5 reasons why slblogs.org can’t be the Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere!
Well, one fact straight. I love bloggers. Well, most of them. From Steve Pavlina, who converted me into an atheist to evil John Chow who got me started in blogging to the sexy geek Lisa Bettany. Not just because of what they do, but also because of who they are. Let’s narrow the facts for a moment. Are there any prominent Sri Lankan bloggers? Of course, there are a couple of personal blogs I enjoy reading by my Sri Lankan friends but by prominence I mean, professionals. Professional bloggers who can build the “Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere ground up?”.
This is going to be my first “Get personal with another blog” post. Mark my word “blog” - not a blogger. I am not sure who runs slblogs.org; but, one thing, I’m sorry two things I can stand by would be; one - whoever runs it, knows how to blog, but doesn’t know anything beyond that and two - slblogs.org is not the Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere! Why? Because, calling slblogs.org “the” Sri Lankan blog syndication network would be offensive to all the ‘prominent’ Sri Lankan bloggers. It’s like calling Lenny Kravitz a legendary ‘Rock-Star’. He is a rock star. But he’s not legendary. No offence! To slblogs nor Lenny.
Why do I call slblogs.org an amateur syndication network, and NOT the Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere?
1. Blog syndication networks work no more without specific niches.
Don’t get me wrong. It worked fine when John Chow initiated TTZ. But not anymore. Not unless it has a specific niche. At the time of this post, it says 16 blogs syndicated. My RSS Feed count is 237 at the moment. Ryan Caldwell of Performancing dot com has over a thousand. And so does Jeremy Shoe of shoemoney. My point is, I don’t want to read about the Loch Ness monster everyday. But I want to read about Area 51. But the urban legend blog syndication network doesn’t have different feeds for Sci-Fi and Conspiracy Theories.
2. Doesn’t know open link-baiting could ban a blog.
One of my friends told me about this contest slblogs.org had about reviewing slblogs.org and one can walk away with a domain. Well, in reality, be thankful that slblogs only has 3 subscribers and not 3000. The last time something like that happened, it banned John Chow from Google. He earns thousand of dollars a month with his blog, but it could have been much more if Google didn’t ban him forever. I’m not your foe, slblogs.org! I’m just saying a thing or two about your blog and giving you guys an honest review while directing some international traffic at your network. If I really was your foe, there’s a 80/20 chance that you’d have been banned from google already.
3. “7 things Why a slBlogger needs a RSS reader!” - now, that’s a bit cliche.
I mean, Jesus! Please don’t ask me why it’s cliche!!
4. Open display of subscriber count?
The first rule of blogging! - “People are sheep”. A professional blogger, yet alone a syndication network, must not openly display it’s subscriber count unless it’s a descent figure. By descent i mean usually over 50. Not 3. Heaven knows how many prospective bloggers and subscribers it de-moralized.
5. Take a look around.
Blog-o-sphere had evolved so much. But how evolved is the Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere? Clearly, if it’s slblogs.org that demonstrates it’s evolution. Well, no offence, I don’t see why my HRM blog can’t be called the world’s greatest personality development blog. It’s just not what it is.
I don’t hold any personal grudges with anyone at slblogs.org. And I think it’s wonderful to make an attempt towards a Sri Lankan blog syndication network. I really do. That’s the whole reason why I didn’t vote ‘bad’ on their poll but rather ‘can be improved’. But one thing you should understand is when you start a blog and publish a couple of posts about blogging, it doesn’t make you Darren Rowse.
Many people with comment-backs might criticize me for this post. Especially the people who get something out of slblogs. Please feel FREE to do so. I spoke out my mind. If you had worked towards being a better blogger, and had seen how influential blogs can be in people’s lives, you would do too.
This is NOT an offensive shout out to slblogs.org! But evidence that there actually is a MindBlogger to the Sri Lankan blog-o-sphere. And off the top of his head, “Controversy creates cash!”
P.S. - While you’re at this, please create a 301 redirect for your blog network. With and without WWW, your posts can be duplicated twice by Google. If you really care about post-duplication, that’s something you ought to know. This might help.
