How to Build Quality Network over IndiBlogger?
The thing which usually irritates me mostly is when I give so much time and energy to support people who are in my network on IndiBlogger, then why don’t the same things happen with me too? Read on my blog to understand how to build quality network over IndiBlogger.
Well, those who are not aware of the fact what IndiBlogger is, then you should check www.indiblogger.in The regular visitors of my website are aware that I am an active member of this blogging community website. I usually participate in the meets organized by them, and am also regular on the things like IndiVine, IndiSpire, and different contests on IndiBlogger.
Though I am not a self conceited guy, but yes it is the love of my blogger friends from IB who almost loves reading all my posts and makes them popular on IndiBlogger. I sometime feel proud of those friends from IndiBlogger out of which some has converted into real life friends as well. Thanks to IndiBlogger which gave me the platform to meet so many good people.
The thing which not only hurts me, but some other good bloggers as well, there are some people out there in IB, who use to make us friend to get only our votes and comments on their blog. Today only I was discussing this with one good friend of mine Anita. You can check her blog at http://anitaexplorer.blogspot.in/
The biggest question which always comes into my mind is what should we do to those who don’t participate in IndiBlogger community?
This is the question which always comes into the mind of all the bloggers who join IndiBlogger. Other than this every blogger has this desire also: how to be successful in IndiBlogger. Every blogger has this desire of getting this famous badge of the top post on IndiBlogger.
If you have gone through the post which I wrote for how to get the badge, then you must be aware of the truth that how IndiVine works and how a post from IndiVine goes to the home page of the IndiBlogger.
The most basic thing which you require to make your posts popular on IndiBlogger is to get a good network, a network of friends who mostly remain active over there and who should not only vote on your posts, but also do check it and post relevant comment on your blog.
Developing a network is not a big thing, you can visit the profiles of many bloggers who are submitting their post over there and you can add them into your network. Some of them will surely going to add you too, this way you can have a mutual network developed on IB.
But then adding all others will somehow land you to a situation in which you won’t be able to check all the posts submitted by your network. Or it can land you to a situation in which you were literally checking all the blog posts and voting for them. Forget anything else of your own life and blog.
This is not a good scenario, and hence I decided to write a blog post on it, so that we can at least discuss about it broad.
Though I am not at all trying to say anyone bad through it, but do understand the basics of any friendship depends on mutual association. Normally it is considered that you scratch my back and I will do the same. So if you are developing a network then it is your duty to reciprocate things.
Honestly, if I do visit each and every blog posts of my network, read their blog posts, and then vote for them on IndiVine too, then I have all the rights to get the visit and votes by at least those people.
I am not expecting a comments from them, but then why don’t people don’t show such basic courtesy. I sometimes feel strange, whenever someone submits a post on IndiVine and we do vote on them, they are suppose to know it, then at least they should have checked our posts as well and do vote for them as courtesy.
But sometimes it doesn’t happen.
So what is the Solution?
Ideally the solution is to add people on your network with whom you had an interaction. Try to remove all those non-active people from your network. This way you will receive fewer posts on your network’s post and can usually check them and vote for them.
Honestly my opinion on such issues is a bit different. I can say one thing and it is that we should focus on building a relationship, then looking for voting, etc. I usually try to build relationships with bloggers whom I do like reading and this way I developed quite a good network on IndiBlogger.
Whatever my thoughts on this, but it in fact hurts when you do vote others and they don’t reciprocate you. I wanted to know the opinions of other fellow bloggers about it. I am very much interested in having a discussion on it. This is the reason why I developed this blog post.
Please do share whatever you think about it, and what we need to do to handle such bloggers who don’t vote for others? I am awaiting your responses…
Alok, You have shared some relevant points that’ll have mixed reactions 😛
But, I do agree with you about building quality network in IndiBlogger.
When I first joined IB, even I wished my Posts should make it to the IB Home Page & also earn the Top Post Badge. I then realized that it is dependent on our time, effort & Network…
Then, I added some famous Bloggers & I found that some of them did not add me back!
I thought maybe as I am new on IB, I need to prove myself first so that everyone will want to add me!
Then, I had decided I’ll add anyone who adds me to their Network. By & by my Network has grown & I am experiencing the same as you have mentioned in your post 🙂 Wondering what to do as I have limited time!
