Blog Explosion (with Karate?)
In my relentless attempt to take over the world (as Dawn and Drew would say), I’ve started looking at this interesting Blogging tool called Blog Explosion. After signing up, you surf other people’s blogs and for each blog you can rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, add comments, bookmark it, or blacklist it. As you build up credits, they can be used to direct other Blog Explosion members to your blog – an exchange of eyeballs so to speak.
While good in theory, there are definitely loopholes. For example, while you have to do some manual stuff in order to surf to the next blog in line, and you have to wait 30 seconds in between blog viewings, there is nothing that forces you to actually read a blog. You could easily go do something else in a different browser window and then switch back.
That being said, I still think it’s useful. I have found a number of interesting blogs which I doubt I’d ever have noticed in my ordinary subscription to a handful of major (and a few minor) blogs. There are few if any “A-list” blogs, and hey, that’s a good thing, right? While it’s good to have a sense for those more popular blogs, part of the essence of blogging is getting to read stuff from people who are NOT major headline makers either in the blogosphere or in the mainstream press, and let’s face it, these two worlds are bound to start merging any day, if they haven’t already!
The other nice part of this is that it’s a pyramid scheme! Ok, maybe not quite that bad, but kinda. You can refer people and those people will contribute to your credits when they visit other blogs. Apparently there are five levels, so it’s not as bad as it could be, I suppose.
I’ve only been using this for a week or so, so I’m still not 100% sold on the idea, but it’s worth trying out at least. That’s what I’m doing for now – until the referrals come in and then I can just sit back and watch the profits roll in, yeah, baby! No, no, I don’t even expect to get any folks under me. But it is kind of cool that you can manually drive people to your site, even if they take one look at go off to play solitaire until my 30 seconds are up. Some people will actually find something of interest and may just stick around for longer – as I’ve done on not a small number of occasions…
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I love BE as it has exposed me to dozens of blogs I never would have seen otherwise, blogs which I am now a regular reader of.
With respect to your comment BE doesn’t actually force people to read your blog, you’re right they don’t. But then it’s not their responsibility either. BE is a traffic exchange which promises to deliver people to your site and they deliver on that promise – what you do with those people once they are here is up to you.
Comment by
Len — March 21, 2004 @ 12:46 pm
I also have recently joined both the blogging world and blog explosion. I have enjoyed both immensely. B.E. has helped me see many different types of blogs that would have been more difficult with directories. I see a wider range. And I have people seeing mine also.
Comment by
Matt — December 20, 2004 @ 7:45 pm
Blog Explosion (BE) is a useful tool. It increases your chances of getting more readers (more bloggers).
It may be better to use banners with BE, because people are likely to stay longer, after intentionally clicking your banner. I’ve created some banners for this very reason, and they can be seen on .
Nice blog you have here…
Bernie
Comment by Bernie — December 21, 2004 @ 2:25 pm
Yay, I’m glad you’re using BE! I get 10% of your earned credits, mwahaha!
But seriously, I actually like BE a lot. I have found interesting blogs there, though I haven’t gotten too many comments in return. Sometimes I’ll get in the mood to leave at least one comment on every blog I see through there, sometimes I just have it open in another window while I do other things and advance it occasionally.
Comment by
Meredith — December 21, 2004 @ 1:37 pm
Hi. I stopped by as a result of Blog Explosion. I’ve really enjoyed reading a lot of different blog as a result.
I find it interesting that Meredith referred you. I referred Meredith, so I also get a cut on your surfing. Keep visiting a lot of other blogs!
Comment by Aldon Hynes — December 21, 2004 @ 2:53 pm
Heh, heh… I’ve gotta respect the obscure commercial reference to “Karate Explosion”.
Blog Explosion is a terrible tool, quite possibly conceived by the Devil himself. (Yeah, I’m blaming Satan for my own on-the-job indiscretions.) I’m just glad that this is my last week for my current job. Otherwise, I’d probably get fired for spending all my time on the BE.
Comment by
Brad — December 21, 2004 @ 3:06 pm
I am trying out the BlogExplosion with the same feelings of trepidation. So far it tells me it has directed 18 people to my blog but I hae seen barely any increase in traffic. I guess most people don’t read teh blogs they surf to.
Comment by
Halden — December 21, 2004 @ 4:12 pm
I’ve been on BE for two weeks now, and it’s great! Three very important things I’ve learned about it, though: First, uh-oh, time’s up, gotta go! rollin’ rollin’ rollin’…
Comment by Chenoah — December 21, 2004 @ 5:34 pm
Hi and welcome! I’ve been using BE for about a month now, and I’ve definitely gained some readers along with drastically increasing my hits. I’ve also found lots of super cool blogs to read. Oops gotta run!
Toni
Comment by Toni — December 22, 2004 @ 3:41 am
On the contrary, I have noticed that when I click off of Blogexplosion to another browser the timer stops. When I click back I still have to wait before it switches to a new blog.
I almost never get mystery credits.
Comment by Diseuse — December 27, 2004 @ 2:41 pm