The Reader Appreciation Project

Everyday I am noticing more and more blogs thanking their sponsors. Sure, sites like Daily Blog Tips rely on making money through sponsors, so writing daily tips and thanking sponsors repeatedly sounds an interesting idea. However, many other bloggers are simply starting to think that they owe a lot of appreciation to their sponsors, while owing nothing to their readers.
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Did it ever happen that you had something so important to say, that you felt the urge to go comment about it on other blogs, even though they were not at all related to your issue, only to direct people’s attention towards yourself?

If you did, then welcome to the world of trolls! Maybe we all want a bit more attention from time to time, but this does not mean that we have to intrude in other people’s lives (or blogs) and become a real plague in our desire to capture some audience. There are other ways to get people to listen to you than behaving like a little, dirty troll.

Trolls can be existing members of a community that contribute no useful information to the topics, but instead make argumentative comments in an attempt to discredit another person. They concentrate almost exclusively on facts irrelevant to the point of the conversation, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others. Read more…

There seems to be some falling out over John Chow’s decision to charge his readers to remove the “no-follow” links from their comments. Paying $10 a month will allow you to get some “link love” from this PR6 blog. If a blog could be a sleazy infomercial on TV with some guy preaching about get-rich-quick schemes, John Chow would be the head spokesperson.

My anger is mainly over John’s decision to charge his readers money to remove the do-follow links. This topic has been beat to death, but I wanted to voice my opinion on the issue since this is after all the place where it’s all about the readers.

The John Chow Do-Follow Argument

John Chow could sneeze and get two hundred comments. He gets a bunch and that’s fine. John has a top-commentators section on the right sidebar. If you make it to that “coveted” top commentator spot, you get a link back to your site with the “no-follow” tag removed. JohnChow.com has a PR6, so having the no-follow tag will allow his PR6 to pass on in theory.

John’s argument is, instead of wasting time and energy getting to that top commentator spot, why not pay ten dollars a month and get your “no-follow” tag removed that way? In John’s own words, he said this:

But I am giving something. This blog is PR6 and that link love passes on when there is no nofollow.

There are enough people commenting like mad to get on the Top Commentators list because the links there don’t have nofollow. If you look at the effort it takes to get on the list, paying $10 really isn’t so bad.

So he’s doing you a favor by removing the nofollow, right?

Another commenter posted this additional argument:

I guess your site would be full of meaningless comments if all comment links were free.

So the argument has turned into paying readers for the privilege of commenting and having the “no-follow” link removed? Read more…

If anyone is interested in trying out the latest version of Ajax Edit Comments, please leave a comment. I’ll accept the first 20 or so testers if I happen to get that many. The plugin still requires WordPress 2.1 and up.

Here are some of the features you can expect when the plugin goes final:

• Comments now show the time left to edit (non-admin).
• Can customize the “You may edit” in the admin panel.
• Better security and numerous style and bug fixes.
• Can Edit, Delete, or Mark as Spam from a post (admin only).
• Can turn off inline editing (admin only).

The following are what some bloggers consider the ideal reader. This list is intended as a satirical take on the ideal reader and does not reflect my views at all.

The ideal reader…

1. Must be Gullible

The reader must be able to be tricked into performing tasks that I see fit. Anything I tell the reader, he or she is to believe.

2. Must be Manipulatable

I want the reader to perform the actions I see fit for the best interest of my blog. I want to guilt-trip my reader into commenting, flaming other blogs, or clicking on ads.

3. Clicks on All Ads

I want you to go through my header, sidebars, and footer and click every ad they see. While you are at it, click on the donate buttons and drop me a buck or two. I could use a beer.

4. Pays to Have No-Follow Links Removed

I am a big fan of the do-follow movement. However, I only choose to follow it if you give me so much cash a month to remove it.

5. Must Enjoy Partial Feeds

I want users to click on my ads and see my groovy design. The reader shouldn’t care whether I have full content or partial feeds.

6. Must Comment on Any Post Without Hopes of Recognition

You want to get noticed here? Go somewhere else. I don’t have time to answer your comments. In fact, you should be happy I even have comments enabled. Read more…

Almost every morning when I get up and eat breakfast, I check my feeds in Google Reader. On a good morning, I have about thirty or so feeds waiting to be read. If I’ve neglected my feeds, however, sometimes I will have hundreds. Within this post, I will go over some observations I have made while reading feeds. Read more…

Vivien from Inspiration Bit tagged me for an “Outstanding Posts” meme. I have decided to list 3 reasons that make a post more outstanding because of appreciating both the readers and yourself. If you wish, you can find out through the introductory article about what memes are.

3 reasons how posts that appreciate readers are outstanding

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It was brought to my attention that there is a pretty serious security exploit in WP Ajax Edit Comments v1.061 and earlier. If you have, or know anybody that has those versions installed, advise them to download the new version or deactivate the plugin immediately.

The new version is located at: http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/wp-ajax-edit-comments.1.0.6.5.zip

The upgrade is also reflected on the main plugin page.

Once again, if you know anybody that has this plugin installed, please give them a heads up. Thanks.

How did you get to read this article?

• If you are new to this site and you care for your readers, then you have landed in the most appropriate place, because here “it’s all about the readers”.
• If you are new here, but you don’t give a damn about your readers, again this is a good place to see the importance of fulfilling the promises you make to readers, or to find out how it feels to be lost in the conversation. If you are not so convinced readers matter, then please take a look to see what this Readers Appreciation Project is all about. And be aware that traffic consists of readers, adding up one at a time.
• If you are a regular reader (thank you very much), then you know by now that this is the second article of the mini series Increasing Readership and Community, following up The Six Shapes And Colors Of Blog Readers.

Do you keep the dialogue alive?

Back on topic, let’s see if and how we can get the lurkers involve in the conversation and become loyal readers. Read more…

For some reason, Vivien over at Inspiration Bit decided she wanted to know what I thought the qualities of an outstanding post are. I will go over what I think are qualities of an outstanding post coming from a reader’s perspective. Read more…