I feel guilty if I don’t reciprocate Votes/Comments.
I do wish Voting was not the criteria in IB… Many don’t read our Posts, rather just Vote…
Also, just because a Post has got max Votes doesn’t imply that it’s the best…
Personally, I don’t like ‘Likes’ in FaceBook also… People compete over ‘Likes’! I have stopped using FB for that reason.
I am very grateful to IB where I got to earn some very good friends like you.
Thanks for mentioning me in your Post 🙂
Continue your awesome work! Your Posts are a great help 🙂
Exactly the same feelings Anita. When I joined, I was also eager to reach to the top, the reason being the posts which I was sharing there was the best posts of my blog, and I thought them even better than some of the posts which were there on the home page of the IB. But then you realized how difficult it was to reach there that time, I was discussing it with you only. 🙂 But now since most of my posts are reaching to the home page, I do have a feeling for the community. One this in which I am against you is about voting, I have a feeling that I never found any poor quality posts on the home page these days, though it is true that some of the better quality posts remain unable to reach to the home, and you cannot stop it to be happen.
My concern was that, I am following a few sites, do visit every posts which they share on IndiVine, love the content and hence vote for them too, but they did not even bothered to vote for mine at least once. I don’t even saw them voting for any of the posts, other than mine too.
This is what which always influenced me to throw them out of the community, which certainly I cannot. No matter how big your status is, no matter how good you write, but the community is a place where you need to support others as well.
Since the day I joined IB I am seeing that none of the posts of such people are reaching to the home page, and it is something which is giving me the confidence about the community 🙂
I completely agree to you on this Alok. Even I did face a couple of such experiences with indiblogger network. Infact there were a couple of those profiles in indiblogger who commented also the same type. It used to say good post followed by a link at the bottom and I was so annoyed to see a completely irrelevant post.
I think you are right about the networking idea. I guess no matter what we do, there will always be people who will look at it from a very short point of view and don’t see the lasting effects of a true, meaningful network. Without that, the entire exercise is too isolated and takes the complete fun out of it. The best way perhaps is to let people be sometimes, the real ones find a way to stick on and the others in a tide following in the current tend to wash away..
Yes Vinay I do understand 🙂 in most of the cases people are actually not aware about how to do such things. With fresher types of guys I usually ignore that too, but it hurts when you see someone having a long experience too do the same.
As always your articles are very informative and practical in its approach….I agree with some of the corollaries…and of course like any other field a strong foundation is based on interpersonal exchanges and relation…so be it blogging too.
You are very much right Chaitali. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your opinion with us. I am really glad that you liked the blog posts of mine. Thank you so much for all your support 🙂
It is a realistic article written comprehensively. So far I could not understand indiblogger properly. There are more than 80 posts of mine on indiblogger and no post has a visitor count more than 7, whereas maximum visitors of a single post on my blog is 4865. I posted comment on each and every blog of the blogger who voted my post but except Shri Alokaji I did not receive a comment through indiblogger.
Another incident, I want to reveal about the highhandedness of indiblogger is that we registered another blog. Our request is pending for more than 2 months besides repeated reminders. They are neither accepting nor they are rejecting it. So my opinion about indiblogger is not good.
Dear Sampat Kumari jee, thank you for appreciating my efforts, but I guess IndiBlogger core team is somewhere busy these days. That’s why they might not be able to check or respond to your another blog.
No hard feelings about you, but then I guess it is happening due to two reasons, one your profile don’t have any image. Profile pic plays a vital role in getting the attraction on any social communities. Second reason which I do feel is since because you don’t vote for other blogs, and this is the reason why people don’t recognize you there and visit your blog from there. If you too participate over there, I am sure you will get many friends even better than me.
Alok, it hurts when you do vote others and they don’t reciprocate you. And it hurts even more when they vote only for sake of reciprocation so that they can get their regular votes. The engagement data of Google Analytics reflect it that most don’t read our posts but just vote.
This article is about background of the situation. A separate article is needed highlighting: How to interact with fellow bloggers on IB? What steps should be taken in this regard? How to build a genuine healthy relationship (in pointwise manner)?
