Thinking Blogger Awards
Too many blogs, not enough thoughts! Nevermind, that didn't rhyme (blobs?). What I've been pondering on since I tagged Divya Uttam (and she tagged me back!) is the purpose of these so called blog memes. What is it? Could it be word of mouth marketing? Could it be search engine optimization? Or more simply, is it a form of 'innocent' link baiting?The reason why I participated in 2000 Bloggers was because.. well, I don't know. It was the first thing that introduced me to the concept of memes. When I saw it coming up on MyBlogLog, already some 800 people were part of it. I thought I had to rush in to participate, hoping I could make it before the rest of the 1200 spots were filled in less than 5 minutes! It wasn't the case, as I found out, because it was a one man organisation. I then checked Wikipedia for more information on memes and it seemed like these were around for quite a while. I am just glad no one tagged me on '5 Things You Didn't Know About Me' because I wouldn't have taken it. The idea behind that is quite simple. When I started this blog, I decided not to include any personal stuff, because I already keep in touch with my friends through emails and more recently MyBlogLog. Besides, I'm not a celebrity, who cares about my private life?
Now Divya tagged me on the Z list. I wouldn't mind putting it here as well but I don't know if I, or my readers, would relate to any of the blogs listed. That is, provided they click any links there. In fact, I can share my experience with you. I clicked some of them and to be honest I wasn't wrong about what I thought earlier. It is a list but just too random! This is also the sole reason why I don't have a blogroll. There are far too many blogs I read on a regular basis and not all of them are even closely related to what I blog about. How would I know which ones, from the wide range of blogs, would be of interest you too?
Moreover, blog search engine Technorati is not quite happy about these kind of things due to their SEO effects. Some bloggers also feel uneasy targeting the search engine algorithms, namely: Amy Gahran, Jeremiah Owyang, Zoli Erdos, Jason Kaneshiro, Tony Hung, Blog Bloke, and Dawud Miracle (in chronological order of posts). The only good thing about the Z list is we know who started it. I was curious who started the '5 Reasons Why I Blog', and if I went through all the people who got tagged I would eventually arrive at the blog that started it all, but I couldn't be bothered to find out! What's more, it is not certain that I would end up finding something that would make me think.. or at least something I could relate to. I agree with Zoli when he said "links are good, but they are supposed to refer to content." For example, if he didn't guide me to the blogs that discussed this issue (names above), it would probably take me more time, if not impossible, to hunt them down in search engines with all the link pollution caused by the 2000 Bloggers project.
So, I have decided not to join any memes in the future. My aim with this blog is to offer content that is interesting, informative and things that could really help my friends who are reading it. But how can I leave the world of blogging memes without starting one? =) This is the beginning of a new blog meme and, no, it is something more imaginative than the X list.
It is called '5 Blogs That Make Me Think' and I am tagging the following bloggers for the first list:
1. Don To Earth by Donald Crowdis,
2. Own Your Brand by Mike Wagner,
3. Creative Design by David Airey,
4. Evolution.. not just a theory anymore by Greg Laden,
5. Aa..ha! [Thinking Inside The Blog!] by Nirmala Pal.
Congratulations, you won a
!Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.
The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
That was that! Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking! It is the first time I am starting something with my blog so I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me.
Happy link-love-sharing, whatever it is!
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