--- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "Robyn Tippins" <robyntippins@...>
wrote:
> After seeing how many of our users this was affecting, one of the
engineers
> went in today and hand-removed the link. Pornotube won't show up
again.

I'm sorry to report that its back at the top of my list...

John

I love Techcrunch too! and thanks for keeping MBL clean!

I would like to know how to add the MyBlogLog photo widget to my site
(is that it's name?)
it's showing up in many blogs!

Fran
---

In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "John Pozadzides" <jpozadzides@...> wrote:
>
> --- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "Robyn Tippins" robyntippins@
> wrote:
> >
> > I love Techcrunch too. :)
> >
> > After seeing how many of our users this was affecting, one of the
> engineers
> > went in today and hand-removed the link. Pornotube won't show up
> again.
>
> I certainly appreciate that.
>
> I would also still like to be able to remove the "Hot in My
> Communities" section altogether. Hopefully one day MBL will be like
> Yahoo or Google's customizable home page where we can pick and choose
> what we want to see.
>
> John
>

Ah, that makes sense. Well I like TechCrunch so I guess pornotube will
have to stay. :)

--- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "Robyn Tippins" <robyntippins@...>
wrote:
>
> Pornotube is in there because so many sites have linked to it that
you are
> members of their communities (thanks to TechCrunch, mainly). It's
not the
> MBL demographic per se, but the communities to which you currently
belong on
> MBL.
>
> We've been talking about showing people why that link is in their Hot
> Communities so that they can remove themselves from that community
if it's
> not relevant on a continual basis. :)
>
> Robyn
>
> On 5/27/07, gizfolio <brett@...> wrote:
> >
> > Agreed! Pornotube is my 'hottest link' too, which reflects more
on the
> > MBL demographic than my personal interests.
> >
> > Hey, you know what would look nice in it's place? Moderation tools!
> > ...and maybe a thumbs-up icon to flag me as a 'Hot Member' :)
> >
> > --- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com <mybloglog%40yahoog roups.com>, "John
> > Pozadzides" <jpozadzides@>
> >
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com <mybloglog%40yahoog roups.com>,

> > "netbobz" <netbobz@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > What is 'Hot in My Communities' in 'MY HOME' in 'mybloglog.com'?
> > >
> > > That is actually a heck of a good question. In mine I see the
> > > following list:
> > >
> > > 1) Pornotube.com - a porn site
> > > 2) JelloTV.com - a domain that doesn't even work
> > > 3) Allsimps.com - a site about the simpsons
> > >
> > > And a bunch of other useless (to me) crap. I wish this would go away
> > > and stop wasting my screen real estate.
> > >
> > > John
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>

Agreed! Pornotube is my 'hottest link' too, which reflects more on the
MBL demographic than my personal interests.

Hey, you know what would look nice in it's place? Moderation tools!
...and maybe a thumbs-up icon to flag me as a 'Hot Member' :)

--- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "John Pozadzides" <jpozadzides@...>

wrote:
>
> --- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "netbobz" <netbobz@> wrote:
> >
> > What is 'Hot in My Communities' in 'MY HOME' in 'mybloglog.com'?
>
> That is actually a heck of a good question. In mine I see the
> following list:
>
> 1) Pornotube.com - a porn site
> 2) JelloTV.com - a domain that doesn't even work
> 3) Allsimps.com - a site about the simpsons
>
> And a bunch of other useless (to me) crap. I wish this would go away
> and stop wasting my screen real estate.
>
> John
>

What is 'Hot in My Communities' in 'MY HOME' in 'mybloglog.com'?

--- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "Vincent Wright" <Linkedin@...> wrote:
>
> John,
> As far as I can tell, "teethcentral" doesn't yet have a blog:
> http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/teethcentral/

Good catch Vincent. That makes 2. And upon closer inspection this one
looks a little suspicious in other ways...

Anyway, the day we get to the point where 90% or more of the avatars
link to no/mis-information will be a bad day for MBL.

John

 --- In mybloglog@yahoogroups.com, "Robyn Tippins" <robyntippins@...> wrote:
> We don't want *just* bloggers, but blog readers and visitors as well.
> Otherwise, who's going to show up in your recent readers widget?