As far as this question is concerned: What we need to do to handle such bloggers who don’t vote for others? I’d like you to tell a story of two persons. One is veg & other is non-veg. Once non-veg person eats in the plate of veg person. And the veg person said “I’ll eat ….. in your plate.” I guess you knew this story already. Why should we let them control our behaviour? Let them keep theirs…We’ll keep ours. Initially, I just read their blogs without voting for them. I liked the post, so I read. And I didn’t vote because they didn’t on mine. Then I asked a question to myself: Am I letting them to induce bad things in me? I found the answer ‘Yes’ and after that I always vote for them despite they don’t.
While I was writing this blog Ravish, i was simply thinking about your comments vocabulary only 🙂 As you said that I am getting bore of sharing same types of comments over here, I thought this post might give you some good thoughts to write some different comment, and this is what happened 🙂
Honestly, you really gave me some good suggestions, and I promise you I will definitely come up with the post on them. Hopefully I will publish it on next week.
Unfortunately I am not aware of this story, though would love to hear that. If you have any issue in sharing it on here, you can simply mail it to me as well 🙂 But yes your final conclusion is exactly the same which I am doing. Though when I realize I have a huge network now, and it is becoming hard to check all the posts of mu network, I will first remove those who submit so many posts daily, then only I will decide about those who are voting to my posts or not 🙂
Seconding your opinions ALok sir. I also came to know about bloggers like Vinay Nagaraju, Rajkumar K . I really feel awesome whenever Vinay bro use to comment on my posts and I learned a lot from Rajkumar bro. Indiblogger is really a great community.
Very true Nitin Balodi. You are absolutely right that Indiblogger is a great community and gives us the opportunity to connect with some really good people like you 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing all this.
So clever, Alok, and a bit of selfish too. You only think about a different comment on your blog post not on my comment delivering ability. How mean! 😛 😀
The story goes like this: Two people were travelling on a train. One is veg & another non-veg. Non-veg person eats fish in the plate of veg person. The veg person in retaliation shouts “I’ll eat feces in your plate.” The moral is: We always harm ourselves in teaching a lesson to others.
It’s not like that Ravish, I am not at all selfish when I thought to write this post. I never thought about you writing a comment on my blog, but yes I do thought to provide a topic which can bring some discussion on board, and which it did. As far posting comment on your post is concerned, there are times when I check posts from my mobile, and that time it becomes hard to give comments, and I simply vote for the posts and comment later.
Thanks for the story, I guess you are a bit right about it that we always harm ourselves in teaching a lesson to others, but then try to give your knowledge to those only who have the necessity to take it…. 🙂
I cant say i am an oldtimer at IB so take my perspective as a new to medium bee. I add people after going to their blog and reading stuff that entices me. Now when you add them you do not know that they will reciprocate. Over a period of time you realise that you are constantly reading their work (ofcourse you like it and its your choice) but they not respond (a care a damn attitude). So it feels like Neki kar darya main daal.
The second category are those who comment (may be coz you have commented on theirs) and the comment is “nice read” and “good post”. Now if its a good post am sure you would have more to say, isnt it. unless its a picture and you end up saying its a good click. And you can distinguish easily who had read and who hasnt (i remember the constructive debate i had with Datta and Ravish.)
My experience in this short time is a mixed bag, it that i know of some regular popular biggie bloggers who have literally cared a damn to respond or even add me back. And some blogger friends who have got me thinking how to write better through their comments.
All in all we will have all kinds, depends what is our approach. I will surely undertake the exercise of cleaning up my network directory on IB. Thanks Alok a good post indeed and i mean it “the good post.”
“My experience in this short time is a mixed bag, it that i know of some regular popular biggie bloggers who have literally cared a damn to respond or even add me back. And some blogger friends who have got me thinking how to write better through their comments.” This is something Shweta which summarize the story. You actually covered up my blog with these two lines, I honestly has this feeling since the day one. I usually ignore the first types of people and always appreciate those who are in the second. I too try to become the same.
You are absolutely right that we can easily recognize who has read the blog and then commenting on it, or simply sharing a few words to make them count. I usually asks some questions in between the post and I found there are only a few people who read the same and respond the same too. 🙂
Thank you Shweta for your valuable comment over here.
