recover and rebound as a member driven and fed unit.
do you always use a subject - greet your recepient with a salutation ? these are commonly missed simplicities that define your level of communication saavy.
we've noticed that the level of writing and grammar seem to be challenged more and more yearly. could it be based on the fact that so much of our communication is conducted in short twitter like bursts: which leave no room for a single wasted character ?
I sure hope that we learn how to sign our names to the end of notes; as well as to simply say "hello whomever" to whomever you are writing. because if we loose the ability to communicate civily; then we loose the ability to grow as a civilization.
Language and it's impact is one of the key components of measurement used to determine the level of intelligence within a distinct group of people. let it not be said that we were the original cpu cavefolks. egads !
Read this and then, please feel free to leave a comment on your communication habits.
Thanks For Your Attention, and Hopefully Your Comments
There are many etiquette guides and many different etiquette rules. Some rules will differ according to the nature of your business and the corporate culture. Below we list what we consider as the 32 most important email etiquette rules that apply to nearly all companies.
Those accidental reply-alls and empty subject fields in your inbox tell the truth—too many people still don't know the basics of proper email etiquette. Here are eleven rules to forward on or follow.
Career writer Marci Alboher touches on a few areas where your email manners might need tweaking. Our own email training impulses align with the importance of descriptive subject lines, and more people should avoid the impulse to have the last word. According to Marci, "there is usually no reason to cap off a long exchange with 'thank you' (and certainly, 'you're welcome')." There tends to exist a natural end point in conversations, so let it end there.
The article also suggests senders should ask whether someone prefers documents to be sent as attachments or pasted in the body of the message before sending. If back-and-forth editing of text is required, try using shared collaboration tools, something like previously mentioned webapp Show Document, in lieu of updating and sending attachments between or among parties.
Take a look at the full post for the entire rundown of email tips, then come back and tell us about your email dos and don'ts. What simple steps could your friends and co-workers take to improve their emailing? Do you have any absolute email don'ts? Share your thoughts below.
this post is all about defining the term Blog v. Splog
Many of us don't use the words Splog, or Splogger when we should and today we are aiming to define and clarify that fine line between a Blog and a Splog
"Splog" is short for Spam Blog. Spam blogs are blogs that don't provide any real content for users. They exist solely to game the search engines. These splogs may exist just to have links to other websites or, they may have ads on the blog itself. The content on splogs are auto-generated, either from some other source or a list of useless keywords.
The simplest definition for splog is as follows:
SPAM + BLOG = SPLOG
Splog is a terrorist to our blogosphere and needs to be stopped. This site was created for “good willed” bloggers to report splog in an effort to help to clean up the blogosphere of splog. It was spurred by the called to arms of Mark Cuban here and then followed up by a post on Somewhat Frank.
Okay now we know that Entrecard is a Chief Splog Unit.
Why ?
that's what we are trying to get to the bottom of this week. Why do these UnBlogs seem to clutter the Blogosphere ?
In the case of Entrecard - it's for the Points and Cashout system.
this is the worst way to destroy a blog - add cheap cash or loads of unrelated ads. there are so many ads on some of these Splogs that their pages take forever to load, and when they do, it's hard to even locate the Entrecard Widget on the page; tossed in with all the various and assorted cash generators.
"Splog" is short for Spam Blog. Spam blogs are blogs that don't provide any real content for users. They exist solely to game the search engines. These splogs may exist just to have links to other websites or, they may have ads on the blog itself. The content on splogs are auto-generated, either from some other source or a list of useless keywords.
What is Wrong with Splogs?
Splog clutters the internet with useless content. Web search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, and blog search engines such as Technorati, IceRocket and Bloglines serve to manage the huge amount of information available on the Web. Splog makes it much more difficult to find the useful information.
When reading Blogs are you bothered by all the miscellaneous clutter ?
