Pruning a Blogroll
photo credit: funny hub
Shelly Tucker wrote another great post today about the quandary of a blogroll. I think this is such an important subject to discuss. She raises and makes some very good points. I thought I’d link back to her and continue my thoughts on the same subject here.
At the beginning here, (this is only my opinion) I must say I firmly believe that most blogrolls are unkempt and unattended junk-drawers of random blogs that hold mixed levels of meaning to the blog owner. This is also true for most Technorati rolls I run across. It has become sort of an obligatory thing for many people to add and be added to each other’s blogrolls. I encourage every blogger to use the potential of a blogroll by going down their list and developing a criteria for deletion/retention. Regular maintenance of your blogroll helps you, it increases the value of a link on your site thereby helping your blogrolled folks, and it keeps your integrity high as a host of links on your blog. Your criteria should be based on what helps YOU! That may sound selfish but let’s face it, there are a bazillion blogs out there and you can’t be all things to all people. You can however, be something very helpful for networking to some people that belong on your specific blogroll.
- If the blog belongs to a friend of mine or if I read the blog regularly they make the blogroll.
- After that, some standards must come into play … here are mine:
- A certain rating standard (I won’t reveal mine but it’s an either/or thing based on several measures … must be the assessment teacher in me coming out).
- Even if 3 is true, if they consistently don’t communicate at least once every 6 months or so in at least a comment or 2, I usually will drop them. My blogroll is a valued spot and if a blogger doesn’t care to touch base with me, there are others who do to fill the space.
- I have some more, but you tell me? What are your criteria?
The most important point here is that you develop a criteria. You can bend and break the rules anytime you choose but by choosing to have a criteria and “pruning” your blogroll you help your blog and the whole blogosphere.
Would you be likely to prune your blogroll?
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Tags: blog, blogosphere, links, networking, Other Great Reads, Shelly Tucker, tech, technorati
I just went to Shelly’s blog and left a note there too but: My Blogroll is only of blogs that I love and that I constantly look at. I daily go through my Roll, comment in those blogs or link to their blog because I liked an entry.
I used to just add blogs to the roll because it seemed like the thing to do. But now that I’ve been blogging for a while, I only put blogs on there that I appreciate and that I am truly interested in.
I’m on your blog roll! I’m on your blog roll!
katelyn: You have great energy and I am proud to have you on my blogroll!
I read ALL the blogs on my blogroll. I add people because I like what they have to say and want to share that with other people. There are a few people that never comment, but I know they read me and that’s good enough for me.
I see sticking someone on your Blogroll as sort of a personal endorsement of the site, kind of like, "I hang out here… so should you!"
The only people I have removed have deleted their blogs or I don’t read them anymore for various reasons. But I agree, one should definitely maintain their blogroll. I hate clicking on an interesting looking title only to find it’s a dead link. Argh!
Jillian’s last blog post..Why Don’t You Come Over To My Place? No Real...
I agree a blogroll needs attention to be worthwhile. I add blogs that I think have something interesting to offer. They do not need to reciprocate to be added, they just need to be worth reading. I categorize my blogroll which helps keep the list sane and intelligible.
Nice Blog.
Paddio’s last blog post..The Promise
My own personal blogroll is pretty selective, but I did add Thursday Thirteen to my site and well, that’s like 500 blogs I don’t regularly frequent. I don’t update and maintain that aspect of my blog as much as I should.
Jessica The Rock Chick’s last blog post..Word Up!
Funny/weird!!!…I am in the process of pruning right now! (That’s why I am here…hint-hint) After blogging for nearly a year, I’ve found that many of the blogs I added to my roll early on, I just wasn’t visiting anymore (or visa versa)…so I am trimming those & adding new ones…I plan to do this on a regular basis…as I/the blog evolve.
Olga, the Traveling Bra’s last blog post..Bird Brain
Olga, it is great to get your comments. Since I know you’ll be pruning you blogroll, I will definitely check it out and see if I find anything that clicks.
My blogroll is actually the first place where I start visiting blogs from each day and I only include blogs that I like enough to want to revisit regularly. I don’t worry much whether the bloggers I read leave comments for me, though most of them do at least occasionally. I also divided mine into categories to make browsing easier.
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It sounds like you have more blogroll standards than the average Joe!