Thursday, July 21, 2011

Top Indian blog is mine. Bah!

Hi
Congratulations! The Directory of Best Indian Blogs is out and your nice blog figures in that. We thought, let's announce that to you.

Since all blogs do not have emails clearly mentioned, we have taken the liberty of telling you of this by making a comment on your latest blogpost. Hope, you don't mind it.
Happy blogging!

ITB team

I am sure almost all of you received this comment on your latest post. I got the same comment too, in spite of my e-mail id being clearly visible on my blogger profile. Had they visited my "profile" and not the blog, then I am sure they would have found it. But they were too busy informing 1000s of bloggers that they didn't get time to check my precious profile, my amazing bio that took 2 years to write :| No value for emotions these days I tell you!

Now, I read my name on the site two days before they "informed" me that they found my blog worthy enough to be listed on their site as one of the top Indian blogs. Duh, and I thought I was above all these things, I was invincible and immortal in this blogging world; but alas, this Best Indian Blogs directory broke this fantabulous spell for me! How hurt I felt when I saw my name being featured there with so many others who don't even know what they write on their blogs. There were people who never read anything ever but blindly commented everywhere to get comments back, there were those who didn't know which language they were blogging in! Phew!

Do I sound harsh? Hell that's what I intend to! Reason is simple - on what basis do you include a blog in the top blog list? What factors do you consider? They labeled blogs in platinum, gold, excellent etc categories. I noticed that very few blogs deserved to be there. Rest all were there because of their high readership and not content! I felt so amazing as I was not listed in any of those categories. I was at the bottom most level and hoping to be chucked out as soon as possible!

June blogosphere survey of Indian blogs - Please click on this link and read the first two comments. Maybe it will help you to come back to your senses!

Again, many of you think that it's a privilege to be there. Good for you. But it's silly to be judged as most of us write because we like to write. We write in pathetic English, on random topics, our verses don't rhyme, our posts are so boring that sometimes even we don't feel like giving it a read! And hell we are happy with our blogs. Judge professional blogs, or at least show us on what basis you are judging us. You are someone unknown, totally random who does not even own a site or a web space, you inform me one fine day that my "nice" blog features in your "best" blog list!

And we are amazing too! Instead of not supporting such wannabes sites, we thank them and acknowledge them. When the scams come out, we abuse them. Our memory is short lived. We forgot We Blog episode so easily. How so many of us had given an interview there, and then cried foul as you felt cheated because the Admin of We Blog turned out to be the guy who took away lacs of Rupees prizes from you!

Again, who am I to say all these things? I am that hurt, invincible and immortal blogger who doesn't like to be judged! Spare me please! You can go ahead, accept, applaud and fool yourself, I won't! Thank you very much!

29 comments:

  1. Bang on! I wanted to write a post on this but I secretly wished you write it because I cant be harsh :)

    I got irritated when a couple of bloggers congratulated me on this. What are we happy about?

    Who are these people to judge us?
    On what basis are our blogs judged?
    What are the parameters?
    Who gave them the authority to do so?
    Who are the committee?

    DID YOU NOTICE THAT THEY DONT EVEN HAVE A DOMAIN OF THEIR OWN?

    Everything there is secretive. No one owning that thing up there.

    And top it all, I see few blogs which have crappy content listed under platinum and gold!!!

    This sure is a sham. Thanks for putting it up. People are celebrating it by putting FB status and all that; any publicity is good publicity for these people.

    They even have a badge ready to pin it on your blog!

    Huh!!

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  2. And yeah there are really pretty fantastic bloggers whose posts are delight to read who havent been featured in that damn list.

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  3. Yeah, even I had similar thoughts, yet who won't like to get acclamation :P

    Weakest LINK

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  4. Applause! Applause!! I am soooo glad that you wrote about this, Neha! When I saw the site and saw the listings, and I knew what this is all about!! Crap!! And people are going so gaga over it!! :D

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  5. It reminds me of the Euphoria blogger experienced few months back or was it last year when something similar had happened .In addition to the things that you mentioned there is another thing that bothers me and that is-- why other regional language blogs of India are not included in these directories ?

