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May 08, 2005
The blogroll debate..
There is a very heated debate finding its way about the blogosphere at the moment about the benefits of a blogroll.(Set in motion by Burningbird and Feministe. Also Kate sums up the arguments and links to other posts on the subject here.) Of course I cannot resist sticking my oar in.
I realise that blogs exist for many reasons, so I can only speak for myself when I say that I see the blogosphere (especially amongst us lesser known bloggers) as a community. I see comments and blogrolls as an essential part of that network. Whilst I just about see the point that a blogroll without commentary is just a list of names and if overly long can become confusing, I do not see how scrapping the blogroll is going to ease the situation in any way. Those on my blogroll are there because I read them and endorse and recommend them, indeed many of them I found by scouting other people’s blogolls in the first place. Having said that I do include blogs that do not have a blogroll if they interest me and I read them but I do essentially see them as a different media form altogether, as something static (like reading a newspaper, magazine or autobiography) rather than conversational.
I use Tecnorati in pretty much the same way, to trace conversations and to see who is talking about who. I have never taken any notice of their top 100. I had TTLB installed on my old blog but didn’t transfer it to here because I couldn’t see much use for it, apart from to condone its own ranking system.
Of course I have no right to dictate whether you do or do not include a blogroll on your blog and if this debate had been so simple it would have died out long ago. However I think what Kate objected to (and got a lot of stick for) was the outrageous suggestion that those of us who choose to keep our blogrolls are somehow hurting everyone on them. We have been implicated in the argument by the ridiculous assumption and therefore have a right to stand up for ourselves.
So my blogroll is staying right where it is, I am however in the process of tidying it up, so if you are included and you feel that you are being harmed by such an association them feel free to contact me and I will happily remove you. Likewise if you have a blog and you think you deserve to be included, leave your link here and I’ll check you out.
I am also interested in how you came across my blog in the first place, if you can remember then let me know. Was it through someone else’s blogroll (if so can you remember who?), one of my comments in another blog (if so blah blah blah..), a link in an actual post, a webring, Blog Explosion, or maybe by another method altogether. It would be interesting to get a little perspective on the debate.
Posted by purple elephant at May 8, 2005 10:12 AM