Do You Read Blogs That You Hate?
Media mega-star Howard Stern has always credited his haters for helping him achieve a sick amount of fame and fortune. Many people tune into his radio show to look for reasons to be offended. In the process, rather than unplugging his mic, they are giving the show more juice, hence, adding to his audience.
Don’t make the same mistake when it comes to blogs that piss you off. Even if it’s this one.
“Spying” on your enemy or seeing what your blog competition is up to can be useful. But if you’re hitting refresh every few hours, all you’re really doing is giving that blog a jolt of traffic. Occasional “eavesdropping” has a purpose, but obsessive monitoring doesn’t help you differentiate your product.
If you build it, they will come. Or not. If you look away, they will fade. Or not. At least you did your part.
The best way to punish a blog you don’t like is to look the other way, never visit again. never mention it to anyone – in fact – don’t even think about it.
Often, bloggers will use their Websites as a way to attack the destinations they disagree with. You’ll usually find these posts lacking links. Big deal. Search engines will still pick up the word and Average Joes will still search the site to seek it out.
If a store screws you over, don’t return.
If there’s a fly in your soup, don’t order again.
If a blog makes your blood boil, click the little black “x.”
Ouch. I just saw our subscriber count drop. Good for you!
You’d think that people wouldn’t want to do or look at things that they hate. But I guess it comes down to why you hate the blog.
If you hate it because they’re direct competition and they keep posting things before you do, then checking is still probably a good idea.
If you hate it because they steal content, then checking is still a good idea. Especially if they steal your content.
Chris Osborne said this on March 6, 2008 9:24 pm