Top 5…and a Half…Aspects of Blogging That Piss Off A 5 Year Blogger
Okay, I wanted to use the word “Veteran” in the title, but I decided against it, no doubt somebody would complain. Anyway, today – you lucky, lucky people – are going to get a ranty post. As a Veteran Blogger, I have seen hundreds of gimmicks and ideas that have come and failed. Some have come and stayed, particularly as we move into a time where now big businesses are willing to throw money at blogs. Nevertheless, I feel that – whilst my designs have changed – I have kept my blog core and ethos the same. But here are 5 things that piss me off more than anything on blogs. Anybody who ever thinks about doing a link exchange with me would do well to heed this list.
1. Irrelevant Sponsored Posts
All bloggers would like to make money from blogging. Fact. Where we differ is the length we go to make money. I am – for one – a link, referral scheme and adsense whore. I plaster my google ads anywhere, love Text Link Ads, and AuctionAds have also been good to me. However, one thing I will never do is Sponsored Posts. However, I have no qualms with people that do.
However, one thing I despise is irrelevant sponsored posts. You’re a 37 year old Overweight Male Bank Manager from Wigan. What in gods name makes me think that I want to read about “Wedding Dresses” on your site? If you are to do sponsored posts, and the lure of easy money is too much, do what Paddy and Han do. Sign upto Blogtoprofit (I’d appreciate rhys at gospelrhys dot co dot uk in the “referral email” box), wait for a week, then fit in simple links into your posts. It encourages you to blog, and blog creatively.
2. Snap Windows
Three years ago, pre Myspace, when web design was a discipline because not every man and his dog could do it, this wouldn’t be around. Now, with the obsession of “Widgeting” everything, these horrible intrusive Snap Shots – the preview of the window you will be looking at should you click on the link – have become all the rage, and I don’t like it. If Satan had a site, this would be on it. Web sites and web design should be simple, uncluttered and with no moving elements outside of flash movies. This user of valuable resources is pointless, and should be removed from your sites.
3. No RSS Feeds
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been using RSS feeds for long. Six months or so when Han showed me Google Reader. Since that fateful day in Canterbury, I’ve been hooked, going through my list and adding RSS links to all my favourite blogs. The amount of blogs I read has increased, but the amount of time spent reading them has decreased. The blogs which I previously read religiously are now no longer on my list, due to their sheer ineptness of providing an RSS Feed.
4. “Tween” Bloggers
This is a controversial one, as a few people I read could be construed as “Tween”. However, the tiny unreadable text on a dark background, huge header graphics and large areas of blank space have me reaching for the big red x on more than one occasion, before I even get to there pseudo-uber-emotional explosive ramblings about Linkin Park or whoever the devil is popular these days.
5. Link Exchanges
Ooh, another controversial one, as just last week I had to shut down my Toplist and turn it into a link exchange. But I don’t go out soliciting for links generally, it was a means to an end, to give something back to a community that has built up around it and made it rather successful. Now again link exchanges can be a good thing, but only if it’s done correctly, and kept in the spirit of blogging. If you like a blog, link to it, then comment about it, eventually unless the target of your affections is a selfish or forgetful SOB (such as myself), you’ll get a comment back.
Of course, you could do other ways to build links, write a script, post hints and tips, things like that? If you’re a rubbish writer (such as myself), link bait, either in the title of the post, or in the post slug – which is what this post does. Incidentally, although John Chow is evil, he never did eat my gerbil. 
5 (and a half). Not Reading The Whole Blog Before Responding
This one I am guilty of. This entry is for Problogger’s “Top 5 Group Writing Project”. The prize is around £500 for a lucky (note: not “good”) winner. I spent today writing one for Retro Garden: “Top 5 Ways Gamers Get Misty Eyed”, and then reread the submission form. Only one entry per blogger. Shit. Nevermind, if you could visit both, please. It’d make me a happy chappy.
So why does it piss me off? Simple. A few months ago I got a comment off one of my semi readers advertising a competition he was running. Now, any other post it would’ve been fine, but the fact that he had simply clicked on the top post on the time (which was the one I wrote about me and Han splitting) and copy and pasted a comment he wrote, changed the name, just really irked me. I deleted the comment, deleted his RSS feed, and haven’t been to visit the blog again. Yes, I combat bad things happening to me by locking it in and probably going on a murderous rage when I’m 40, divorced and have £100,000 debt.
What pisses you off about other blogging and other bloggers?
Comments: 30 Comments
Rhys Wynne, the author of this blog, is a 20 something web designer from Colwyn Bay. 
Plagiarism – that’s the number one thing that pisses me off. Then again, is blogging really something that should piss me off? I can always push the big red X…
I totally agree about the snap window things, drives me insane the way I can be innocently navigating a blog and then get assaulted by them.
I also get pissed off a lot with adverts that target certain words within a post and then highlight them with a bright colour and a couple of lines underneath. It’s just obnoxious to me and normally I am pretty ok with adverts on sites..just so long as they don’t interfere with the content.
Polls- Take my lame-o poll and you can view the results. And…Why?
Bolding the type- If you only want me to read the bold, then don’t bother with the rest. Just write a list.
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
I bold the titles, to emhasise them. I think she means if you bold text like this for no apparent reason within sentances. All headings have to be bold. Fact.
So there, no RSS boy!
short rubbish comments?