Oh I am - and I am going to give a few examples of blogs that have this very issue - so that we can see from live examples what Is a Splog -
these are randomly chosen droppers from my Entrecard Inbox from today, that are SPLOGS;
I suggest You take a look at them and decide for yourself, as I am not going to link to them and give them any additional fuel to burn out a real blog. the problem is these folks are doing this because they don't care about the value of real blogs. they are just using any vehicle to get a few pennies out of real bloggers by dropping cards enmasse on Blogs to fill their accounts with cash out credit. the articles, if you call them that are all about One Link to a Paid Article Generator - Am I Wrong ?
We can't say that entrecard is wrong for trying to monitize. it just seems that the monitization rules, have increased the spam load on entrecard at least 5 fold; in the most recent months. before the cashout policy was announced - there were splogs, but not the amount we see now.
When these sploggers gather enmasse to attack a blog - they normally use one viewpoint and post remarkably similar comments; indicating that there is a Herd Mentality in Play.
wouldn't it be better to go to other splogs instead of blogs, for these folks ? I surely think so, since most of them in the case of entrecard spend less than three 3 seconds on your page- Wham Bam and no thank you mamm.. and sadly they admit that's their only plan.
Spam blogs, sometimes referred to by the neologismsplogs[1], are artificially created weblogsites which the author uses to promote affiliated websites or to increase the search engine rankings of associated sites. The purpose of a splog can be to increase the PageRank or backlink portfolio of affiliate websites, to artificially inflate paid ad impressions from visitors, and/or use the blog as a link outlet to get new sites indexed. Spam blogs are usually a type of scraper site, where content is often either inauthentic text or merely stolen (see blog scraping) from other websites. These blogs usually contain a high number of links to sites associated with the splog creator which are often disreputable or otherwise useless websites.
There is frequent confusion between the terms "splog" and "spam in blogs". Splogs are blogs where the articles are fake, and are only created for search engine spamming. To spam in blogs, conversely, is to include random comments on the blogs of innocent bystanders, in which spammers take advantage of a site's ability to allow visitors to post comments that may include links. In fact, one of the earliest uses of the term "splog" referred to the latter. [2]
This is used often in conjunction with other spamming techniques, including spings.
In the blogging world, Reading Is a Must and Commenter's are Winners
these sploggers don't bother to read anything, that requires any length of attention or thought to process. this is evidenced by their quick hit and run attitude coupled with their excuse for attitude responses :
" me for example : I have four(4) blogs so I need to hurry up to four drops in one of your blog, so.. the ending should be comment time but sometimes your topic is not my interests , sorry.. but that is what i feel , so.. in consideration that you drop EC I'll dropped you back and thats all..but.....if you left me comments I'll comments you back..my english is not good but I understand very well and I'm trying to be good."
yes this is an actual comment left on one of our blogs. Can you Imagine ?
such curt rudeness, and lack of simple consideration for the blog and the time the blogger spent to compose their thoughts.
then there is this similar comment - also actually left on one of our blogs:
I question to you? do you always Leave a comment on all the Blogs you visit? Lets say 100-300 blogs. I find something time is limited and it is hard to do this. However I have visitors who have never left any msg, but I know they read or leave my EC to buy ads. I know it is hard to feel rejected but some of us are not rejecting just reading and moving on.:-)
Co'mon, You Come Here for One EC and don't have time to read ? what kind of nonsense is this ? you come to a blog but not to read or comment ? ooiiiiii,,,, damn. (sorry I had to get it out)
one of our Real Readers left this very smart comment in the same post, so we realize that the content was very commentable:
Tis I once again....after reading everyone's comment...I think it is safe to say that we all have our priority list and we all have that right...no matter which order they are placed.
We have all sorts of Bloggers with different reasons for blogging.
Some of us feel that leaving a comment is in fact very important and a show of respect. Some feel that just dropping in is also important and a show of respect. Some blog strictly for the $$$$bling. Some blog for return hits. Some blog to learn. Some blog to share. Some blog to copy and paste :)(naughty) Some blog to meet new people from all over the world. Some blog out of boredom. Some blog to feel good that they have done their 300 ec drops. Some blog to see how many followers they can get. Some blog for the fun of the contests. Some even blog just to get someone to say hello in their shoutbox.
