I have keenly followed the recent debate around the SA Blogger Awards 2007 that ultimately sparked off some real conversation around the judging process and selection criteria for finalists.
I think that it got us all worked up enough that a concerted effort will be made to improve the transparency and efficacy of the process in future. And that more accepted mechanisms will be employed to ensure fairness.
What still has me baffled is the "comment" thing as a measure of a good blog. There are suggestions of cronyism and mutual masturbation...etc. etc. This aspersion has some truth to it. If you really go and troll (for lack of a better word) through comments on most blogs (where there are comments) then you find that most read as follows:
Post: Blah, blah, blah, humbug etc.
Posted by Dick
Comment
by Bill:
Hi Dick. Thanks for the awesome post and boy you have such
a huge ego man. Stroke, stroke.
Comment by Dick:
Thanks for that and yes I do have a big one. Stroke you later.
Comments are there to enable conversation. If we wish to use comments as a measure of worthiness then you would have to analyse the quality of the conversation and then you are getting in too deep because it would take years to extract any meaning (and you certainly can't count them because we know where that goes).
This comment thing is a dangerous thing. You write your blog for yourself and if someone else reads it then good on you, but noone should have to comment. If you write to get comments you are writing for an audience and not for yourself.
So turn your ego backwards when you blog and the world will be a better place. Long live conversation, death to ego stroking commentary.
5 comments:
Hmmm... lets see. Did you read my follow-up making things a little more "clear"? http://stii.za.net/archives/138
Yip, certainly did. But this goes beyond you mate. I was tempted to disable comments on this post just to make a point. Other folks took you suggestion seriously - including me - and it just make me think of the enormouse ramifications of tailoring blogs to generate comments (good or bad) - man we end up with the orignal sin - advertising or call it fake #*&$*$ blogging.
I think I get your point. Lets face it, if your blog allows for spambots to publish Viagra comments, then it would be inundated with comments. Same with people blogging. Some people manually spam blogs by commenting irrelevant and bullshit comments just for the sake of exposure and some blogs welcome that since it means increased and return visits. Am I right?
It is a pity that the conversation often does not extend beyond a compliment. You are right about bots and bums (those who compliment with no further conversation) etc.
See you at the next 27...
And so begineth the SA Comment Awards.
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