On Blogging, Popularity Contests & Why I QUIT!

These contests just feel like so much misdirected energy. I don't want to spend my time and attention bugging people to vote for me, nor do I want to spend it voting for others.

-Jul

Expat and Travel Blog: This International Life ( http://www.zurika.com/ )

Art and Creativity Blog: Flogging the Muse ( http://www.floggingthemuse.com )

this is so well said and makes such a good point. Good for you! It's all just a bit scammy with the Internet Awards anyway. Unless I like the site or am friends with the person running it, I typically skip those things too.

{for always} a mommy/photography blog ( http://www.foralwaysblog.com )

twittify your life ( http://www.twitter.com/birdsonthewire )

I feel almost exactly this same way about the tele-summits, newsletters, free calls, and other predictable blah-blah-blah that now runs rampant in my industry. It's all just exhausting, and often scammy, and potentially discredits us all. When it's good, it's great but far too often... well, it just sucks. It is my hope that there is still a business to be enjoyed as I continue to cling to my integrity and sanity, while marketing my business.

I'm going to do something that I almost NEVER do. I'm printing this post and putting it where I put things I must not forget. Thanks.

I often feel like blogging is a popularity contest in general. I know bloggers don't like comparing the genre to high school, but blogging is definitely reminiscent of it. It's more friendly and supportive, yes, but it still often feels like a popularity contest. And these types of contests don't help erase that stigma. Plus, as a writer, I'm with you - I'd rather see my work recognized based on merit, not a bunch of schmoozing and ass-kissing. It's why I'm content to stay a small blogger.

Kristin (@SaidKristin ( http://twitter.com/#%21/SaidKristin )) blogs about everything from parenting to social media to stink bugs at her virtual mind dump, What She Said.  ( http://shesaid.us )

I completely agree with you! So well said. I just wrote a post about the "follow back" phenomenon.

www.rockthekasbahafrica.blogspot.com ( http://www.rockthekasbahafrica.blogspot.com )

I completely agree with you! So well said. I just wrote a post about the "follow back" phenomenon.

www.rockthekasbahafrica.blogspot.com ( http://www.rockthekasbahafrica.blogspot.com )

My aunt was right; after college, life can be JUST LIKE HIGH SCHOOL.

Integrity points to you for not playing popularity 2.0.

Anne

Am I the only that feels like I am back in high school, trying to be accepted into the A crowd? Why do people have to be judged as to whether they are popular or not. I blog to save myself from paying for a shrink. If people like me I am happy, but I am just as happy not worrying about what people think or whether I am popular or not. I still choose not to "monetize" my blog, not sure if this will ever be a goal. Time will tell, thanks for your candid comments!

http://the4RsRamblings.blogspot.com ( http://the4rsramblings.blogspot.com/ )

I may be one of the few who had not read your blog. So, through this post I now have found you.

Staying true to the original intent for blogging can be challenging; you eloquently and passionately shared the reasons why. I, like all the other women here, applaud your decision to keep it real.

Continued success is wished for you...on your terms. :)

I'm new to blogging and I always see these contests and I agree that's exactly what they are popularity contest that can only end one of two ways you make it and feel good for a bit until the next time you don't or you don't make it and lose self-esteem. All the while if you are trying you do feel unconferable and like you are, for lack of a better word, whoring your blog out to get noticed. Ive never done one or even been invited to one but I know all to well how these can make people feel. Thanks for posting this and giving us a voice your blog is great and deserves many awards for what you do to help others!

I'm about a week or two past the end of the "top single parent" circle of mom contest thingamabob. It was a pretty amusing experience to be a part of because it was not competitive at all. There were clear front runners with a bajillion votes so the rest of us ended up laughing about it and getting to know each other on twitter. We decided to be as silly as we could - if we tweeted for votes it was something like "vote for the girl with the biggest feet!"

And at the end of the day a group of us sort of rallied together on twitter to create the Single Mother Union to find the women on twitter that didn't have blogs that needed tweets of support or humor.