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  6. hahaha! :P

    get rid of comment moderation THAKKAR! x-(

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  7. Clap! Clap! Clap!!

    Where is the like button for this post?

    I got this message too, and Scribbly told me, and when I read the list, almost EVERY Indian blog has been listed there. I wonder what is the criteria for being included/excluded?

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  8. I cant react. I am not in the list.

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  9. Whoaaaa-kudos girl for such a straight forward and brilliant post!

    It's become such a 'scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' thingy in blogosphere now, that it is almost annoying!

    and this article so hits the bulls eye!
    keep writing!
    we are reading n appreciating-that's what matters:-)

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  10. Don't break my heart.. evn i am listd :p

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  11. Congrats.
    God is great...me too in that list

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you ever, I mean EVER read any post? Or just come and comment to get a comment back?

      Delete
  12. Everybody who can spell ABC is on the list. I am too and I got the same msg. Am glad you wrote about it.
    You have echoed my thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Came here by following a blog I liked. Am amused to find suspicious comments such as...

    almost EVERY Indian blog has been listed there. I wonder what is the criteria for being included /excluded?...
    This sure is a sham...
    Who are these people to judge us?
    On what basis are our blogs judged?
    What are the parameters?
    Who gave them the authority to do so?
    Who are the committee?...
    why other regional language blogs of India are not included in these directories ?...
    --------
    We have explained our selection procedure on the IndianTopBlog blog many times over.

    The fact that only 270 blogs are there in the Directory and only about 90 in the ranks shows that only a minuscule of blogs have been listed. And we have conceded many times that with our limited effort we have so far been scan not more than a few thousand blogs, that too in over 9 months.

    Tell me, if any one of you was approached for a quid pro quo for selecting your blog? Has any inappropriate communication gone to you? We have always been transparent about what we are good at and what our weaknesses are [eg we are not in a position to suggest SEO]. Do have a look at our explanations in Feb Survey, June Survey and Directory.

    About us. Frankly one of the main reasons why we are not disclosing our identities is that we do not want to be influenced. And we are a big loser on account of this.

    As far as anybody feeling that we are too small to judge them, we admit that. We are only PR3 blog yet, our expertise is sum of our individual expertise[we are not a company], we do not finances enough to run a big website. If on account of that, you feel that your blog needs no mention on our listings, do tell us. We'll remove you. Just one liner email would do.

    We have not included language blogs because we together know English, Hindi and a bit of Bangla. Just to include these languages and exclude other Indian languages would give a wrong picture of what we call Indian blogosphere. We have explained that in one of our posts too.

    As for crap being included in Platinum category, do see our ranking criteria as mentioned above. In one of future posts, we intend to give the filtering algorithm. Right now we are busy clearing a huge backlog of review requests. Do have a closer look at those blogs, and you will find some quality of content and design that has given them a high rank.

    We feel sad that our honest intentions are being taken amiss. However, it is good learning for us. Wish us good luck. Believe us, we are not sham, whatever else -- lethargic, small, incompetent, Angrezon -ki-aulaad -- we might be.

    Regards.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi

    We have linked your post to the IndianTopBlog blog. We hope it will make visitors to ITB cautious enough about us and put us through further scrutiny.

    Thanks for putting our comments on your blog.

    Best of blogging!

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  15. There are over 120 million bloggers in the world excluding the 78 million Chinese bloggers.Isn't it a bit too much..or even three much to think that some have become great bloggers and writers !
    And then,blogging is not a competition !

    ReplyDelete
  16. IndianTopBlogs,

    You seem to have picked up on my comment.

    Did read your explanations about your survey on your space. Its quite ambiguous.

    You mentioned that blogs with quality of content and design has been given higher ranks.

    1. Ranking a blog based on its design is sure ridiculous.

    2. Quality of content - there are much better bloggers who churn out fantastic pieces whom you have missed out.

    Analyzing the ranking further, blogs having more readership and more traffic has been ranked better.