I like bolding random words for no apparent reason. Also with snap would you make loads of money from people accidentally rolling over your adsense and creating a page impression? i’m not sure, that would be a benefit of them though.
I hate welsh bloggers, and blogs that ask questions… also ones that haven’t been updated since last friday, lazy bastards.
I was also coughing at the plagiarising post that accompanied the bold comment!
Or is everyone posting a top 5 “What I hate people blogging” list today?
Tilesey: Kinda, have a look at this post/competition
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/05/07/top-5-group-writing-project/
Ryan: I was bummed to find out that your comment didn’t contain some sort of subliminal message within your one, maybe three comments. Instead, I found out you were like a sheep and just it was randomly selected words you highlighted.
Of course, I noticed the irony with your comment but I’m behind with your blog. Still, what are your daily readers such as the Han’s, Celeste’s, Debbie’s and Sarah’s of this world think? Will they still be there when you get back
Those allegations of doing a sexy time with the sheep are completely unfounded.
The likes of Han, Celeste, Debbie, Sarah, Paddy and Rhys made my blog readable, it’s nothing to do with me, and I’m forever greatful. Oh and I apologise for not updating in a while i might do it tomorrow.
that was really difficult.
Tell blah blah blah me blah blah blah about blah blah blah it.
You can tell I am brain dead from the revision ’cause it took me a few moments to work out what was going on in these here comments.
I need a drink…
I don’t really care. People can blog how they want to blog. If I don’t like it I don’t read it. I’m hardly around these days anyway. I am finding it really funny that you finish your posts with questions now. Ryan kicked that off. You’re just an idea stealer! ;o)
Oh and you spelt sentences wrong.
I get more comments that way.
Tweens and people who comment to say “I really like your layout” or “Sounds like you had a good time” when I’m blogging about major surgery (you know what I mean lol!)
I dont do blog2profit anymore I cba!
Web sites and web design should be simple, uncluttered and with no moving elements outside of flash movies
.
I love you even more now
Oh I agree so much about Snap windows, I hate those so much.
Well, I am generally of the forgiving kind. But, I tend to get frustrated when a blogger
i) Starts preferring quantity over quality.
ii) As you said starts taking up irrelevant paid posts. I actually enjoy and dont mind Sponsored posts if they are related to the blogs niche.
Rhys,
I cannot stand the Snap windows, either. When I find a site that has them I cannot stay on it. They are a nuisance.
I immediately noticed your url; never heard of doing that before and the traffic might not be the kind I would want.
Something that makes me leave a blog is a harsh combination of background and font color. I also found a blog yesterday by going through all of the Problogger subs that had a delayed type. I had to write my comment in Word and paste it in it annoyed me so much.
Thanks for your post, btw, I read it top to bottom.
JoLynn
Man, nothing is more satisfying than writing a good old rant! It’s almost a shame when you’re finished writing it. Reading it is different. When you’re reading it you get that fulfilling feeling when you’re at the end and it appears you don’t make those stupid awful mistakes.
My ‘pet peeves’ (or major annoyances): bad writers and even worse spelling. You know the posts that you’re trying to survive until the moment you realize what the red cross was for again. It must be hard to be a mac user without the red cross.
Let’s see…
Music coming out of a blog(don’t know what this is called.)
Snap windows.
Type too small to read.
Too much flash.
Cluttered, unreadable side bars, because your eye doesn’t know where to go.
Really snarky writing.
People who are looking for their readers to also be their therapists.
Hmmm… Looks like I have enough for my own post.
I get angry with people who take phrases out of context to be controversial and bring in readers.
most of what you wrote I don’t understand. albeit was a rant, i got that. i am a new blogger so i don’t have anything that p… me off, but i’ll keep looking. i do think it is important to be clear about what your saying for newbies such as myself. i am very interested in learning from veteran bloggers.
The two things that bother me the most regarding blogging is plagiarism and repeating the same thing 18 times.
Great post. I totally agree.
Adrienne
What pisses me off the most about blogging is these know-it-all rookie blowhard kids with names like “Funny & Interesting Stuff†who are so new to blogging they don’t know an RSS feed from a hole in the wall.
They feel compelled to start their worthless blogs about vague, unresearched & unprofitable topics with dreams of achieving massive audiences after only 30 posts.
They make only a few posts per month and waste all of their time posting comments to their poorly worded and researched posts instead of improving their writing skills by actually writing more posts.
Then they go onto established, veteran blogs and post comments pretending to be one of the guys in futile hopes that someone will actually read their lame comment, click on their name, and write many link-filled praises about their retarded blog to increase traffic.
Then by the time these kids just about get your attention and start to actually do something with their blogs, they quit and move onto something else, leaving dead links all over the internet.
They are the kids that really piss me off.
The Snap is really iritating. Besides those that don’t have an RSS feed, I’m also annoyed by those that don’t put the RSS feed somewhere where its easy to be found. I use an RSS reader that doesn’t do autodiscovery for feeds.
You can disable the Snap popups.
Unfortunately, this solution requires a cookie, so clearing your private data will reset it.
The most annoying thing to me is the way that many bloggers have over-commercialized. Personal blogging is an art. Write about what you love, and if you’re good you’ll get paid for it. I just can’t stand it when people start a personal blog for the money.
Oh, and here’s another way to block Snap popups: (via Lifehacker)