WTF? I do appreciate bloggers who dare to speak their mind. Too many bloggers dare not show their true self and that is a real shame.

I definitely didn’t take your post personally, so I’ll apologize if that’s how it sounded, and wasn’t necessarily calling you stupid directly, but rather referring to the constant stupid remarks put out on blogging by PR professionals, which I’ve been trying to bring some attention to lately. While your blog isn’t necessarily a PR blog, it was forwarded to me by someone in the industry, and put forth quite a few common issues I do hear about on that front. You just happened to be the example in front of me.

The big issue I was trying to point out is the very common assumption that if something has a catchy title, it’s linkbait, which is how your post came across in areas… and again, it was simply a catalyst b/c it happened to be the latest post brought to my attention. You did make a comment somewhere in there (regarding Copyblogger I believe) saying that linkbait should have quality information. I agree wholeheartedly, and spammy linkbait is something I find disgusting.

But writing a catchy title to link to a resource they feel is worth highlighting isn’t “jumping on the bandwagon” (at least in my opinion) - it’s just good blogging. As a blogger, it’s their job to get people to click on the titles, and it’s their job to pass along resources they think would benefit their readers.

As for bloggers who simply copy lists and call them their own (not what I gathered you were talking about exactly when I read your first post, thinking it was a more general complaint), there’s no excuse for them. I’d hardly even call them bloggers. But you’ve already got a nice system in place it seems… keep a list of trusted bloggers and walk away from the ones who post nothing but garbage.

Are those posts annoying? Sure. But I can’t imagine letting myself get too agitated by them… there’s just not enough time in the day to worry about people like that who don’t care enough about their own product to put real effort into it. I take solace in the fact that the vast majority of them will fall flat on their faces… it’s quite the comforting thought sometimes.

I’d ask how you’re coming across some of these kinds of blogs though, as they’re apparently much more common for you than some others. If through search engines, and they really bother you, maybe an idea would be to report them as a spam link to the Google Gods or whoever (assuming it’s just ripped content from someone else’s list).

lol Way to find that blog before it’s banished (merging it with another blog of mine next week actually). Controversial blog posts definitely have their benefits… like here, where we got a bit of discussion going on a valid issue. Most of my controversial posts are reserved for my PR blog, b/c half of the PR industry infuriates me when it comes to my specialty of online PR. It’s my little home where I can rant freely. And honestly, “free” is exactly how it can make you feel sometimes as a blogger. I’d consider it a very sad day when I decide to stop bitching on my blog just because I’m worried about what someone might think or say… or you for that matter. I’m certainly one to appreciate a different opinion, especially when someone’s ballsy enough to actually get into an issue rather than just letting it roll off their shoulders. There’s something to be said for good discussion in the blogosphere… what a boring place this would be without it!

Okay Jenn, let’s shake and be good friends from now on.