There's been a lot of noise about blogging networks around the place. People selling and buying them:
while others are launching them:
Personally all I see them as is another way to make money from adverts or more specifically, they're sites set up to create revenue off advertising. They can try and make you believe that it's all about the content. Erm yeah, bullshit. It's about the money. If you really cared about that particular subject then you would simply create a blog or a site, as thousands do every day, and you'd start talking about it. You could build a following based on the quality of your posts.
You might get more exposure from posting on a blog that's part of a network, yes, but it's not yours. In my mind the generic blogs written by 30 people effectively eliminates the writer from being the important part and puts the blog itself as the thing in people's mind. So you're not effectively getting any accolade, or recognition since you're not the star of the show, hell you're not even the sidekick., you're just a cog in the machine. I hear you say:
Oh but Khaled, you're part of a network!
Yes that's right, a network which has absolutely no power over what I write, how often I write it, what I do with my content, and no copyright over anything I write. 9rules is a very very different model. It's about the individual. Your words, your copyright, your content. What has 9rules done for me you ask? Well for a start it's introduced me to a range of quality blogs that I otherwise would never read or visit. It's put me in touch with a host of extremely talented people that help each other out whenever we can. It's what the word network means when implemented. Has it made me rich beyond my wildest dreams? No, I've gotten absolutely no monetary compensation or revenue from being part of the network. Then again it never claimed it was going to give me any money, nor would I expect it to. Mike's written about this as well.
So I'm sat hear thinking (amongst other things) why anyone would want to write for a blogging network. Seriously. What the hell are you getting from it? You don't get to keep the content and use it later on or whatever as you please. You don't own the site domain, you're effectively working for someone who will then sell the damn network to AOL for $20 million. Oh and what do you get for helping to build this 'empire'? 10 cents a post or whatever the numbers eventually come out as (it differs from network to network).
It takes a lot of time and effort to build a reputable site of any description talking about a specific topic. It takes hours of hard work and dedication, and crucially consistency.
The only way in my mind to make things better is to actually and that's to pull away from the blog looking arrangement that these networks seem to be intent on, and actually showing either a picture or an avatar for the writer, as if he's writing a column of some sort. Each contributor should have their own page that tells a bit about them and if they've got their own page a link back or something like that.
Which brings up the design of the blasted things. Why the hell are they all so god damn boring? I mean seriously, how can a site on diabetes have the same design as a site on night clubs? There's little to NO character to these sites. The site have no face.
I don't get it. Paul's created a network and as he's said anyone can do it, it's not hard; but then again what the hell is the point, apart from the money. I can understand the need for people to talk about different subjects. I know for one I'd like to have a political blog, the previously mentioned WordPress portal, and a comic book site, but I'd rather invest the time and effort to nurture something of my own. If I find like minded people that want to contribute to the site, then that's great, some form of compensation should be delivered (this could be monetary or otherwise). Not sure how to view Pauls' Network, as he's thinking about writing 50 posts a day, across his entire network. It's definitely one way of giving the sites some character, although I fear that momentum cannot possibly be maintained by one person without a complete breakdown in quality of content. Unless the posts are one liners with a couple of images and a link, in which case why would anyone read the sites?
This mentality to pump out content for sake of it really does degrade the reading experience, at least in my eyes. So no I don't read any network blogs. I read WorkBoxers (but that's Scriv's thing really).
No need to worry about Fine Fools Khaled and my own posting schedule. 50 post is on the very high end of things. It's really a balance trying to find quality and quantity. Some people like to have sites with constant updates, but that doesn't excuse those sites from offering quality insight into those posts either.
Fine Fools was supposed to be just a project, but has quickly blossomed into its own beast. Writers get 100% of the Google/Yahoo revenue, which is something they won't get anywhere else. Why would you want to write for it? Well maybe there is a topic that you just don't have the energy to start a site for on your own or would like the help of other writers to make the site jump. Some people don't want to have to worry about attaining traffic, hosting, or site design. This is where Fine Fools comes into play. If you want your own site obviously that's why we have 9rules.
I think it's good to have two networks that complement each other like what we have setup. How many sites in other networks would make 9rules? Not many, but in Fine Fools we already have Work Boxers and I Like Cameras so the Network itself does like to have a focus on quality.
Man that was long.Sorry.
Nah Paul, it's good to talk :). I guess I can see not wanting to deal with a lot of things (setting up and maintaining the website), however it all seems like disposable entries for the sake of entries to me.
The individual doesn't shine through at all, and is not spotlighted. Of course I'm looking at this from a different perspective to you. I'm looking at it from the side of the person deciding whether or not it's worth his time to read the network sites or not.
Wow Khaled - that opened up my cranium. Thanks again for thinking aloud what others are thinking to themselves. And don't be too hard on Scrivs - he's doing fine so far. I really love your site - yeah, I've said it before, but it's true. I covet your design skills too.
[...] Bryan briefly tells us how to save OpenOffice documents as DOC files by default. Owen ruminates on WordPress.com. Bonnie learns how to set an expiration date for certain WordPress posts. Michael posts a collection of high-resolution promotion material and stills from “the 1956 science fiction classic”, Forbidden Planet. Khaled ruminates on blogging networks. Craig is frustrated to see that spam blogs are ruining the relevance of blog search tools. Orson reviews the 2005 science fiction classic, Serenity. Sarah posts a list of her upcoming concerts through the rest of 2005. Chris announces the birth of Jakob Michael Davis. Mark switches to a Mac. And, Tom takes a moment to explain RSS. [...]
I wasn't purposely trying to be harsh on Scrivs (maybe on the other networks) but like I said, it's just something that I just don't get.
Thanks for comment Anon, much appreciated.