So the contest probably brought maybe 6 more readers to my blog - but being a part of it create a really groovy team building experience so I am glad for that. There are some good things that can come from these things - just thought I would share what I got out of it.

Calliope blogs about Alzheimer's, Infertility, and Single Motherhood at http://creatingmotherhood.com@calliopeblogger
and tweets about needing more sleep & coffee

Love, love, love this post.

Even after years of posting my work on the Internet...struggling with that writing career, trying to pay the bills, go through a divorce and raise my son...the added stress of trying to be a popular girl at school is just too much.

So I write because it's in my heart, and when my words make their way into the hearts of others...that's good enough for me.

Now if I could just make money doing it.... Heh.

_______
KiKi Walter, Flibbertigibbet

http://kikiwalter.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/kikiwalter

Fantastic post. I love it.

www.annsrants.com ( http://www.annsrants.com )

www.listentoyourmothershow.com ( http://www.listentoyourmothershow.com )

I REALLY don't like the vast majority of blogging contests that require votes for many of the reasons that you stated. That is why I haven't participated in them...and probably never will.

However, I love my blogging friends more. So, I will vote for them (once, not daily - who has the time?!)as a show of support.

What can I say? I love for my friends to "win"...no matter how lame I personally think the competition is run.

God I love this post. I love you. I don't even know what else to say besides YES.

...on being true to yourself and taking a stand. I have long cringed over these things, and while I've never been nominated for anything to be able to opt out, I had already set my mind to it (whether I would have followed that or not, will never been known ;)

I lost so much of the joy from blogging when it became a popularity contest.

I'll applaud merit any day. But an award based solely on how many ppl you blast and beg your requests too is meaningless, in my book.

Karla Porter Archer (@KarlaArcher ( http://twitter.com/karlaarcher ))

ArcherCreative.com ( http://archercreative.com ) | LivingTheLifeFantastic.com ( http://livingthelifefantastic.com ) |

I'm with so many up the thread here, when I say: much appreciated, and thank you for laying out all these issues and your thoughts on them.

Like you, I've been blogging long enough to have previously benefitted from the visibility-making that these contests do generate. I think a lot of people have found my site thanks to seeing it listed on a couple of older years' award recipient lists. So while I have now sworn off emailing friends and posting pleas to readers to go vote (I swear!), I also do have to acknowledge that I reap the benefits of having done that before. (I think I'm with Mel on this.)

HOWEVER! Even at the time, it felt perverse not to be actually judged on quality. I'd emerged from academe, where popularity or mass appeal (and the ability to rouse the masses) usually is less rewarded than one's persuasiveness and mastery as judged by those who've proved their own skills to do so, on the basis of transparent, & collectively evolved rubrics. Rather a different system than "Hey! You! Vote for me!" Here's a post I did waaaaay back in 2006 ( http://www.lesbiandad.net/2006/12/fifth-list-of-ten-how-to-build-a-better-weblog-award-competition/ ) after a really ridiculous, exhausting, cynicism-generating Weblog Awards competition.

Anyhow: thanks again for this, Katherine.

Absolutely! I'm happy to help out another site or another person, but at least have the courtesy to do your homework and see if we actually are a good match. I cannot tell you how many PR pitches I get daily for pregnancy and baby stuff. I write, by the way, about infertility. Not only do I not match with baby stuff, but it's actually salt in the wound!

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her novel about blogging is Life from Scratch ( http://www.life-from-scratch.com/ ).

Yes, it makes sense. I'm glad you offered your perspective.

It seems that we all want a wide variety of people to be recognized, and we like getting the chance to meet new bloggers we didn't know about. It seems many also agree that what we don't want is to have to beg for votes or be bombarded by others who are begging. We're looking for something a bit more meaningful in the recognition department.

I like your point about really knowing the blogs that are being nominated. If there's one thing that bugs me it's when people reach out to partner with me or nominate or whatever and it's obvious they've never read even one post on my blog.