Hey Guess who is commenting. It’s Niro from slBlogs. Nadeesha I first visited your blog through mithila and now I came to visit to see who was shouting at me he he… Don’t worry I’m really cool guy .This is what I really wanted. Some uprise in the slBlogospher ! We need to wake our Bloggers !
So.. You said you don’t know me. Ok . I’m Niro 23 old guy studing at IIT. Okidoky Lets answer one by one :
But a common answer for all Q’s -
“Motivation behind slBlogs is bringing all the Sri lankan Bloggers to one place and help them. what ever the way I can”
,
Any how I don’t wanna to be a John rease, Kind of a Derren or not even a shoe.. But I know I’m a better developer than any of them he he..
Now..
(1). So so.. You really think this does not work ? Well ok. Fine . Get to me in a year.
Your talking about a nish in relation to categories.. certain subjects. Yea I know that. If you want to find a nish like hmmm “PIXELS” always click on the category cloud.
I call my niche “SRI LANKA”.. if you don’t mind.
Well I can syndicated all 800+ blogs in Technorati under “Sri Lanka” using their API in an hour. Well when its automated nobody values..
By da way I’m customizing Feedwordpress plugin. To be suitable for slBlogs. Thats why its 16 blogs still. I did’t add till I test it’s fine. I was working on a eBay project so I was really busy.
(2) Well if you laugh at slBlogs RSS Readers let me laugh at your Alexa.. he he.. Yea just kidding..
Anyway bro the contest means a lot to SL Bloggers than Google traffic. I would love to help one blogger than having 1000 visitors.
You better know Syndicator sites normally don’t rely on Goggle traffic. Its for the loyal readers. Cos simply content is not unique.
Finally, Open Link baiting (which I have some experince ) is not bad unless your just asking for a link. Unless you force them. By the way have I asked to review the site? No Read it. Its SL Blogosphere.
(3) Hmm do you think the post is that bad ? Hmm ok.. I thought its useful. Anyway..
(4) Well slBlogs one month old baby yet So 5 RSS users is good. If you know the net well he he..
Anyhow I like the counter don’t worry it wont discourage people who really love SL ideas.
(5) Final Q Hmmm.. I won’t answer this. I don’t want to say I’m the GOD ! I don’t force too.. Just love the concept SL Blogosphere.
Finally, I would love to add you to slBlogs.org If you don’t mind !!
ok ?
Reply to NiroI think ur in a completely wrong attitude o jelous abt slblogs..
Reply to Chinthoand pls note that there are more than 3 subcribers.
soo i’m srongly recomends u to avoid such stupid things here aftr…
hey bro check out this,
http://www.rockfuse.com
you better off directory indexing on your server I gues.
Reply to maruwaI think slBlogs is a good place for Sri Lankan bloggers to come together. It’s always good to have some place where you feel is something of your own, and if we can make it Big then thats something we all can be proud of as Sri Lankans. I think the effort that has been taken to do this should be appreciated.
And one thing i know for sure, Knowing Niro from IIT and knowing what a good developer he is I can guarantee that slBlogs is goin to improve, and improve fast. It’s still small but i’m pretty sure it’ll be BIG soon. So why dont we help each other out as Sri Lankans without goin at each other.
cheers ppl ..
Reply to NipunI anticipated your comment Niro. Thanks a lot for that. And by all means, I wasn’t shouting at you, but rather I wanted to get your attention - which I have done, and now you’ve given me the honor of having the longest wordpress comment.
I’ll acknowledge your comments one by one.
“Motivation behind slBlogs is bringing all the Sri lankan Bloggers to one place and help them. what ever the way I can” - I really appreciate it. That’s why I said - “I think it’s wonderful to make an attempt towards a Sri Lankan blog syndication network. I really do”. So don’t misunderstand me. I appreciate your motives. I said that in the post.
“If you want to find a nish like hmmm “PIXELS” always click on the category cloud.” - well to start with, that’s a Tag Cloud. There’s a vast difference between categories and tags and my whole point is, if it’s a blog syndication network, you should allow separate FEEDS for separate niches. You might want to do that when your network grows.
