When Kinky Love Trumps Blog Award

by Jan Geronimo on January 12, 2009

This author does not accept blog awards anymore.

Let me split a few hairs, if you will. I’d say my thanks if you persist, but I will not write about it to pass it on. And this post is written not because I’m swamped with awards. I have two already and I think it’s enough.

My dear reader, I understand your problem. You have just been awarded a blog award, a variation thereof, from a fellow blog author. And because the tacit understanding with this blog award is to pass it on, you’ve just met one roadblock. You’re one slot short of the five or six awardees. May be even two. It’s not a problem if you are easy to please and finds everybody a genius. What if you have discriminating taste? What if you consider nearly everyone a dolt? See the problem on your hands?

Will you lower your standard? Perhaps you remember me doing some neat cartwheels in the comment section of your blog. Will you now set me as your evidence of your new found love for humanity? A nice way to reward Jan for his efforts?

Stop.

Merit or Game of Politics?

It will put me in the spot. I have just awarded 6 blog authors. Another pay-it-forward blog award will leave me nuts. In order to come up with a list of 6 awardees in my own blog award, I left out a good number of people in my network. Will my third award – if it comes – be able to smooth the ruffled feathers of those who felt slighted when they failed to make the cut? I don’t think so.

This tends to degenerate into a game of politics. We get to nominate people on the strength of personal ties to us, with a minimum of merit thrown in maybe as an afterthought. Maybe if we give 50 % of the awards to people who are not in our network, but equally deserving of our recognition. Maybe then.

Link Love Failure

Of course I understand the value of awards as link love. But 5 to 7 awards for one recognition? A tie is rare in award ceremonies. If one’s intention is to spread the link love, guess what will happen if you award a blog author who’s not into a personal or free-wheeling site? Yes, the author will remain faithful to his niche. You’d get a sincere thank you. But there will be no write up of the award. Your link love is defeated. Boo hoo. Which is just as well because the recipient is well within his rights to do so.

This is not to belittle the two awards I have been given. I treasure them because they’re my first awards and very special. It’s my first tell-tale signs that I have not been stabbing at the dark anymore. The voices I hear are no longer the voices I usually hear in my head but actual voices – a remarkable progress indeed. Thanks Mye and Bingkee.

But the next one when it comes is not cute or endearing anymore. Trust me.

Alternative

A better tack is to make a link to another blog within the context of a post. Because the other author deepens the discussion and adds value to the conversation. Or maybe even because the linked author takes the contrary view, and offering this link gives your reader a comprehensive grasp of the discussion. Is it not then the more natural and effective way of giving recognition?

I keep my favorite blogs on my reader. That’s not enough for me because I still drop by to comment on their blogs. I email them when I feel that commenting is not enough. I add them on my Technorati favorites. And if I wake up on the right side of the bed – hey, I even thumb them up in Stumbleupon. And there are even no strings attached to it. Because I do it on my own. That’s my vote of confidence. That’s my award to you. And that’s my kinky way of spreading the love.

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  • Jan
    @Ambo: Works like a charm - your words of encouragement. Thank you, Ambo. :)
  • Ambo
    Hi Jan! I've been there and i really understand you now. Like earth said, never mind the people who thinks you're wrong. We are often misunderstood, but this is your life Dude! Keep up the good work!


    Ambo

    Pinoyambisyoso.com
  • Jan
    @Tonex: You're a wicked man, Tonex. Hahaha. That's putting it in a new light. I wonder if I would have put that in if the thought had occurred to me when I wrote the post. Thanks, buddy. :)
  • tonex
    Hi Jan,


    Firstly, deep and honest writing. I like your style.



    Lastly, I've never been really to these kind of awards. It's like a pyramiding scheme. It's a marketing tool and those on top are the only ones raking the "profits".
  • Jan
    @Lemuel: I hope so too. I'm glad you found something you like around here. Thanks. :)


    @Bingkee: Thanks for seeing the potentiality before it even sees the light of day. That alone will sustain and inspire me when the going gets tough. Thank you, thank you.