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

Congratulations for getting featured on BlogHer! BlogHer's syndication system, in my opinion, is a great way to recognize bloggers on the merits. They are looking at a wide variety of topics written by a diverse group of people and supporting quality. It doesn't matter what size blog you have or how famous you are. I love that they're promoting so many different people!

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

I enthusiastically love everything you just said here.

Wife, mom, teacher, friend, and PPD/A survivor, Miranda writes the blog Not Super...Just Mom ( http://notsuperjustmom.blogspot.com ).

As the political campaign season heats up, I was thinking last night of the idea of voting when it comes to blogs.

I'm with you on the idea of not supporting what amounts to traffic-generating-at-the-expense-of-bloggers, especially the ones that make you log-in or leave an email address or create an account. Those all have a fairly clear agenda -- they want something for themselves and they're going to use bloggers to get it.

But I don't think all traffic generating is wrong. Respectable sites -- including this one! -- do giveaways and contests. We all know that giveaways both benefit the reader (you get something) but they also generate traffic purposefully or inadvertently. We can't say that it's admirable to do it in one instance and annoying to do it in another -- especially when both places are operating transparently (in other words, not requiring an email address so they can bombard you with email in the future).

I feel the same way you do about the enormous amounts of sites holding contests. At this point, I've been blogging for a long time. I'm psyched when a group recognizes my work and honours it without asking anything of me (beyond continuing to do the good work). But as a newer blogger, contests put my blog in front of eyes that might have never found it. I used the nominees from the old BOB awards to find my first blogs to read. I swing by the Bloggies each year to see if there is anyone I haven't read yet. So they're good in that regard.

And back to voting, I'm not annoyed when people ask me for votes. If it's simple and I don't have to make an account, I'm happy to click over and vote for them. It's my way of showing them I appreciate them because if it's important to them, even if it's not important to me, it doesn't matter. If they like chocolate and I like vanilla, I'm going to give them chocolate if I can give them ice cream at all. Does that make sense? So if Blogger A says, "I know this is silly, but it means a lot to me," if I care about that blogger, I'm going to fulfill their wishes. The only time I don't is when it is so profoundly clear that the nominees are just utilized to drive traffic with literally no care given to them on the part of the site (I'd like to know if the people running Circle of Moms are reading all the blogs nominated, supporting them in future ways, etc). If I ran a contest, I'd take the time to really familiarize myself with every nominee in my contest.

Great post. I love the discussion it's generating!

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her novel about blogging is Life from Scratch ( http://www.life-from-scratch.com/ ).

Perfectly and excellently said and I applaud someone for saying outloud what we all say in private. One thing I want to add, these "Best" Whatever Blog contests often reward the most mediocre in any category, not always but often, only because they have more followers and/or are able and willing to drum up more votes. Popularity does not always equal the best or the most talented. Thank you for writing this.

Oh thank you thank you thank you for writing this! While I didn't write about it, I too have decided that this is the year to quit those hideous traffic-driving contests. I always felt like a whore, shaking my goods via social media for votes.

It's nice to be out of the game.

Liz Hamill, the original Imperfect Traveler ( http://www.imperfecttraveler.com )
Come visit me at Travels With Pain ( http://travelswithpain.com ) 

I know. I get this. As much as I want to ignore the fact that sometimes I feel that blogging can be a popularity contest...I just can't. Especially if it involves winning a title. What can I say. I love bling on my blog.
Kimberly is a mom, wife and part time registered nurse. She writes the personal blog All Work And No Play Makes Mommy Go Something Something ( http://makemommygosomethingsomething.com )

I love this Katherine! While I find you completely worthy and I'd vote for you in a minute, I agree with you. I don't want to be begged or sent a link to go vote for someone and if I EVER made one of these lists I'd want sincere votes, not ones that I pleaded for. I also have to say that meeting you and chatting with you at TypeAMom last fall was one of the best moments for me.....seriously.

