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Saturday, May 21, 2005
Insiders?
The folks at VT Politics have sent me two emails now. They're very anxious for me to link to them, even though they've only been blogging for, um, less than two weeks. And they have yet to say anything really interesting.
But their blog is on the list now. According to the site profile, it's written by "we are insiders and you'd never guess." Looks like they're trying to make up funny nicknames, like "don't Rainville on my parade," but you have to deliver more than just clever nicknames to claim that you have "the inside scoop" on VT Politics. I haven't seen any scoops there yet.
May 21, 2005 at 08:44 PM in VT Blogs | Permalink
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Comments
We’d like to thank Cathy and 802 very much for not only adding us to the site but also including a bit of commentary. Our corny naming is just that, and if anyone has a suggestion please let us know.
However, we do take some umbrage with the claim of not providing any “inside” scoops. Starting with 3 quotes that you can’t find anywhere else. The knowledge that Brian Dubie is in the congressional race and Peter Welch is out. And finally 2 segments of a highly sensitive internal poll, which is probably influencing candidate decisions.
We’d call that inside, give Fryne his credit, give Allen props, but we guarantee we know more about what’s going on, “inside” than anyone else.
http://vtpolitics.blogspot.com/
Posted by: VTpolitics | May 21, 2005 9:38:04 PM
I blogrolled them right away in the hopes that would be a catalyst to their growth. It's hard to make your blog a success if nobody ever sees it!
Posted by: NTodd | May 22, 2005 9:06:10 AM
Ok, you have 3 quotes. My curiosity is piqued. But you've got some more work to do before I'll jump on your bandwagon.
Don't get me wrong — I'm glad to see that someone has picked up on the fact that there's this whole new medium that we can use to provide greater access to the corridors of power. I'd love to see more pages and lobbyists and staffers writing about their experiences at the Statehouse. If I had more time, I'd creep around Montpelier trying to eavesdrop.
My snide commentary is about the fact that the quotes you provided didn't really illuminate anything new. You badgered me with 2 emails, one of them more or less demanding that I link to you, but you haven't really delivered the info you're advertising yet. So, bring it already.
And another thing — you promise readers that you're insiders, but you won't say who. So we have no way of knowing your agenda, or if you're a paid political operative. We have no real reason to trust you, unless you give us information that's both compelling and true.
Which is not to say that I won't trust you, or be interested in what you have to say. But I'm skeptical of anybody who writes anonymously — while claiming to be an insider — and says "read me! read me! I'll tell you what's really going on!"
If I were going to sign this anonymously, I'd identify myself as "A Potential Fan."
Posted by: cresmer | May 22, 2005 9:42:06 AM
Very well put Cathy.
Am in complete agreement with what you stated, In fact it mirror my thoughts from the get go after my first visit to the blog in question as well as between then and now too, as nothing much has changed from what I can tell (though I have not visited the blog since yesterday, so I could be a bit behind on things).
Thank you for articulating what I would like to have, but had not managed to find words of my own in which to do so, especially the following that you (Cathy) wrote:
If I were going to sign this anonymously, I'd identify myself as "A Potential Fan."
[aka Morgan, aka Norsehorse]
Posted by: "A Potential Fan" | May 22, 2005 10:00:06 AM
P.S.
[had meant to add within my above comment post, but forgot to]
By the way, the other day I finally decided to include the VT Politics blog to my Bloglines blogroll [left-hand column; scroll down page a little; listed under Vermont-based blogs], which I did (for the time being anyway) in the hope that in helping to provide such proactive support for what it may be worth would help the blog to grow and evolve into becoming more of what it advertises itself to be or, who knows, even more possibly.
Anyway, I think both Cathy and NTodd views, insights and observations are on point concerning the matter.
[aka Morgan, aka Norsehorse]
Posted by: "A Potential Fan" | May 22, 2005 10:12:54 AM
And one more thing:
If you're really insiders, you'll woo us with your inside info, not by promoting your blog through off-topic comments, like the one you left on the "Golden Townies" thread below. I understand you want to attract attention, but the way to do it is by providing irresistable content, then politely pointing that out in the proper forums.
Posted by: cresmer | May 22, 2005 10:30:09 AM
Yes and no, I think. The comment the VTPolitics guys left in the Golden Townies thread was definitely very troll-like and not good blog etiquette, and they deserve your online spanking. On the other hand, if 802 Online is a blog they read and they think the content of their blog may be relevant to 802's readers (a fair assumption given the VT connection, if nothing else), then I think it's perfectly appropriate for them to leave an OT comment that says basically, "hey 802 Online readers! Check out our blog for some VT polics insider info!" Then its up to them to give good content on their site if they want anyone to think they're interesting. What they did was little better than spam, but only because they rudely introduced their own content without context into the thread. I don't think there's anything wrong with a quick, "BTW, check us out too," if it's done politely. Maybe this is what you said. My only point is that "OT" in and of itself isn't necessarily bad--it's really a politeness thing.
Posted by: Bill Simmon | May 22, 2005 4:01:15 PM
Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. I think it's fine to say "heck, check us out, too." I just don't want people using my threads solely to promote their own blogs. It's like somebody you don't know butting into a conversation and saying "hey, look at me!" without even introducing themselves and saying hello. It kills conversation.
Posted by: cresmer | May 22, 2005 4:20:40 PM
Yeah, that's cool. I have an official--albeit unstated--policy on my blog that there's no such thing as OT but people still need to be courteous about it. Best way to get linked to, IMNSHO, is to link to the people you'd like to link to you first, create compelling, dynamic content, and whore/trackback germane posts as much as possible.
I think it's great when established blogs can promote newer sites, but throw me a bone here! The funny thing is that I immediately linked to VTPolitics and they have yet to return the courtesy. Ahem.
Posted by: NTodd | May 22, 2005 5:09:34 PM
We'd like to thank everyone for their reactions, advice, and enlighting of some of the blog rules.
We posted a public apology to Cathy. Not only did we post it, we meant it!
As for linking other pages, we are happy too. We just need to know.
Posted by: VTpolitics | May 23, 2005 12:29:32 PM
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