    Thats no criteria. Anyone one can amass readership - all one needs to do is hop on to each and every available blog and leave a footprint, take part in every other competition and give virtual interviews.

    Anyway, please take this as suggestion/feedback.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hmmm I take these ratings with a pinch of salt! I might not agree with them but I do not disagree as well because blogging for me is a passion and these ratings do not matter. I mean there are a million blogs and it isn't necessary that my blog will be loved by all. What matters to me is that I love writing & I do just that.

    As far as these sites are concerned well it is a project for them and to begin with they need readers. Lets take Blogadda for example. When it started it was just a simple portal but with their networking they have managed to become a l'lle recognised or rather respected name. I won't agree with their Tangy Tuesday's or Sat picks every time but what difference does it make to me? I am here to write and I will keep doing that! If they feel my posts needs to be selected good enough & if they don't well I hadn't written the post for that kind of recognition. I wrote because I wanted to.

    I will tell u about a real sham. Almost a year or so back a site called Webneetech had come up. They had requested for blogger interviews all across the blog-o-sphere because supposedly we were respectde names in blogworld(!!!!)

    Many a bloggers were interviewed & we pasted the links very proudly in our blogs blah blah! But now when u check the site out none of the interviews are avlbl and it has become a site which helps in IT development.

    Check this link http://webneetech.com/2009/11/02/interview-with-blogger-smita-saxena/ (Luckily I had bookmarked my interview and this is the same link, see where it lands). These buggers must have wanted some number of hits before launching their site and they used the unsuspecting bloggers for it.

    At the end of the day all 3rd party portals (i dunno if the term is correct or not) want content and they do it by taking our interviews, using our posts etc.

    As far as ITB is concerned somehow I have not disliked the site because as of now they havn't at least used our content and niether have they gone into interviews and all. What they gain out of ranking us or by giving us gyaan is beyond me. But as I said i take all this with a pinch of salt.

    Chill!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Quoting ITB:
    1. "Am amused to find suspicious comments such as."
    2."We have explained our selection procedure on....."
    3."Tell me, if any one of you was approached for a quid pro quo for selecting your blog?"
    4."We feel sad that our honest intentions are being taken amiss"

    Am, we, me, we.. The group/representative of the group must first decide who is speaking and/or on behalf of whom! Why the confusion eh?

    I still don't understand the whole 'And we are a big loser on account of this(not disclosing identities)' amuses me! Is it that difficult to stop being losers?

    Seriously, why would someone want to go about in a clandestine way unless their revealing the identities would have some sort of repercussion?

    And which 'responsible' platform would use words like 'Angrezon-ki-aulaad'?? For God's sake!

    I initially gave ITB a benefit of doubt. As an afterthought, approached them and tried my best to seek 'satisfactory' answers on their page but all in vain!

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  19. I have another question for ITB

    Did you seek bloggers' permission before reviewing their blogs?

    Thats invasion!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Invasion? seriously?
      Do you block anyone from reading your blogs? Isin't that kind of public?

      Also did you take permission from ITB to pass comments on their review procedure?..If you think it requires permission to review something that has been put on the web
      I see no invasion here.
      I came here after ITB itself directed me. I respect them for being bold enough to post the link to this article on their blog itself ,so that people can get a balanced view

      PS: I am not associated with ITB
      http://madhurchadha.com

      Delete
    2. Madhur,

      Just because we write on a free space, a public forum doesn't mean anyone can use it the way they want to. We write about various topics. And some of us are damn good at blogging. The numbers speak for themselves.

      When a new site, without even reading my blog content, tries to use my blog name to make themselves popular, it is going to hurt me. They don't even bother to check whether I have my mail id mentioned in my profile or not. I write crap, and I'm damn good at writing crap. And I'm popular for that. That's my credit, my own credit. Nobody else can use my name to become popular. Sounds snobbish? It bloody hell is!