Your post is balm for my soul. I'm relatively new to social media and blogging (coming up on my one year mark). My posts are slowly being recognized on various venues and one will be featured tomorrow on BlogHer (on how to develop listening skills). I'm so delighted because this is my first time being recognized here on this marvelous platform.

Yet, I too have wondered how much tweeting and facebooking I can do. Like you, I have decided to be mission-driven rather than recognition driven. I believe in this work and will do what I can to spread the message, but I do have my limits. I will do my best work and let the rest take care of itself.

Thank you for this post.
Jean

Thanks for writing this Katherine!

Skye Kilaen

Flooded Lizard Kingdom ( http://www.lizardkingdom.org ) | Heroine Content ( http://www.heroinecontent.net )

Great post!

I'm all for the truth, and the truth is...the truth doesn't exist -here in the blogsphere world.

All these bloggers are creating these sneaky little teams and networks, commenting and tweeting and schmoozing each other - racking up thousands of Facebook likes and Retweets on each others posts - as a way to make everyone else think they're more awesome than the rest of us.

And then we fall for it and end up really. making. them. awesome.

And not to mention how many "probloggers" are out here, selling us dreams - telling us peasants, that we'll make millions of dollars from blogging. Seriously? Why don't they just tell the...TRUTH!

The blog itself isn't making them millions of dollars but rather, their books, their consulting work, their services, their meet ups or whatever else they're doing.

It's all joke. Blogging is just like any other business venture, in that it takes REAL work to get a foothold on it and make it great.

Now even more so, since I just saw a statistic that there's something like 5 million blogs? So who's really unique? O_0

Kudos to you maintaining your integrity.

Veronica
www.veronicainspires.com/about ( http://www.veronicainspires.com/about )

Quality speaks for itself. I agree.

I suppose I can be more comfortable accepting that because, after 7 years of busting my butt on my blog, I have been fortunate enough over the last couple to have been recognized in my niche for quality. I was willing to keep going and going and going until I got there. Even if I never got there, actually, though I admit it would have bummed me out.

I sometimes wonder if some of the bloggers who've started more recently are chomping at the bit to get there in less time, to be recognized sooner. I understand that. I love eagerness and a competitive spirit, and I imagine it would be hard to see other people being lauded and to believe in your work so much that you are convinced you should be too, but haven't been yet.

I just believe that if you keep doing what you are doing and trying to get better and being your authentic self you WILL be recognized eventually, and the recognition will be something of which you can be legitimately proud.

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

This is the first post I have read in a long, long time that I LOVE. I'm such a snob that I usually read stuff and think to myself, "this is not new, I write about way better stuff, I'm not wasting my time." Your post, however was great and I don't know if it's because I couldn't agree more or if it's just great because that's what it is. Thank you.
~Robyn
www.dimsumanddoughnuts.com ( http://www.dimsumanddoughnuts.com )

I am ALL for free wine.

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

Exactly. Yes.

Sometimes, these lists expose bloggers or non-bloggers to different blogs. However, I know that's not the end-result for most of us. We may pick up one or two new readers from this. For me, that's not the point with this list.

Do I think that this contest is well-run or even semi-reputable? Not even a little bit. But everyone has her own reasons for participating and if I don't want to see someone's repeated assault on my social media asking for votes? I can block them until it's over. I don't think any less of them for asking.

With the mental wellness list, though, I want as much positive exposure for that topic as possible.

Wife, mom, teacher, friend, and PPD/A survivor, Miranda writes the blog Not Super...Just Mom ( http://notsuperjustmom.blogspot.com ).

Two were for photo contests, and one was for a regional blogging thing. All required unnecessarily complicated registration processes, and my friends had to sign up for these sites to support me.

I hope I am correct when I say I never plan to do it again. I'm weary of lists and meaningless prizes, first of all, and I didn't like the way I felt the whole time I was nagging people to support me. Daily voting situations are the worst.