“Any how I don’t wanna to be a John rease, Kind of a Derren or not even a shoe.. But I know I’m a better developer than any of them he he..” - Accepted Niro! You are… I am too. I am a better multimedia content developer than any of them. But they are better bloggers. And Darren owns the b5 media network. Blogging is an art. Just because slash is 30,000 times popular, he can’t beat Chow’s subscriber base of 30,000 without knowing the art of blogging.
I also know that you have the capability to use Technorati API in one hour and syndicate all the Sri Lankan blogs. But nobody cares right? Why do you want to build a blog syndication network and do something with it that nobody cares? 800+ blogs in the same FEED. I don’t think unless you FEED them in different niches, that your blog subscriber count is going to surpass 20. And your e-mail subscriber count would might as well be 0. That’s why I said you should have syndicated them in different niches.
“Well if you laugh at slBlogs RSS Readers let me laugh at your Alexa.. he he.. Yea just kidding..” - I believe you are kidding. See, Alexa rank is generated by the stats of the people who use the Alexa toolbar. And Alexa Rank + the subscriber count are two different, very different things. Do you want to help one blogger by cutting down the Google traffic? Well, you might give a domain to one blog. But you’ll lose ‘prospective’ traffic for the other 15. “You better know Syndicator sites normally don’t rely on Goggle traffic. Its for the loyal readers.” - you’re right in a way. Then again, you must be doing something in order to increase your loyal readers, i.e. subscribers too right?
“Finally, Open Link baiting (which I have some experince ) is not bad unless your just asking for a link. Unless you force them. By the way have I asked to review the site? No Read it. Its SL Blogosphere.” - asking/forcing is the same my brother, atleast in the link popularity’s eyes. It’s open link baiting and it messes the search engine bots up. You need the search engine traffic to grow brother. Don’t lost it in the early stages.
I honestly didn’t think the post was bad - the post about RSS Reader. I thought it was cliche - totally unnecessary. Sri Lankan bloggers might not be using Google reader or bloglines. But the construction of the post clearly targeted too immature bloggers. Not something that should’ve been done by YOU.
“Well slBlogs one month old baby yet So 5 RSS users is good. If you know the net well he he..” - I know the net well, but I don’t get the sarcasm. See why is it so low? After the first month of my personal blog I had 30+ subscribers! And this is a blog syndication network! You really should be stepping up your gas to get more subscribers. If you want any help with it, MindBlogger is willing:)
And yes Niro, we are never GODS! And ela!! I’ve already given you a review. (Which you didn’t ask for, then again, Obama also didn’t as me to reveal his middle name through my blog.. hehe..) So I’d love to be syndicated by slBlogs, as long as I don’t bleed my link popularity:)
Thanks again for the comment and opening an intellectual discussion rather than a blood feud. Appreciate it. Would like to help you take the network to the next level. That is, if you want it:)
@ Chintho -
Just because I think differently than someone else, doesn’t mean I have a wrong attitude. I would have liked it to be 20+ subscribers at least after the first month. I firmly believe that it’s not something stupid I did, but rather something that will push slBlogs to improve. And, please give me 1 good reason why I should be jealous of slBlogs.org! I run two blogs, neither of them are blog syndication networks. Thanks for your comment man. We all learn from each other…
@ Maruwa -
Yeah. I know. My apologies. But didn’t expect anyone to wander off to that area. It’s just my personal server to have my personal stuff in. Then again, should have known:) Appreciate the point-out.
@ Nipun -
Agreed. I know that he has the potential to take it to the next level, and I respect that. My review was just an eye-opener for slBlogs and showing where they could improve. I mentioned in my post “I think it’s wonderful to make an attempt towards a Sri Lankan blog syndication network. I really do.” - so I guess that explains my point and of course; we help each other out as Sri Lankans without going at each other. Tanks for your comment. Appreciate it a lot.