 

I guess my point is that I'm asking the same question, "who's going to show up in my recent readers widget?"

 

Currently on the MBL About page it states, "For the first time, everyone who reads a web site or blog can learn about and engage with one another...."  When someone with a blog shows up in my widget I can actually learn a bit about them.  For anyone else, I don't get enough value in terms of either a) learning who they are or B) wanting to engage with them.

 

Lets look at a real live example.  In my current widget I have 9 visitors (3 x 3).  Of the 9, 8 are members with blogs listed. 1 doesn't have a blog, and they have nothing else in their profile either.  I would argue that MBL is never going to be MySpace, so it's unlikely that non-blog owners will ever populate enough info for us to know much about them - therefore rendering the About page statement untrue in their case.

 

8 With Blogs:
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/dinky/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/Radarek/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/DidntYouHear/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/hthth/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/tenno/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/kowensby/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/PappyBlueRibs/
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/teethcentral/

 

1 Without a Blog:
 - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/pmlmijbil/

 

Take a look at those links... I'll wait.  :-)

 

Now, I don't know about you, but I see a massive difference between the two categories.  I can really learn a lot about the first 8 readers, but that last one gives me literally no information whatsoever.  So, let me ask a question.  If we get to a situation where your personal widget is full of icons just like that last one, will you leave it installed on every page of your blog? I'd be willing to bet not.

 

The thing we all appreciate about MBL is that we can actually learn something about visitors for the first time.  I view it as a Blogging Community tool. Without that it's just another stats package - and not even the best of breed in that category.

 

> As well, many of our members are 1-not native english speakers, if they
> speak english at all and 2-are not tech savvy at all, and we like that.  If
> MyBlogLog is to grow, we can't only be for people who can easily walk
> through a complicated sign up.  As it is, I still get tons of emails that
> it's too hard to sign up, from members like this, and any further barrier to
> entry is just not acceptable.

 

As I see it, this is a quality vs. quantity debate.  Personally I feel like MBL would be better off sticking to the blogging community.  Technorati now tracks over 70 Million Blogs, so I would find it very difficult to believe there isn't enough opportunity in this niche.

 

As far as users complaining about the sign up process, I see no reason not to just send an activation link to the address they specify during the sign up process.  In fact, I would argue that not doing so is irresponsible because:

 - MBL allows spammers easy access to bother the remainder of the legitimate subscriber base.
 - It leaves a loophole for spammers to bother people who have never heard of MBL.  For example, I could sign YOU up using YOUR e-mail address, then start leaving spam comments in your newly created profile and then the e-mail notifications come from MBL, not me.
 - This also allows easy hijacking of other people's identities.

 

Anyway, I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, and my opinion on this matter isn't going to change anything so that's the last I'll say about this topic.  Hopefully someone else will decide to chime in, though our relatively new user community is too small to be representative of the overall MBL community as a whole.

 

Take care,

 

John

 

John Pozadzides
MyBlogLog User Group, Founder
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/johnp/
http://OneMansBlog.com

---

Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links.

Robyn,

 

I am cautiously optimistic about this feature.  It could possibly end up being useful.  But I'm worried about how people will try to game the system. 

 

It seems to me that with more and more non-bloggers joining (which by the way I'm opposed to) there is plenty of room for me to set up 100 various domain name e-mail boxes, register that many user names and tag myself into the big leagues.

Not to be an a-hole about this, but as a proof of concept I was just able, in 15 seconds or less, to register a new user (proveapoint), join my own community, and add three tags.  I see no reason that I couldn't run TOR, continuously clear my cookies, and repeat this all day, every day.  Please don't crucify me for pointing out a weakness!

 

I consider the following to be gaping holes in the current process:

• It's possible to sign up without acknowledging agreement to any terms of service.  You don't have to check a box or anything.
• There is no verification taking place for new users.  You don't have to click a link in an e-mail to verify your account, and you certainly don't have to even have a blog.
• You don't have to have a blog. 
• The unbelievably lengthy TOS that are linked to from each page are way, way, way too long to be read and comprehended by your average human. 
• Having said that, there is nothing in the TOS that I can find which actually prevents me from signing up 100 or 1,000 times and cross-promoting myself.

I always thought that the benefit of MBL was that I could see who was visiting and then in turn learn more about them by visiting their blog. 