    @Lip: touche. Thanks for joining in. :)
  • Iip
    your article make me consider on blogging style. yes of course, we're blogging for something valuable. we won't produce something useless.


    thanks
  • lemuel
    hi! thanks for the comments. had a good time reading your posts. i congratulate you for all your achievements after just 1 month of blogging. i am sure a year from now you will get more awards and your blog will be visited by hundreds or even thousands of readers! keep up the good work!
  • bingkee
    Because I know you've got the potential---and that alone makes me sure that your blog is gonna shift to the direction to the "Blogs I Love". And I know this award will motivate you to keep blogging not for yourself but for the interests of your readers. I was only 1 1/2 month old in the blogging world, and I receive 2 awards already and those motivated me to keep blogging to rouse the interests of my readers---to entertain them, amuse them and inform them. Some blogs blog because it's their personal outlet but I love blogs which do not talk about themselves all the time or having a conversation with their own selves----And your blog is for your "readers" and at the same time not losing yourself.
  • Jan
    @Ryhen: Yeah, I should work on my tone. In my earnestness sometimes I come off as a newbie who issues edicts as if they were written in stone. Thanks for the gentle reminder. :)
  • Ryhen
    Hmm... I don't know if I should get out more or if it's just your tone that's making me think I'm way behind this blog award thing. I do agree with most of your thoughts. We really can't avoid reality sneaking its way into the cyber community. Sometimes you unexpectedly arrive at situations that are clearly forced upon you and which you can't explain to anyone the reason why you must go against the flow.


    For me, the only reason I have for being unable to establish more connections with other blogs is simply because I don't have enough time. I think writing an article that benefits anybody who could stumble upon my posts is enough reward for me. Getting the favor of other blogs should be set when the rubber meets the road.



    Take it easy on everyone, Jan. I'm sure they have their own reasons for doing the things that you interpret to be either positive or negative. Just set your thoughts on what you want then follow that. If you ever get swept by the tide, stay positive but always keep in mind what JFK said, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
  • Jan
    @Bingkee: The question as to how a month old blog like mine got a top recommendation from you I must admit has crossed my mind. But I ascribed it to your better judgment. Which will, I think, serve me well in the months ahead especially when the blogging juice threatens to dry up, or when the demands from real life pulls me in another direction. Thanks, Bingkee.
  • Jan
    @earthlingorgeous: It scared me a little hitting the publish button on this one. It took me half an hour thinking of what-ifs, including the off-chance that I maybe dead wrong about it. I just might rub some people the wrong way. But that's how I felt about it so it's better to be out there in the open...Miss Earth, thanks for your candid comment. And thank you for this visit. :)
  • bingkee
    You hit on the spot....but I don't give or pass awards that I don't feel like deserving . I passed them on because I think they deserve them too...the bonus is "link-love".
  • earthlingorgeous
    I once felt this way before, I left an impression that I was a snob so for a couple of months I think 6 or 8 months I did not get any blog-tag-awards. Some bloggers even boycotted my blog for being a snob. It was really funny.


    Now I learned blogging is a community, play by the rules or you go opposite it's your choice. It depends what your blog goal is either higher Alexa, technorati or anything about blog rankings but if your just up for blogging and writing down your thoughts never mind them and continue writing.
  • Jan
    @Preston: It's a preemptive move on my part. It's quite useful to have a clear policy about things like this early on. Indeed we can link to our fellow writers in a less "artificial" (for want of a better word) way. "You're Appreciated" feature in your blog is a perfect example. Thanks for your input.
  • Preston
    You are so on target. I link to other blogs as much as I can. I had started a semi-regular post called, You're Appreciated, where I write about a few blogs I like and then link to them. I think that's much better too because I share the love of those blogs I like without forcing them to pass it on.
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