I have seen also groups that basically just visit one another and keep a circle of friends going on. All of these reasons are acceptable as they should be because everyone has a right to blog.
We also have a right to voice our opinions on who comes into our blogs..similar to who walks into our homes.
This commenter put it on the plate, and made it as clear as water. I think we have seen the parallels clearly enough to know the difference between a Blog and a Splog.
This is a BLOG, Not a Splog. there are no teats here to milk; and this blog will not instantly begin to follow anyone who leads it towardpopup coated; ad and virus laden pages, filled with graphic overload, akin to a bad disco nightmare - masquerading as a blog, but no real content.
Content is KING and We are the readers who decide if that's a fact or just a hack. for us, it's a fact. we don't dilly dally with these splogs anymore and when they litter our cbox on our other site, we erase their comments and make sure to ban them. it rarely helps as they find it to be a game to come back and again spam in a foreign language. WHY ?
that is the biggest question of all, Why do they do it ?
My Theory is simplistic - they are unable to comprehend their level of disrespect and or curtail their actions due to their addiction to of all things the US Penny. yeah, penny because each drop is equal to less than a penny; because of their proliferation of splogs.
Have they even considered their part in the desecration of the blogosphere or the ec economy ?
Sadly I lament, the answer is apparently NO.
they are Hit and Run Accidents happening simultaneously all over the blogosphere. truly it's sad.
what can you do to prevent them from treating you like a Goat ?
well there are those who think that leaving Entrecard is the answer. maybe it is in some extreme cases; but we think the real answer is to Read Good Blogs, Comment and Fill your Friends Queue with Real Blogs and Forget That Inbox - because that's the green pasture of these sploggers.
So Today we call on all good entrecarders to Skip That Inbox; and Forget about the Sploggers.
Form Real Reading and Commenting Relationships with BLOGGERS. let the sploggers choke themselves on pennies; and eventually they will have a cheap gas attack. then hopefully those pennies will shower back into the global economy, instead of more cheap splogs.
*note to sploggers - forget commenting and making stupid remarks as I am going to monitor this post for such, and will just delete them since they will undoubtable be worthless space wasters. if you have a constructive discussion item then add it - otherwise, copy the post and share it in your circle so you know who's aware of your hive, and isn't phased by you at all.
I have finally made a concrete positive decision on how to deal with Entrecard. it took just one comment to make that happen; and voila today it happens.
I can't believe you think of this as "racism"....FYI, dropping by is "normal".....and dropping EC is normal.That's what you get for being an EC member. Entrecard really promotes traffic but produces high bounce rate---meaning, droppers just drop cards and spend 3 seconds in ur blog, never read and never comment. So what? That's the way it works. If you don't want this, you might as well get out of EC . Another thing is , no one is obligated to leave a comment nor read a blog post. You can never force anyone who drops by at your blog to spend his time reading. If he does not care, so what? You , as a blogger, should have the responsibility to improve your content and devise ways to make anyone drop by ---not just drop by but read your content and leave comment. There is no blogging rule that exists in this world that says "everyone who drops by should leave a comment". Bloggers have different purposes why they blog. So if one just wants to make money, he may never care to read ur blog. If he just wants reciprocal traffic, he may never leave a comment. If he wants commenters, he may comment in other blogs to encourage commenting on his blog. As I've said, there are no blogging rules. Each one to his own. But I tell you, if you just want everybody who drops by at your blog ---either get out of EC or either strive hard to encourage commenting. Just like me, if I drop an EC on a blog and the blog post caught my attention, I would read . If I have something to say, I comment. If not, I don't. If I don't have the time to comment I don't. I only comment on blog posts that interest me, relevant to me or something where I am interested to comment on. If not , then I don't. So don't feel upset about it. It's just the way it is. If you don't like the way it is, then don't blog.