Phew,
Reply to ~The Nut Cracker~Well,since both Niro and the Mind blogger have helped and will be helping me out regarding various tech/web issues I think I can give an unbiased point of view.I ain’t sayin’ it’s going to change this whole scenario but ok well here goes
SlBlogs is a syndication network from which I get about an average of 4 to 6 hits a day.Average is the key word.When slBlogs started I actually got 66 hits reffered from slBlogs.That’s a reasonable amount of hits,so it’s good no problems about that.And the Mind Blogger never said it wasn’t.Niro doesn’t have a problem with that.So what’s with everyone calling The Mind Blogger jealous?Whoever wrote it I suggest you actually use a dictionary.Oh,you don’t know what a dictionary is?Well,it’s the big,hard-bound that usually bears a name like Oxford on its cover.
However,if anyone doubts the I.T skills of the Mind Blogger or Niro,you can mark my word.They know their stuff.From the long time I’ve known the Mind Blogger I know he’s someone who worked hard for whatever he’s got to this day.And from the few weeks I’ve known Niro,thanks to Yahoo messenger,I know he’s one of the most helful people around cuz he helped me a lot with my stuff lately.Hats off to both of you.
I am angry with neither,but thankful to both for what I learnt from them.But I am not at all pleased about the way people are commenting.Learn from your friend Chintho.There’s something called diplomatic crisis solving.Niro has just done that.Maruwa,you are really jobless friend,you actually wonder on the net hitting pretty much everylink you come across.What an awesome username,is that how it appears on your Birth Certificate?Is it your first name or your last name?Do you have a last name,or are you Maruwa the 3rd or something like that?
Finally here’s my unbiased view,these guys ,both Niro and the MindBlogger know what they are doing,they’ll both succeed in the future,not that they are not already,but they’ll keep improving.They’ll handle their own problem,as Niro said it’s high time we had some Domestic rivalry and competition.Competition is good you know,I am very positive about this.Thanks to this,the Mind Blogger will watch for where he places his index and Niro will think before he displays his feedcount.All you other foulmouths can thank these two dudes for giving you some free publicity on the net.
Out!!!
@ The Nut Cracker -
Just brilliant mate! Yeah, my biggest problem here is not building a rivalry but exactly what you said. Hats off! Respect.
P.S. - Yeah, the index was pretty bad:)
Well guys… Since i’ve known both Niro and Nadeesha personally, I SAY WELDONE NIRO U MADE A DIFFERENCE OUT OF MOST OF THE IT GUYS TO BUILD A BLOGSHPERE IN SL AND NADEESHA YOU HAVE GIVEN THE DUE RECOGNITION IT NEEDS THROUGH YOUR POST.
Bro as Nads pointed out, you seriously have to do something about the content panes. More to be improved.
All the very best!
Reply to Gayal@ Gayal -
Thanks for the comment mate.. And for the words of encouragement.Diplomatic Crisis Resolving at it’s best:)
Hi guys,I read all the stuff above..
Actually I knw Niro. He is a great developer and he is really helpful for others.
He has some brilliant ideas, the best example is slblogs.org
Actually Nadeesha if sm1 has done that kind of a job we need to appreciate it.
The purpose of doing that should be to motivate Sri Lankan bloggers.
Doesnt matter which site has good features and so on…..
Anyway keep it up!! Cheers for all sl bloggers …
Reply to Nuwan@ Nuwan -
I second that. Then again, if something can be improved, a.k.a., “something isn’t what it should be as claimed by some people”, as a blogger, I believe I have the right to express my opinion. Which I did.
Appreciate your comment.
I think SLblog is a great idea. they just lacked some experience.
Reply to morinn@ morinn -
Couldn’t agree more. Appreciate the comment.
Nice post , Nice topic , Maybe I should criticize it just to get some traffic he he , By the way I also voted for can be improved
Reply to Nishadhahate to burst everyones collective bubble… but haven’t you’ll heard ot kottu.org ?
Having Sri Lankan blogs “under one roof” has been happening for a while now
Reply to anonymousOh yes.. I’ve heard about that. Unfortunately, this criticism was directed towards this aggregator..
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