Time Thief,
First, I sincerely apologize if I offended you. I respect your level of expertise and your willingness to help those of us "newbies" who are still trying to grasp the world of blogging ... in all its complexities.
Of course, I did not know that you wrote the article; nonetheless my observation stands as it was because it was not without warrant. First, what you quoted back to me in your response was not the portion of the article I was referring to. Rather, it was this:
"I can’t imagine doing business with any business that employs people to undertake such sleazy practices, however, there are many STUPID [emphases mine] bloggers ... some new and some not so new to blogging, who are sucked into the vortex. "
I think a better way of saying this would have been: "...however, there are many UNINFORMED bloggers...some new and some not so new...." In other words, vocabulary does matter.
Unfortunately the article further compounded the IMPRESSION that new bloggers are not only stupid, but also “desperate and needy” by the fact you also said this:
"But due to their desperation for recognition and validation new bloggers don’t find it easy to click the “spam” button."
I think perhaps that this kind of misplaced semantics--where words like "stupid" and "desperate" are being used to describe new bloggers, addresses a larger issue which is that sometimes experts like yourself--people who clearly know their stuff and have been blogging a long time (and undoubtedly have more time to devote to it)--forget that newbie bloggers are just that: neophytes excited at the prospect of communicating their ideas and passions to the world, yet lacking in the technical know-how (through no fault of their own) of how to successfully manage that process. I have no doubt that at one point you belonged to that class.
Sure newbie bloggers will make foolish mistakes, as I have and I'm sure will continue to do. Yet also as newbies they (we) are not going to be tech savvy enough (and perhaps never will be) to fully grasp the dark and complicated underbelly of blogging, aka, spamming, etc. Ergo, they (we) do some of the things you're referring to in your article. This does not make them (me) unintelligent or lacking in common sense (definition of “stupid”) but simply uninformed on a subject that is, yes, complicated to the untrained mind, and especially to right brain types such as myself.
Further, I’m sure you can understand why it would be easy to take offense at the statement that “new bloggers are all mostly 'desperate for recognition & validation.' ” I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and choose to believe that you simply chose the wrong words to try and express what you were trying to convey.
I’m not sure what that was exactly but let me just say for the record that a newbie blogger’s considerable enthusiasm for sharing their thoughts with the world at large does not translate them into being "desperate for recognition" anymore than artists--visual or performing-- do what they do for the sole reason that they are driven by a "desperation for recognition." (Some may be, but certainly not all.) In other words, everyone has a voice and the wonderful world of blogging opens up a way for people to use that voice.
Finally, I find there is a lot of assumption on the part of experts that everyone automatically knows what they're talking about when they throw out terms like "pinging" when in fact, most don't. Even after looking up some of these words in a glossary, I still am left with questions as to how it all works exactly. Of course, I'm attempting to learn, but I only have so much time in the day to devote to such things.
Like most people, I have considerable work, family & personal responsibilities to manage every day. So to expect new bloggers such as myself to go beyond figuring out how learn the technical aspects of building a blog and then, on top of that, to also grasp the complicated ways spammers and their ilk employ to fool and/or sabotage them (let alone understand the technology behind the process) is, I believe, a bit too much to expect.
That’s all. Again, I sincerely respect your considerable expertise, your proven readiness and willingness to help us newbie bloggers. I certainly had no intention of offending you by sharing my feelings as to what I feel was simply a wrong choice of words on your part.
jennikeast
airodyssey