 

Now, think about this very carefully... If we take this concept to it's logical conclusion, by allowing random people to sign up without verification, without providing any information, and without even having a blog what exactly is the benefit to me any more?  If the "people" visiting my site begin to represent nothing more than an anonymous icon I won't really be getting any value from MBL.  Instead it will be just a JavaScript app that slows down my page with a bunch of bloated icons.

 

So, to ensure that it doesn't just seem like I'm off on a tangent I want to point out that I share all of these thoughts because in the end 'tagging' is only valuable when you have a reasonable amount of certainty that the taggers are unique and genuine people.  Currently I don't see how that assumption can be made.

 

John

John Pozadzides
MyBlogLog User Group, Founder
http://www.mybloglo g.com/buzz/members/johnp/
http://OneMansBlog.com

---

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

• It's possible to sign up without acknowledging agreement to any terms of service.  You don't have to check a box or anything.
• There is no verification taking place for new users.  You don't have to click a link in an e-mail to verify your account, and you certainly don't have to even have a blog.
• You don't have to have a blog. 
• The unbelievably lengthy TOS that are linked to from each page are way, way, way too long to be read and comprehended by your average human. 
• Having said that, there is nothing in the TOS that I can find which actually prevents me from signing up 100 or 1,000 times and cross-promoting myself.

Thank you so much, John, for all this great info!

Zura

John Pozadzides wrote:

----- Original Message ----
From: Zura Beth <zura.beth@...>
To: mybloglog@yahoogroups.com
> I've wondered if  there is a way to encourage Digg to include more categories,

> or if it would be feasible to try to find someone interested in starting a new

> similar service for creative type blogs.

 

There are a number of other services that cater to non-technical crowds.  Two that come to mind are http://Reddit.com, which seems to be more of the "thinking persons" social networking site, and http://StumbleUpon.com which has a section geared towards the Arts (http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/arts/).  You may also consider http://SpotPlex.com which has an Arts section (http://www.spotplex.com/category/8/).

 

You can also sign up for free over at http://FeedBurner.com and then install their "Feed Flare" script and it will allow you to integrate Reddit, StumbleUpon and other social networking sites into your posts so people can submit your articles directly from your site. (See my blog posts for an example.)  It's a great way to help build your visitor base and all of these are completely compatible with MyBlogLog.

 

Hope that helps a little,

 

John

---

Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.

Teri,

 

First of all, welcome!

 

Now, I've also noticed quite a few spam like avatars appearing in my widget, and this gives me a few ideas:

• Perhaps MBL could work on modifying the system a bit to allow for community policing of inappropriate avatars.  For example, when I have to remove an avatar from my page it should allow me to check a box that says something like "report as spam".  If an avatar gets a certain number of these reports (say 3) it automatically suspends the avatar from display pending a human review.
• The Terms of Use might need to be modified to state that Avatars cannot carry a commercial message.  I for one will remove MBL from my site if it becomes filled with avatar ads because those people are not paying me to display their mini-banner ads, and I don't have time to sit there and police every user that stops by my blog.
• If people get busted for using a spammy avatar they should get a notice that if they persist they will be booted off the service.  And certainly anyone that has this happen twice should be removed with impunity.

The bottom line is that we all use the service to meet new people and interact with our communities.  We don't use the service to get sold to or donate free banner ad space.
 

John

John Pozadzides
MyBlogLog User Group, Founder
http://www.mybloglo g.com/buzz/members/johnp/
http://OneMansBlog.com

---

Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV.

• Perhaps MBL could work on modifying the system a bit to allow for community policing of inappropriate avatars.  For example, when I have to remove an avatar from my page it should allow me to check a box that says something like "report as spam".  If an avatar gets a certain number of these reports (say 3) it automatically suspends the avatar from display pending a human review.
• The Terms of Use might need to be modified to state that Avatars cannot carry a commercial message.  I for one will remove MBL from my site if it becomes filled with avatar ads because those people are not paying me to display their mini-banner ads, and I don't have time to sit there and police every user that stops by my blog.
• If people get busted for using a spammy avatar they should get a notice that if they persist they will be booted off the service.  And certainly anyone that has this happen twice should be removed with impunity.