Entries Tagged 'Rants' ↓

(I’m really mad, so if you can’t handle a few swear words, don’t read this.)

Google and their Sidewiki can go to hell.

If you don’t know what Sidewiki is, don’t worry. I didn’t either until recently. It’s a new “feature” that Google came out with that allows users to make comments about other websites. It’s a toolbar that you have to install on your browser so you can see the comments displayed next to the web site. Not only that, but you can share spread those comments through Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and Google profiles.

But I have a question…

What right does Google have to allow and encourage comments on MY web site?

Do they pay for my hosting? NO!

Do they pay for my domain name? NO!

Did they work hard to produce the content on my site? NO!

Have they spent hours and hours every week for years maintaining my site? NO!

So get the fuck off my site!! At the very least, give me the ability to turn your shitty sidewiki off.

Way to open even more doors for spammers and assholes Google! Good job!! You think people need a valid reason to be jerks? Think again. STOP MESSING WITH THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T MESS WITH!

I have enough things to occupy my day without adding “monitor sidewiki comments” to my already huge daily to-do list.

I’ll refrain from writing anything further at the moment since I’m a little irritable, but I implore you to read this in case you’re unsure of why I’m so upset about this.

If you think I’m overreacting, wait until you receive one of the comments mentioned in this post on your own website.

What about you? What do you think about Sidewiki?

Update: Apparently I’m not the only one who is fuming mad about SideWiki. Here are two more good reads. The first one is great if you don’t mind a bit of strong language.

The Sidewiki Abomination (I couldn’t have said it better myself!)

The Google Sidewiki Controversy (Sylvie Fortin – very smart lady and much more eloquent than I am.)

What pro-Sidewiki people have to remember is that there are insane amounts of scum-sucking wastes of flesh in this world who don’t give two shits about anyone but themselves and they will do what it takes to make you look bad. They don’t need a valid reason. Sidewiki just gives them an easy way to hurt other people who don’t deserve it. That sounds pretty evil to me.

A little bit of a rant today…

It REALLY pisses me off (yes REALLY) when someone asks about an ebook in a forum and the other members come along and say it’s a scam without knowing anything about the ebook.

The ebook in question is actually one of the best in the niche and the author is genuinely interested in helping people. Of course he wants to make a buck, who wouldn’t? But just because he’s using a sales page – which I thought was great – it means he’s a scam artist I guess.

People really need to get over that stupid mentality. How is a sales page on the internet any different than an ad in the newspaper or a flyer in your mailbox?

Everybody needs to make money. We all have to support ourselves and our family.

So if people get offended when we sell something, well….I say screw off then! Nobody’s forcing them to buy it.

And then I saw this:

Brought to you by FileHurricane.com

So piss on it.

There are 5 distinct qualities that make someone an asshole driver in my books. You’re an asshole driver if you:

1. Never signal.
2. Speed up when other vehicles try to pass.
3. Drive the same speed as the car in the next lane so no one else can pass.
4. Honk or give people the finger when they make a full and complete stop at a 4-way stop or wait for a pedestrian who has the right of way.
5. Text on your cell phone while paying as little attention to the road and the people around you as possible.

There are more asshole qualities, but these are some of my biggest pet peeves.

Just ’cause you’re cruising around in your truck by yourself doesn’t mean there aren’t other drivers around you who will feel the effects of your asshole driving.

Blogging is the same. It may be your blog, but there are other people in the blogosphere who might get hurt if you ram into a telephone pole at 140 miles an hour. (I don’t have my analogy hat on today, sorry for the bad example.)

There are 5 definite characteristics of an asshole blogger. You’re an asshole blogger if you:

1. Attack a fellow blogger for link bait.
2. Scrape someone else’s content.
3. Publish someone else’s articles from directories without including the author bio or URLs.
4. Leave self-promoting or one-liner blog comments on other blogs instead of something useful, insightful or informative.
5. Bombard your subscribers’ email inboxes with nothing but promotional newsletters instead of quality content.

Again, I’ve only listed 5 asshole traits even though there are many more, but if I kept going my blood pressure might start going up.

I sure hope that you don’t have any of these endearing qualities. If you do, start changing the way you think and act because no one respects you, you crazy foo!

On a more positive note, here are 5 ways to be one of your friendly neighborhood bloggers:

1. Recognize other bloggers you admire and respect and link to them once in awhile.
2. Write content for your readers that they can really use and enjoy, not just rehashed crappola.
3. Respond to comments when other people reply to your posts, even if it’s just a quick “Thank you”.
4. Offer some bonus goodies for your loyal followers and commentators. This could be discounts on your products or some link lovin’ in your sidebar.
5. Treat your readers the same way you would want to be treated. Period.

Why I don’t give a shit about how many Twitter followers I have…

I’ve been using Twitter for almost a year now. I’ve enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it for (I hope) a long while yet.

However, the amount of people who are “gaming” Twitter is increasing and I’m actually quite pissed off about it.

There are all kinds of people who have all kinds of “tips” to increase followers, get more retweets, etc. Here’s a tip for those people.

Be yourself! Be real! Stop ruining it for the rest of us!

Auto-following, auto-DMs, unfollowing people as soon as they follow you back – this crap has to stop.

I’m not talking about stuff like this (How To Get ReTweeted – The Formula) – I completely agree with that. It’s when people try and inflate their numbers and use automation. It’s deceiving!

There is no secret to Twitter. But there are definitely ways to turn it into shit so the rest of Twitterland has to suffer.

I’m not concerned that I don’t have as many Twitter followers as Joe Blow, Guru Extraordinaire. I care about my relationship with them.

You can have 5000 followers and not have any kind of genuine connection with any of them because you’re a douche and use crappy tactics to increase your numbers.

You could also have less than 300 followers and have a great relationship with them because you’re authentic. You’ll also have more respect from your readers – and you can’t put a price on that.

A lot of times I like to point my wonderful readers (like you!) to some cool web pages or products that I’ve found. In some cases, I like to contact the author of those pages or products to let them know that I’m linking to them, and also to find out if they’d prefer a specific keyword or phrase for the anchor text.

I recently wanted to contact someone for this very reason but gave up after ten minutes because I could not find a “contact” page anywhere.

If you’re reading this, and you have yet to create a contact page for your blog or website, I encourage you to stop what you’re doing and go do that now! Here’s a contact form plugin for Wordpress that’s quick and easy to install.

It’s very important that you are accessible for many reasons. Maybe someone just wants to comment on how great your site is. Maybe someone would like to submit a guest article. Or maybe they’d like to contact you for an interview or ask about advertising on your site. These are just a few of many possible reasons.

If you don’t have an “about me” page or “contact me” page, it may seem like you don’t want to be accessible and people may wonder why. Having a way for your audience to contact you (even if it’s through a virtual assistant) establishes a sense of trust and credibility. You could be missing out on a lot by ignoring this.