It has been a month and two weeks now since I started blogging regularly. I had recently posted my first month’s Roundup for August 2010 and things were going pretty good. As another opportunity, I came across IndiBlogger which is a home to many Indian and foreign bloggers as well and a great place to help you blog. IndiBlogger hosted the My Demand Contest which will be closing in a few days… and I found it a great chance to take part in.
The My Demand Contest expected us to write about one technology that was as crazy as possible and the top 2 posts with the most votes on IndiBlogger wins HP Laser Printers worth 15-20grand!. What better idea than the acclaimed Pee for Petrol! I gave my entry and in the first few days itself, the post was well appreciated and received many votes! But the votes weren’t enough for me to reach the top 2. I used all social media like Facebook, Twitter and my blog to promote my post and it did get promoted a lot!
But then, it still wasn’t enough! I was in the 4th or 5th position. I had to reach the top 2. That was when I received many messages from some bloggers asking me to vote for their posts. I thought to myself, if I can ask enough bloggers in the same way, I may get enough votes to win! So I scrapped my usual routine and took to SPAMMING! I sent messages with my vote link to as many IndiBloggers as possible on twitter, facebook and commented in their blogs and posts whether I knew them or not. I went to my competitors vote bank, saw who voted for them and tried to get them to vote for me too!
This was going out of control and bloggers all over were getting irritated. But guess what… I became third on the list. Now I just couldn’t stop. I had to win! I went on an even more crazy spam spree! Now many bloggers just lost it and began tagging me as spam! Some yelled back, some ignored and some reported! Finally I was getting frustrated! I couldn’t do anymore… I got irritated with this whole new habit and it wasn’t worth ruining my regular routine… plus, I was still on third place! That’s it… I gave up! Now why exactly did I take into spamming, what were the pros and cons?
Why did I go for Spamming?
- First of all, I thought that my post was THE best when compared to any of the other posts entered in the contest and therefore it had to win! I still think so. But this is subjective and you can judge for yourself.
- A 20 grand HP Laser Printer was at stake!
- Others sent me spam messages first! So why should I sit back and watch them steal votes, that too when my post is quite better than theirs? Even some “good” bloggers asked me to vote for them just because they voted for me. After that I started the same pattern on others as well!
What was the Negative side of it?
- I ruined my blogging ethics, ruined my usual healthy routine, wasted time on my computer!
- Irritated many bloggers and upset them. Their disgust may take time to cool off me…
- My post may have been the most deserving based on content, style etc… but then again, even good politicians have to fight the election and then only win rite?
What was the Positive side of it?
- I got so many views to my blog in no time! Got hundreds of views everyday! Any publicity is good publicity!
- Even when messaging many unknown bloggers, I found in them some cool people who have now become good friends with me on facebook and twitter. I thank them and I know they will be laughing at this post :p
- Got me many many votes to keep me in third place. The best part was that many people actually told me “I am not voting because you asked me to vote. I am voting because your post is damn good!” :-)
So why did I Stop Spamming?
- The contest is still in progress and if I had spammed for a few more days I probably would’ve won it! But I got tired… my whole day was being eaten up by running behind unknown people!
- Some people gave me lame excuses of not voting! Those excuses were so mind-numbingly discouraging! They could have either yelled at me, or just ignored!
- Whatever I did and how much ever I spammed, it did not allow me to elevate from third place. Whoever voted for me, voted for others too! So what’s the point!!!
- With suggestions and cautions from friends I suddenly realized that spamming was a terrible thing to do and there are far more important things in life at the moment than a 20k printer for which I may have to pay 30% gift tax!
So finally things are back on track now. I’ve stated my feelings on the IndiBlogger Forum (this link may be deleted)and have decided to blog fair and healthy always. Web reputation is prime and nothing else. Thanks to all those who honestly and genuinely liked my post and voted for it. Thanks to those who just simply voted for it. And a special thanks to those who corrected me on this bad habit, especially the seniors on IndiBlogger. Apologies to everyone!
This is the superhit post which started it all. You can still vote :-) and please vote if you like it and share it with others too :-)
Now this is not spam… why? coz I own this blog!!!
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