blog explosion

The past week and a half I've been playing over at Blog Explosion. It's a site, for any of you that haven't been there, that promotes visitors to your blog. It does this by a variety of means mostly of the donkey and carrot variety using the reward of points instead of the carrot.

I don't think Blog Explosion really adds much to real traffic. I suspect most of the people click in and then leave without reading any content. So there's little value in that--assuming I'm correct--unless you just want to pad your blog's stats for some reason. On the other hand, some of the ways to earn points there are fun, especially Battle of the Blogs. A blog game kind of like playing the card game War.

Another way to make points there is to rent out space on your blog. You might have seen this on various blogs around the Net. Today I tried to rent space on another blog for the first time. I was rejected! The notice I got from the administrators follows:

Your rent bid for Fig Inert was denied.

Important!
This is usually because they simply accepted another offer and should not be taken
personally. When a member does not accept a Rent My Blog offer it does not mean there is
anything wrong with your blog.

Keep hunting for the good deals and you will be renting blog spaces before you know it!

BlogExplosion Team

I changed the name of the blog somewhat to maintain privacy. It's very nice that the administrators sent the note worded that way, and their point is probably true--that the space had already been rented out--but there's still a sense of rejection.

People are weird that way. From the time we're kids we want to stand out and be noticed and at the same time be part of the crowd and be accepted as a member of that crowd. When you receive some type of rejection, even something as mild as this, you regress a bit and feel like you're out of the crowd, singled out and alone. People sure are strange! That Doors' song really had it right.

People are strange when you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly when you’re alone
Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven when you’re down


So why do we feel that way?

A week ago my girlfriend asked me why we didn't spend the week together instead of just seeing each other on weekends. In a sense it was rhetorical, though in this case it was obvious that she was expecting an answer. We both knew that it was because logistics wouldn't allow it right now but when I explained that, even though she already knew everything I was saying--and she's told the same things to me in the past--it was obvious she was hurt. Logical? No, but neither was my reaction to the Email from Blog Explosion.

Emotions can be freaky, especially that deeply wired stuff. Yesterday I got a picture from a blog friend via an Email note from her. I'm not sure why she added the picture but because she's attractive it made me happy. Emotions are so freaky. She's happily married; I'm very happy with my girlfriend. I suppose I should mention also that she's too young and much too pretty for me, but I was hoping to keep those thoughts confined to my subconscious. LOL The point is that my mood was changed by something that has no real effect on me. Why would this change my mood? Why would facts often repeated change my girlfriend's mood?

If you have any clue, please let me know!

Comments

Anonymous said…
hey... reading your blog through a BOTB and thought i'd comment, seeing as it's pertinent. i think for the most part, you're right. mnost of the BE traffic is just come-and-go, don't bother to read. but there are a few of us that at least notice when one sticks ok (as yours did with your last post). i've even gained 2 or 3 regular visitors to my site through my 2 or 3 week membership in BE. i know some of it is crap, but the BOTB makes it all worthwhile (dude the thing is addictive as hell, ain't it???)
utenzi said…
Thanks, Stranger. Why do I feel like I'm quoting old Madonna movies here?

You're right--that battle thing is addictive. I'm going to have trouble staying away for a week or two!
Anonymous said…
I think we take comments too much to heart sometimes because we are all so self-centered. Humans will be much happier when we all realize that nobody else is thinking about us as much as we think they do.
utenzi said…
You're quite correct, Tara. Good insight.
Anonymous said…
I have the secret....It's because we're human! Sometimes it just bites! Your snippet of the song is soooo pertinent to my post today I just may have to add it in. Stacie
Anonymous said…
In the case of your girlfriend, I doubt she was looking for the actual answer. She probably just wanted to know that you wished things could be different, too. Or maybe some creative brainstorming on how to change the "logistics". Women rarely want answers to their problems; they just want the empathy.
utenzi said…
Yep, Diane. Probably true to a degree. I read Men are from Mars so I knen that one. But in this case she really did want my answer not just reassurement. You'd have to know her to understand.
Anonymous said…
I have a friend who tells how she has been rejected by absolutely everyone that's ever been in her life, friends, husband, whatever. And right now, I just want to look at her and say - and what about the ones you have rejected? And then I have to ask myself the same question.

