Entrecarders: Response about ghost dropping

Regular readers: This is not horse-related and probably not of much interest to you. Sorry. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.

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Hi Entrecarders,

A blogger who writes Cornyman's Money blog wrote a post accusing a group of bloggers of "ghost dropping," or getting Entrecard credits by playing outside of the rules. He listed the blogs of those he thinks cheated based on a faulty test he conducted. I'm one of the ones he has listed. Oh, my goodness, the hits and comments this guy is accumulating -- no wonder he decided to make it a public outing rather than just reporting it to Entrecard. Well, here is a response from someone in the minority -- someone who blogs because they like to write, not to make money.

I like Entrecard
The intent of Entrecard was originally to build a community of bloggers who support each other by visiting one another's blogs and advertising on one another's blogs through a little token economy, rather than actual money. I support Entrecard and the idea behind it. But here are my observations as an Entrecard member...

• Not enough real bloggers. Many of the blogs on Entrecard are not "real blogs" in the real sense that the blogger wants to write and be read. They're choked with ads, infrequently updated, and have very little content (listening Cornyman?). These are blogger posers and they are clogging the Entrecard system. The quality blogs -- the ones that are nurtured and updated by thoughtful writers -- are buried in the avalanche. I speak as someone who posts new, original content DAILY.
  
• Dropping can be risky. Many Entrecard blogs run scripts, popup ads, auto-play sound effects/music, and processor-intensive junk that at best, hose my browser. Some have malware or viruses that have infected Entrecard members. These offenders are not warned or weeded out. I have to remember and track who they are so I don't visit those blogs.
• Badge placement. The Entrecard requirement that the badge be near the top of the page is unenforced, and number of the blogs don't have badges at all. It takes a certain amount of time to load the page, and then I can't find the badge or there is no badge.
  
• There's nothing new to see. The requirement that pages content be updated semi-regularly is unenforced -- in some cases I don't even see any content, it's just a bunch of ads.
• Dropping (as it now stands) is boring and monotonous. It's a well-intentioned concept -- supposed to be a fun process of exploring new blog topics and writing. But as it stands now, it's a zombie's chore. Everyone just wants to get their credits, and most Entrecarders admit that pretty openly.
  
• The toolbar is a slippery slope. The Entrecard toolbar was designed to make dropping easier, but it's much like "ghost dropping" in practice. No one is looking at content, it's just a rote task. BTW, do you all realize that dropping the way most people do it is "bouncing" that actually reduces your page rank in most search engines? So much for SEO.
• Cheating is hard to define. Some bloggers outsource dropping to their kids, or set up sites with the blogs in iframes, and all other kinds of workarounds to keep from havng to do a task that is mind-numbing. These folks get the benefit of credits but never see the blog -- isn't that cheating?
  

The idea behind Entrecard is wonderful, but the process is bastardized. The actual practice of dropping is a wretched activity because there's no content out there. Cheating? I'd argue ghost dropping is adaptive behavior. It's the same reason we use vacuums insted of brooms. Entrecard, please, please, please put some resources into quality control on the blogs in your system -- there needs to be a spring cleaning.

Oh, and has anyone taken a look at the Cornyman blog -- the guy who is calling me a cheater and a scammer? To for all the finger pointers out there, take a step back and soak up the irony.

Deep, cleansing breaths...
I'd like to thank, and to show my appreciation to, the REAL bloggers on Entrecard: Daisy the Curly Cat, Five 'O Clock Somewhere, A Bay Horse, I Do Things, Margie and Edna's Basement, and many bloggers who actually write. You make communities like Entrecard worthwhile.