Finally a not so technical topic. I do not feel like a student anymore. Yipee!! what you say is absolutely correct. But votes or no votes for me It has made me know some wonderful like minded people like. You, Ravish, Anita, Garima, Maniparna to name a very few. So, I guess that is satisfying. Writing has been my elixir and your comments and appreciation or even criticism makes this elixir more sweeter
Thank you so much Datta, I actually write on this topic because you and Ravish discussed the same 🙂 You said it absolutely right. Honestly I too appreciate the same. 🙂 It is really satisfying to meet some really good people through IndiBlogger and you are among one of them.
Alok sir,
I am a rookie in the world of blogging, but I am slowly starting to understand the different options I can avail to make my blog popular. What you have mentioned here is true. I admit that initially, I used to frantically add famous bloggers to my IB network without understanding the working of Indiblogger networks and with the hope to reach out to them and make my blog recognized. But, soon, I realized my folly and reciprocated whenever someone voted for my post. I have quality bloggers in my network and we support each other’s posts. Sir, you are one among them and you have been kind enough to vote on my posts and encourage me. Thank you.
Thank you so much Kunal Borah, I am glad that you appreciated my efforts in building a quality network on IndiBlogger. It is true that you should not add any blogger in your network, but you should add only quality bloggers, those who are anyway doing good work and helping other bloggers. No matter how big you become but somehow you need to help others as well 🙂
Thank you for sharing your valuable comment over here.
It’s really working, Alok. Here is the new version:
It’s so nice of you that you dedicated a whole post to bring me out of my boredom 😛
On a serious note, there are some ladies fashion sites who visits my site. What would I comment on theirs? Why would I go there — to visit what? But I promote their sites in reciprocation and watch their models in low cut blouses. I mean what would I comment about — their blouses or model’s figure because they don’t have any face to talk about.
See Ravish, my tactics actually worked for you. 🙂 You need not require a dictionary to write a comment, especially on my blog. You can share whatever you feel about. I will be happy to discuss on them.
See honestly it is not possible to comment on each and every blog we go through. Some of the things are there on which we cannot even think about what we can say, especially the example which you gave. It really becomes hard for me to say anything on such posts. It is true, but then since you are appreciating their efforts your work is done. 🙂 You are just there to support the hard work of others, which you are doing. Sharing your comment on any site depends on many factors.
Hope I am able to convince you?
Alok, here is the most irritating one. When someone reply about your comment on their post: “Thank u so much for dropping by and taking time in reading it :)” What crosses in your mind that time? It isn’t a freebie. I did because you do the same but…… They don’t. Sometimes I wanted to write this but my conscience don’t allow. The good part with feelings is that if you have a feeling, it doesn’t mean that you’ve to act on it.
🙂 Very true Ravish. In this case I can give you the example of Vinay, see how he replies to each and every comments. But yes some comments are there which you can feel that they just made on your site, like “awesome work” “good post”, etc. and in that case I too usually prefer to say thank you so much.
What I feel is that when you are not free you can ignore replying to comments, but when you are free you can easily go through each of the comments and reply. It will give a good feeling to the person who commented on your site. 🙂
Well Alok, I need one for your technical posts 🙂
In my last comment, I was just mentioning that the better way of saying thank you is to comment on others blog who commented on yours instead of saying thank you on your on blog in the form of courtesy reply. Hope, you’ll agree with me….
No issues Ravish, soon you will be 🙂
Oh yes, you are absolutely correct. I guess I made a mistake in understanding them 🙂
Thanks so much for the kind words guys… Its indeed a huge honor to be reading this, it feels really good :).
As for the commenting on posts, I think we all are very proud of what we do and we know the efforts that we have put in. Even I get very annoyed when someone says good one or nice post or awesome. I really don’t know what to respond to them. I just feel the best thing to do is let it go. There really are some genuine ones which i like replying to cos there is so much of passion and respect for what we each of us do and we know how to appreciate one another. I understand it feels very annoying when people write an unnatural comment. But I think that is like an advertisement for your favourite movie.. Its best to treat it like one and go ahead with the real genuine ones cos they mean something to us and they are the ones which we prefer to be recognized as a part of the community.
I do understand where Ravish is coming from, it certainly is very annoying sometimes. But I think that will be the case no matter what we do in our lives.. Best to smile at each one of them and hold the ones close which deserve to be ..
Hope I am not sounding too philosophical here.. Thanks for the honor guys, it really does mean a lot to me 🙂
Thank you so much Vinay 🙂 You are not at all sounds as philosophical 🙂