      Delete
    3. Neha,
      My comment was in no way directed towards autheticity of the ranking. But the point is that if you post on public space, anyone can chose to review your website, I do not see that as invasion.
      Also I do not see how using anyone's blog name of their site helps them in their popularity. Neither it gives autheticity nor SEO
      There are 1000s of websites which are currently ranking any blog they can get hold of without informing them.
      There are webistes which pass SEO judgements , Keyword suggestions and even Website worth(yes they will tell you that your website is worth nothing even without asking you if you want to be valued).Also 100s of fellow bloggers you do not even know might add you to "blogs I follow" list. Would you want them to seek permission to do so going forward?

      If this is violation, even Google, alexa SEOMOZ are also violations.Your name getting featured in any list does not give the list owner publicity but only you. The list owner will get it only if the list has some quality.

      I am actually surprised at the amount of negative comments posted here.There are only 541 blogs listed there(not every blog as you mentioned), you dont like it--let it pass.
      Everything you said about Not reading your blog etc might be true but "Invasion" , I mean that is stertching it way too far.

      Delete
  20. wow This is too good. well I have a question too. Though I also take it with a pinch of salt and believe that we write for pleasure and of course there are many wonderful exceptional bloggers out here I still dont get how one can get influenced by declaring the identity of who is running the show? I certainly would want to know who ranked my blog in platinum category :P :D who calls my platinum rated blog crap :P you break my heart ;)
    Thank Neha for raising this issue. I agree with each word of yours.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi insignia
    You raised an awkward question. Going by your argument, we will need to close down sites like Nap Tol and GSM Arena and TV channels like Home Shop 18. We will also have to put reviewers in jail and garland those who review others' products by taking money.
    Spit your vitriol in the wash basin, dear lady, so that it does not harm your heart. People are not always that bad.

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  22. Anonymous,

    can you be bold enough to leave your name?

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is exactly what I thought when I was first invited by a friend blogger to ITB.If people like my blog and they revisit often, I am a successful blogger.The best review is public review...LoL :)

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  24. Absolutely agree with u Neha and Insignia. Thank God, I’m not in the list. Or maybe I deleted the mail without looking at it. Whatever.
    Most of us (hopefully) blog because we WANT to....
    I used up 5 hours to go through their so-called 'Top Blogs – Platinum, Gold and Excellent'....I was completely surprised to find that most had news articles or celeb stuff...then why not include the Time of India website in their list too??!! Again many of these 'Top' bloggers had absolutely no idea of what grammar was! Written in pathetic English, and a whole Ramayan dedicated to their own ‘mahaanta’, I mean, what can be a bigger turn off than someone writing on and on about how he won this contest and why he is the best and blah blah blah...?
    Also Shobha de features only in the ‘excellent’ category?? !! So everyone who is in the Platinum n Gold list must represent India in all Global Literary Events..! I’m assuming Excellent is the Bronze-equivalent or is it the gold-equivalent? Even if it is, who cares, Shobha-De space sharers Rejoice!
    And then when a reader asked why a particular blog was chosen to be Platinum, this person or persons (he starts off with I liked and then goes on to We, Us; like Insignia remarked) replies/reply “We may not be able to explain the logic behind inclusion of each blog”….!!!!!! Hahahahaha…..! So why has this entity explained in this comment section that they rate blogs based on Design and Content?
    Sorry, but if these kind of blogs are being touted as the best in India (who are they fooling?) by some unknown, anonymous bunch of folks, I'd rather stab myself to death with my pen. I'd rather have 10 serious critics who can read English than someone like this (or should I say like them?)…Oh God, I’m so confused now 
    But then maybe, I can do that too, shoot off an e-mail to everyone in my network and say they are the best blogs in Antarctica…!!! Till that happens, I’m in hiding from all anonymous Judges…who knows they might be aliens down here on a secret mission!!

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  25. Neha,

    I agree with you. I navigated to their space from the comment here but could not make any sense. I write what I wish to and with a feeling to share my thought or experiences if that may help someone. So I am happy as it is.

    Take care

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