Linking to your own blog
I can't remember when this was posted, but I don't think I'm making it up. Didn't Alaina put up a message about how people shouldn't link to their own blogs by way of a signature in their posts? I thought it was a great idea because it eliminated a lot of fluff postings that were only up to promote some food blog. It seems like more and more posters are starting to link to their blogs and it's getting annoying. I love this site because of the interesting ideas that people share but I don't like clicking on a Talk topic to find it littered with self-promoters who are only contributing a frivolous statement so that they can advertise.
Is it just me? If I'm crazy, just tell me and I'll shut up.
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15 Comments:
Laurelie: You're not imagining things. Here's the thread: Please Read: Serious Eats Self-Linking Policy [July 23, 2009]. I'll quote it here in its entirety:
Until that thread, we had taken a pretty light hand with the self-linking, but we were getting a lot of complaints like yours here—via email and on-site in Talk and Comment sections. So we made that announcement.
Since then, we've taken a more aggressive approach to weeding self-links out of Talk and comments. We don't always catch everything (we have to sleep sometime), so if you see anything we may have missed or spot a particularly egregious "community member,"* please let us know.
You can report a comment by clicking the "report an inappropriate comment" link below or by emailing contact@seriouseats.com (be sure to copy-and-paste the comment URL in question and include it in the email; you can grab individual comment URLs by right-clicking on the time/date link and choosing "Copy Link").
* I put community member in quotes because many of these folks do little to advance the community here and just drop by to work their links in.
Adam Kuban at 2:09PM on 10/07/09
cool, glad to know I wasn't losing my mind. I'm not trying to be a tattletale, but I do think it helps the community to have less blog linking. I think you guys have been doing a great job. I just noticed in the past few weeks that this practice has insidiously crept its way back in (maybe because the Talk boards have been a little slow it's been more obvious to me when people do a drive-by linking).
laurelie at 2:37PM on 10/07/09
There was also an awesome thread that actually asked people to go ahead and list their blogs. I was amazed how many people here had them! I bookmarked several and visit them often.
Adam - I tried to find it but couldn't. This was just a nice way for people to throw it out there without trying to shill their blog on an unrelated talk topic.
arm1970 at 2:47PM on 10/07/09
That's a good idea. Also, if I like the way a certain commenter writes, I just click on his name to see if he lists a personal website.
It comes across as so desperate to always link to your blog (even if your comment is on topic) or say, "I wrote more about it here on my blog" and then give the link. LAME.
laurelie at 2:51PM on 10/07/09
@arm1970 (and everyone): Here's the thread you were looking for ...
SE'er Food Blogs
Adam Kuban at 3:19PM on 10/07/09
Thank you Adam!!
Laurelie - Bookmark this link and check out all of them some time. Some are really great. Well, maybe I should say they are ALL great! : ))
(I don't have one, so no shilling here!)
arm1970 at 3:23PM on 10/07/09
I will - thanks!
laurelie at 3:32PM on 10/07/09
Just posted a list of (almost) ALL the blog-related Talk topics in SE's history. I liked that strange period where everyone and their brother was asking for blog-naming help. (I'm hopeful some great blogs came out of that era!)
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/food-blogging-lists-and-resources-advice.html
Adam Kuban at 5:04PM on 10/07/09
Oh good, I thought I was in trouble for linking to my blog..um...once? But I wasn't because it was on topic and apparently helpful since that link still gets traffic almost every day.
I hate signatures of any kind, they're so obnoxious, especially when your post is very short.
VerySmallAnna at 5:20PM on 10/07/09
I could not recall the name of it because we been flooded with self promoting good meaning blogging recently.
JerzeeTomato at 2:05AM on 10/08/09
@Laurelie - are you saying its "desperate" to provide an on topic link to your own blog? I sometimes drop a link to my own blog if someone's asking for a recipe, etc. or it's otherwise on topic although not in a signature. I don't really see how that's desperate...more just trying to provide a quick resource to others. I hate it when someone mentions in a comment that they have a great recipe for something that sounds great but then leave me hanging.
Now, if that's all a commenter is doing here on SE's website, then it's a different story. Kind of like food bloggers who leave lame comments on other food blogs like "Cool recipe" or "Looks great" with no indication they actually read the post just to linkbait to their own blog.
nithya at hungrydesi at 8:12AM on 10/09/09
@nithya - No, I'm not saying it's desperate to provide a link to a recipe on your blog provided it's on topic and adds to the conversation. I do think it's desperate when you have people who ONLY contribute to SE as a way to advertise - that is - it seems like they have a google alert set up to tell them when anyone on SE mentions 'key limes', because they have a key lime blog and want traffic, so then they post a trite comment about limes and link to their blog. And when you look at their profile, all their comments conform to this pattern...it makes one suspicious.
I think it's helpful to get recipes from people's blogs when they are providing a link as a resource and it adds to the thread in a meaningful way. I'm just saying that there's a time and a place...I happen to love food blogs and am always happy to discover a great new one.
laurelie at 9:17AM on 10/09/09
I think for any educated person out there, it would only make sense to be attracted to a blog via a well-written commentary or observation. If you don't have anything interesting to add, don't add it. I have expressed blog admiration (I did it today with cupcakestakethecake, the sheer vastness of it bowled me over) and slipped in a blog address. But I also followed it up with an email providing them with an additional cupcake source. Interacting thoughtfully and exchanging good information will get you a lot more than simple promotion. I scratch your back, you scratch mine, it is all for the better.
EdibleMarie at 9:53PM on 10/10/09
I never really noticed this was much of an issue, but I also like being able to find cool new blogs. What about a once-a-week question that starts with "For Bloggers Only" - you know, what their popular topics are, shared comments they've received or general chatter about food blogging (or even starting one). That way folks like me can click through, and the people who don't like blog listings can just skip ahead. Just a thought.
kwhit at 1:24PM on 10/11/09
I agree withEdibleMarie and kwhit...but I'm still learning blogging/commenting so it's interesting to read people's opinions and rules. In some instances, doesn't your email and/or blog address you signed up with automatically enter into the comment section? I can see it being annoying when someone intentionally adds their blog address but if it's part of their signature maybe it's another thing?
Desktop_Gourmet at 9:48AM on 10/13/09