We're human so we all have been rejected, big scale or little, and we have all rejected others at some point or another.

It still sucks though and is never easy to deal with. At least, I haven't found it to be getting any easier. Unless maybe there's no emotion invested.
Anonymous said…
First, I want to say, you've gotten a regular lurker in me from BE. I have yet to be able to rent space from anyone at BE. I've collected 15 of those emails. At first it bugged me, now it's just plain annoying. On the BotB, I've stopped wasting my credits on it and instead have found myself addicted to voting on the BotB.
Anonymous said…
I have to admit that I am a bit of jealous of your admirer ;-) as I have to beg in order to get a couple nice shots of asses.

What comes to BotB; it's a way to imporove one's stats, but not really to get other bloggers to read your stuff. Maybe some. But it's definitely fun.

There are already so many blogs... who has the time to read?

P.S. Girls, you are welcome to send pictures for me too ;-)
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
Humans are just plain weird. That's my magic answer
:-)
Anonymous said…
"Besides, she's much too young and pretty for me"

Hmmm, i wonder how Renee is feeling about those words LOL...start running David!!
utenzi said…
Michelle, you called that one right. She was miffed. That's why the banner changed to "It's all about Renee". Women are so freakin' weird!

Lisa, you're so right!

Rocky, you only have to beg because you need such a large supply. Having a butt shot everyday makes it difficult to keep the inventory adequate. And then there's the quality issue also.

Jayne, it's great to have you reading here. Feel free to lurk or post--and thanks for the information about the blog renting too.

Ciera, rejection does suck and questions like that arise from time to time in our lives. I hope both you and your friend are able to answer them eventually.
Anonymous said…
Hey Utenzi-- Michelle sent me.

I had to skip the post up top because I haven't watched this week's Lost yet!

Anyway, thanks for the insight on all the Rent My Blog Explosion hoo-haw. I've heard a lot about that, but I had no idea what it is. I think I'll stay away for now. I kill enough time with my current faves!

Enjoyed my visit! Thanks!
Anonymous said…
Yeah um... about the nude glossy... I meant to send it to www.BoobExplosion.com
Typos happen. :P
Being a real live person does just suck sometimes doesn't it?!
Have a great weekend!
Lois Lane
Anonymous said…
I just had to reject 12 applicants for rental on my blog, I hope none of them think it is personal lol.
Here from Micheles
Anonymous said…
A few thoughts on BlogExplosion (and otherwise).

1) When you link to BE, use the referral link rather than their homepage link. Click on the link I just put in to see an example. That way, when someone clicks on the link and joins, in the future you'll earn a kickback of however many credits they earn. It's a pyramid scheme. ;) To find your own referral link, go to the members page and look for "My Referrals" on the left.

2) I think BE's a good way to get exposure for your blog if you don't have any audience at all. I don't have that large an audience currently, maybe 4 people regularly comment - one is a face-to-face friend, two I met thru Blogexplosion (including yourself), and one found me thru links on others' blogs. But I basically have one time waster a year, and this year it's BE.

3) I have no clue how anyone builds up a huge readership and earns money off of Google ads and whatever. Those are selling out, and I admit I do have them myself. I refuse to sell out entirely though and plaster them all over the page (though I tried it for a while) - they're just hidden over in a corner somewhere.

4) The point of emotions I think is to throw our logic off. Things would get pretty boring if we were all perfectly logical. :-P Evolutionarily, it's probably a way to provide a connection between the intellect and the physical response and vice versa.
Anonymous said…
Ugh! I was so annoyed last night. I went to vote for your blog, and by the time I finished the ratings, the polls had closed! Feck!

Oh well, know I was attempting to support you! LOL!

Have a great weekend!

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