Blogroll - Useful or Space Filler?
John Wagner wrote a post last week Open your eyes to the new wave of PR bloggers. The commentary was based around the notion that the same old links of the "A-list" bloggers appear everywhere and the new voices (or old ones that do not indulge in self promotion) seldom get a look in.
John recommended that if you are compiling a blogroll you should do some research first. I disagree with that approach. Purely because I believe a blogroll should be based on what you naturally read.
I commented to his post:
For me:Subsequently, Mason Cole agreed with me. Always nice to have support.
Blogrolls serve the purpose of listing the author's set of blogs that they actually read for the benefit of the reader.
The same as profiling documentaries reveal the heroes and influencers of the subject artist, blogrolls perform that role for blog writers.
If your blogroll is a genuine list of the places you visit/read/subscribe to then that's a blogroll.
Anything other than that is courtesy links and should be labelled as such.
It takes a little work but then blogs are all about the personal touch.
One problem that I have noted is that their is the potential of a new blogger to run out of steam. When amending "my reads" today I had to remove a couple of lesser known bloggers that have disappeared (not blogged to their typical pattern, without providing a courtesy notice) for over a month.
That's probably more of a reason why the "A-listers" are always prominent.
Technorati Tag = Blogroll A-listers
posted by Dan Hill at
11:07 PM
17 Comments:
Hey Chico loco, I spoke to my teacher this afternoon and she said I should write a paper about european blogs for my human goegraphy and politics course at school. I'm going to also create my own blog soon, I hope you come and visit it. I will show the beauty and brilliance of Mexico. I hop you'll see how a real peoples and country with integrity lives.
I am interested in Europe. But why are you Europeans are so anal and don't appreciate market ecomnomics. English people like Bono and Geldarf? Where do you let them get off on their insubordiantion. We'd lose them in the desert here.
Dan:
I do agree that your blogroll should be the "influencers" or people you naturally read.
But I think too many bloggers use the "A-listers" out of reflex or to show that they are "with it." And because the A-listers are tough to break through to, there are a lot of great voices that aren't being heard.
Who cares, I like mine, simple as that! Who cares about being an A-lister! Why should I want to have the delusional ego trip of thinking I can mould somebody's thoughts or opinions.
Thats my two-penneth!
I think I'm with you now John. We're just taking two angles on the same cause.
The bare bones of it is that we want the blogroll to be specific to the author and that we want bloggers to be genuinely diverse in what they read.
Daniel, I don't disagree with you. I began writing blog entries for my own pleasure. But that's not to say it doesn't hurt to find out where you are in the grand scheme of things.
The problem with this argument is that surely the "A list" Blogs as you call them are "A list" because they are popular. Therefore a lot of people read them and they will naturally appear on blog rolls (a lot).
Surely this is the basis and point of the whole "Market place of ideas" concept. The popular and succesful blogs are the winners of the Marketplace.
Whilst this means a lot of voices may go unheard the sad fact of the "Market place" is that blogs that fail to find a niche or popular acclaim get ignored. But that is rather the point suceed or die (its also to some extent the point it seems you are trying to make in your education post of a few days ago.)
Basically maybe the A-list is the Alist because its what people actually read. (shock, horror)
Just as Tesco is the A list Supermarket because more people shop there.
Anyway....
Would you like to buy my left leg for only £5.99 cheap at half the price.
My blogroll's just there because it's convenient. I've got all the blogs I read listed in one place. I don't read very many A-list blogs, mainly because I find most of them boring :).
You know, you have some weird people commenting on your blog.
Story of my life, Ali. :P
Weird blogs attract weird people...
Come to me, dessicated corpse of Marcus Tal! I defy you! Come and kneel before John-Pierre! John-Pierre!
Sorry I cant due to severe phaser-burns....
where has John WAgner been putting his his phaser Marcus ?
I bet it stung
Too right, it did too mush.
John also force fed me delicious Batman marshmallows to soften the pain. But it was not enough to end the unendurable agony of the phaser burns.
I can defy you John-Pierre...but not the power of John Wagner's phaser and his orange flavoured Batman Marshmallows. He cannot be resisted.
Excuse me, impostor I am the real "dessicated corpse of Marcus Tal".
It was not John Wagner that phaser-ed it me. It was the combined efforts of Bernardanious Magnificus and his '17th Romanian-Volkisch Volunteer Horse-drawn, Panzergrenadeer Division from the planet Zagros 6' which put paid to me in a chalk pit near New Cardiff on the planet Roxcoryfalaxipitorianus.
They hunted me down. They cornered me, but even the iron-willed courage of myself and my comrades could withstand their might.
I AM THE REAL MARCUS TAL
Ok who has been at the drugs guys? ;)
John Wagner does have strong a point to make, as does Marcus Tal in his own peculiar way.
Keep up the good work
D.
Hey, wassup D you don't have a sense of humour ?
I AM THE REAL MARCUS TAL
I like your posts, they cheer me up.
Keep up the good work.
No, I am the REAL Marcus Tal!
AS in REAL Ghostbusters. Got it ?!
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