Now First thing I noticed is that this writer begins his post with the accusation of racism.Hmmmm ? where did I read that before,
http://www.rolandmarcial.com/ My blogger Vhinghad sent me a message about this Bad Guywriting harsh words and racist comments about my entrecard drops. I was fuming mad when I read your post. You just wrote insensible and irrational method as a blogger and maybe, you don't understand what is EC all about.
If you want a blog purely for your friends, then keep it private and remove your EC card badge in your blog for your peace of mind. This is because you hate people who just drop their cards and without leaving comments. That is a very silly, immature behaviour. In my opinion, I don't care people not leaving comments and there are reasons for that either they don't like the contents and have no time to leave a comment. But I returned a comment only if they left a message. But if not, it doesn't bother me at all and I will be thankful for their time in dropping a card or passing by.
I'm a top commenter to blogs that I like to comment and the contents that would interest me.
And also, you also left harsh comments to all Filipinos. You said you are not a PINAY (of course because pinay is a female term) and you love pinays (do you gf's?), I don't think so. You did the same to others. This is not all about blogging but you are downgrading us and racist.
(end of clipping)
So the solution is - NO MORE INBOX DROPS - I AM HENCEFORTH ONLY DROPPING FROM MY FAVORITES.
This false claim of Racism made me so mad, that i decided I had to seperate myself from people who would lie and play with my reputation in this silly and very immature manner. So if you missed anything, let me sum it up in a simple sentence - Droppers Have a Ball.
VHING F - YOU and ROLLY ARE NOT WELCOMED HERE - ANYMORE.YOU ARE BOTH SHIT STARTERS, AND LIARS. BITCHES BEGONE NEVER ONCE DID I SAY ANYTHNG BAD OR NEGATIVE ABOUT ANYONE PHILIPINO - I HAVE PHILIPINO RELATIVES, AND FRIENDS; SO I WOULDN'T DO IT - EVEN IF YOU LIE AND SAY I WOULD.
I Love My Visitors, The Folks Who Appreciate MY BLOG, and Realize that This is a TWO WAY Communication Vehicle; Not a place where people invent half truths to blow their own heads up.
Henceforth Friends, Neighbors and Visitors - This is a Pork Free / Gas Free Environment, It's Lean, Mean, and Green; NO GAS UP's Here Thank You.
Welcome to the New BadGals; where we don't give our Inbox a second look - ever. also if you want to comment, you can no longer be annonymous - own your shit.
Earlier tonite I wrote a response in the comments to this post on Entrecard.
Those accidental reply-alls and empty subject fields in your inbox tell the truth—too many people still don't know the basics of proper 
I can't believe you think of this as "racism"....FYI, dropping by is "normal".....and dropping EC is normal.That's what you get for being an EC member. Entrecard really promotes traffic but produces high bounce rate---meaning, droppers just drop cards and spend 3 seconds in ur blog, never read and never comment. So what? That's the way it works. If you don't want this, you might as well get out of EC .
Another thing is , no one is obligated to leave a comment nor read a blog post. You can never force anyone who drops by at your blog to spend his time reading. If he does not care, so what?
You , as a blogger, should have the responsibility to improve your content and devise ways to make anyone drop by ---not just drop by but read your content and leave comment.
There is no blogging rule that exists in this world that says "everyone who drops by should leave a comment".
Bloggers have different purposes why they blog. So if one just wants to make money, he may never care to read ur blog. If he just wants reciprocal traffic, he may never leave a comment. If he wants commenters, he may comment in other blogs to encourage commenting on his blog.
As I've said, there are no blogging rules. Each one to his own.
But I tell you, if you just want everybody who drops by at your blog ---either get out of EC or either strive hard to encourage commenting.
Just like me, if I drop an EC on a blog and the blog post caught my attention, I would read . If I have something to say, I comment. If not, I don't. If I don't have the time to comment I don't. I only comment on blog posts that interest me, relevant to me or something where I am interested to comment on. If not , then I don't.
So don't feel upset about it. It's just the way it is. If you don't like the way it is, then don't blog.