Blogger Etiquette

As of late there seems to be an outbreak of what some consider indecent behavior in the blogging community. It's nothing serious, when compared to the hallucinations of the Deamoncratic Underground or the delusional ranting by the Kosistacs, it's just a lack of understanding (I hope).

Distribution Lists
Several bloggers I communicate with, by phone and e-mail, have mentioned receiving e-mails notifying them of new posts at blogs they've visited once or twice (if that many times). It seems as of late there are many otherwise good bloggers who have decided to create distribution lists for all of their posts. It's a feature available in a majority of the platforms being used (Blogger & Movable Type both have the feature, I'd have to doulbe check the others).

Should you decide to us a distribution list there are a several things to keep in mind. This is the same technique used by spammers, and some people may consider your mass produced e-mails spam. Thus some folks might get angry, you may try to decrease the anger by being sure to include a polite statement asking the recipients to let you know if they would like to be removed from your list. You should be sure the recipients are undisclosed or blind carbon copied and most importantly have the person you're e-mailing blogrolled.

e-mail notification
I'm not saying to never e-mail a group of people about a post you've written. If it's a groundbreaking post, it fits the theme of their blog and you are going to send other bloggers a link just follow the Honorable Harvey's suggestion:

Apologize for the unsolicited e-mail, acknowledge that you know [BIG BLOGGER] is very busy, briefly tell why you think this post might be of interest to him, give the URL, thank him for his time, sign your name. END

Keep it brief & to the point. DON'T specifically ask for a link to your post - it's pretty obvious that's why the e-mail was sent so it's not necessary. Also, not asking for the link takes some of the pressure off the recipient, making him feel less put upon, and, paradoxically, MORE likely to link the post (assuming that it's appropriate to his blog's theme).

Just be sure you read and follow their link policy if one is available. Also you should personalize the e-mail you're sending to them. Otherwise your e-mail and linky lovin' hopes could end up in the trash.

e-mails to multiple recipients
If you are going to e-mail a large number of recipients, be sure to Blind Carbon Copy everyone. By using the Blind Carbon Copy function you keep everybody's e-mail address private, which helps protect them from viral infections (the computer kind) and spammers. We recently had to change all the e-mail addresses at work due to the number of viruses we was receiving. After a bit of checking we were able to determine that one of our client's home computer's had been infected. How'd our addresses get there? He used to forward us jokes, without using the Blind Carbon Copy feature. It's an extreme case yes, however had he used the Blind Carbon Copy feature we wouldn't have had to make a company wide e-mail address change.

Getting Blogrolled
Some people have taken to increasing their presence in the blogging community by asking other bloggers to blogroll them. If you're going to go this route prepare yourself for rejection as some folks are going to just delete your e-mail, others will refer you to their link policies, while others may publicly ridicule on their blog.

Your chances of getting blogrolled are better if you comment on the person's site frequently and then make your request. However if you're unable to form coherent sentences and still want to be on somebody's blogroll be sure to keep your request brief and most importantly have the person you're e-mailing blogrolled. The suggested format for this e-mail:

Bill,
I've been reading your site for a while and added it to my blogroll.
Keep up the good work!.
phin
http://phin.mu.nu

The request is implied, it gives both parties a graceful way out and hopefully by following the steps above you won't end up like the guy in this post.

Comments

[Fitch]

It seems to me, personally, that emailing people regarding links is a waste of energy to begin with. I would say the only exception to this is if it's someone you already have a familiarity with, and you wanted to inform them you changed your url, or site name, just to keep them in the loop. Otherwise, why bother?

[Jo]

Wow! I've never asked anyone to blogroll me ever! When I find out I have been added to someone's blogroll, I make it a point to email them and thank them!

[Patriot Xeno]

Asking people for a 'link swap' is a pretty decent way to go, too.

[Dr. Phat Tony]

All I did was send Neal Boortz a link to one of my articles and said "I thought you might think this was funny." 11000 visits later I think I said the right thing.

[Paul Deignan]

Good advice on the distribution list. I would also agree that flat out requests to blogroll should be reciprocated in advance. However, if your commenting software does not allow for edits, if the box is too small, no previews, etc. its sour grapes on the typo complaint.

That said, there is a flip side of the coin. When notifying bloggers of some matter of interest, typos, posts, other info, etc., I have the unreasonable expectation of a reply or acknowledgement. After all, I can't read a person's mind and given the tempermetality of some bloggers, their impression of a communication would be useful information to me. No decent person wants to communicate one-way only or be considered a blog-stalker. But, communication ought to be expected. This is something of a community after all--that's why we blog as opposed to write for a paper (actually, they tend to be good about answering e-mails).

Of course, many bloggers must be inudated by e-mail. I'm just guessing since I have no way of knowing. Are they just to busy or are they simply rude? I'll give them the benefit of a doubt once or twice depending on the traffic at their site. In the end, there is really no excuse for this behavior since there is a simple technical solution that I have outlined: E-mail Management. I'm sure the same thought has occurred to others.

The interest in this proposal? Well, I don't know. Those with the problem don't answer their e-mail.

Perhaps an addition to the etiquette policy is in order. When blown off, the policy should be to delink the recipient. Is that reasonable?

[Rohit]

There are some great points in this post. You might also be interested in contributing to a new writeboard I just created about Blogger Etiquette. You can read more about it on my blog:

http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2006/10/introducing_the.html