I am not offended if someone asks me once or posts a time or two. I understand wanting validation from outside sources, and maybe there are some of these contests that have some value for the people who win them. But if people post about the contest on every single social networking site, every day, multiple times a day, I do get annoyed. I especially don't like it when people don't engage with me much or at all otherwise but all of a sudden include me in pleas for votes when they are in the running for a prize. I really believe that quality will be rewarded in some way, and for me it just can't be tied to begging for votes for anything, anymore.

Great post and insight, Katherine, especially about the benefit to the groups and sites that run these things.

Laurie
LaurieWrites ( http://lauriewrites.typepad.com )
Photos on Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubyshoes )

I hate them. I hate when my friends are listed and I'm supposed to spend a bunch of time clicking all the vote things and then sorting out the spammy newsletters later. I hate them, and I applaud you for opting out.

Beyond the work of pimping yourself over and over again, it just feels shameless and contrived. I know I could never have a career in sales, since I simply believe quality speaks for itself without promos over and over and over.

You go!

karoli

odd time signatures ( http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/ ) (life)

Glad you came and added your opinion, friend. There was definitely a lot of constructive discussion after that post over in the commenting section of my blog. Some people felt that these lists are important, in spite of the voting element, because they help people get to know bloggers they don't already know. So there was definitely a contingent that strongly believes that if these things help improve the diversity of bloggers one is following, or if it helps raise awareness about an important issue, that is worthwhile. Did I capture it correctly Miranda?

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

Thanks for the support Molly!

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

You know I do!

In the grand scheme of blogging contests, I'm there. Totally and completely there with you in regards to the vote-begging and link-baiting caused by these sites. Though, as I've mentioned before, if having Klout about wine because I tweet about wine gets me free wine?! Score!

Wife, mom, teacher, friend, and PPD/A survivor, Miranda writes the blog Not Super...Just Mom ( http://notsuperjustmom.blogspot.com ).

Given that I have a nonprofit too (shameless plug: http://postpartumprogress.org), that scares me. I just can't bring myself to shill for that either, which may make me the world's worst nonprofit director, but I guess I'll just have to find a better way. Thanks for sharing that.

Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress ( http://www.postpartumprogress.com ) @postpartumprogr

I said as much in the comments on Katherine's post, but the saying that bloggers who "fall for" this or choose to promote themselves, especially in this particular category, lack integrity is hurtful.

I think it's completely possible to recognize this category in particular and still maintain your integrity as both a blogger and an individual.

Wife, mom, teacher, friend, and PPD/A survivor, Miranda writes the blog Not Super...Just Mom ( http://notsuper-justmom.com ).

It's all so tedious. I hate these popularity contests. They've migrated into charitable giving, too, so that small non-profits have staff people chasing votes. It's just not right.

-magpie ( http://www.magpiemusing.com )

for saying it out loud. I appreciate it.

MomsRising.org ( http://www.MomsRising.org )

WordyDoodles ( http://www.wordydoodles.blogspot.com )

I commend you for taking the high road. It's awesome to find bloggers who maintain their integrity. Kudos to you for keeping yours!

Lulu

I commend you for taking the high road. It's awesome to find bloggers who maintain their integrity. Kudos to you for keeping yours!

Lulu

Thank you. (And thanks to BlogHer for syndicating this important post.)

I understand getting caught up in the "OMG! Someone likes my blog!" But, it's not as if the site in question does anything for bloggers or the blogosphere at large. If they did and it wasn't an obvious link bait scam, well, that would be different.

Kudos for this post. (Also, to new readers, make sure you go and read through the comments at Katherine's original post. There are some great ones concerning diversity of such lists (Rita!) and other issues involved with these things.)

Family Section Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ). She is a freelance writer and photographer.

:)

I already think you are thebomb.com but I just wanted to come here and say it again!

Blog: A Day in Mollywood
( http://www.adayinmollywood.com/ )on twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/adayinmollywood )
on facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/adayinmollywood )