"I don't have a problem with this, more readers wooohooo. I was just wondering who put it there, and how come I wasn't told about it. I get proud when I see that my journal is featured anywhere but would have loved to have known it was there."I answered her questions in an e-mail, and thought it would be a good topic for an entry to share with the rest of the class.
Anyway, the link to Brandi's blog was added by the AIM Programming team, which sits the next aisle down from me.
Now, AOL notifying people before we point to their Web sites is a very old-school behavior. It dates back to the days when the Web was still new, and we didn't want to break people's Web sites by directing a whole horde of AOL users at their sites... it was kind of the predecessor of the Slashdot Effect.
Also, we were concerned that Web sites might not want the extra attention.
Fast-forward to 2006, with the blogosphere in full effect, where linking is the norm. In a culture where linking to other people is encouraged, it becomes less and less feasible, and really, less desireable, to tell people beforehand when they're going to be featured.
Now, of course, when it comes to people's photos and likenesses, we usually still do the whole notification and photo release thing. However, when it comes to a straight link to a blog or Web page, it's pretty much an Internet norm now, where the very existence of a public blog usually implies some sort of willingness to be linked to.
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that you're going to be seeing more individual AOL & AIM bloggers being featured here and it other spots -- if you find you're being featured and don't want the extra attention, just send me a mail and I'll see what I can do (when it's an area I publish).
Thanks -- Joe
31 comments:
I'm my mother's only child: I LOVE attention.
Mr. Sexy Pants, I have no comment for this entry other then woohoo for me again. Lol I need help I think. You are great to us little folks for explaining this kinda stuff. : )
Brandi
Well, Old-school huh?
Dang, Sexy Pantz, that's harsh.
LOLLL
andi
I was in Hustler once, and was completely unaware of it.
"Old School" huh? Oh my! And like that is a bad thing?
If it is "old school" to have simple courtesy manners than I am all for it! What is wrong with that?
Heck, my place of employment still has to get my permission to use my documents or any quote from me. This is not rational thinking to do something & then if there are problems try to fix it afterwards. Try to avoid problems first. Just another piece of evidence that AOL does not value its customers! I can not put my students work on my website without their permission. Heck, I can't even give copies of an article without permission. Even if our students created a webpage on our webserver we could not use it for advertisement without their permission.
I don't remember when I started my journal anything in a clause that said I granted AOL to do what they wanted with my journal? Did I miss something? What is going to be next? What little time does it take to ask for permission. This is how you tick people off & just give yourself a bad name. If doing this little courtesy actually avoid that then why not do it? Heck, give a perk...even a few $ off on your monthly rate! AOL really needs to consult with an Industrial Psychologist! Yes, they can call me!
You see Joe people who are PAYING AOL customers expect the "Old School" courtesy of being notified since they PAY AOL for the privilege of using their journals as billboards. The noisomeness tone of your writing reeks of corporate rapacity.
Gabreael
http://gabreaelsbodymindandspirit.blogspot.com/
What you are really saying by "old school" is, you don't want to take the time to be bothered to show respect to your customers. The whole purpose of the journals has been, from the beginning, to have the customers create the content you need to piggyback advertising, as AOL has lost the creative juice to create the content themselves. Now that journals exist and you perpetuated fraud on many of us by not informing us ahead of time that we are nothing but an advertising/marketing vehicle for you, you are free to take the next step of customer disrepect. And you try to explain this to us as "well of course this is the way the world works" when in fact it is just "this is the way AOL wants to next take advantage of us."
We have not forgotten how we have been treated by AOL. Perhaps AOL hopes we forget, be we have not.
Virginia
who's journal can now be found at advetising-free account-free$$ Blogspot.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would love the publicity of being featured so that lots of folks can read about cat care and find out important information related to felines. So.. is there a way to get on a list? <G>
Jo
.................Now, AOL notifying people before we point to their Web sites is a very old-school behavior............................
Unbelievable, Joe. I`m so sorry for you.
http://deabvt.blogspot.com/
V
You (AOL/AIM) feature a blog on the Welcome screen, but you don't alert the author because.... you 'didn't want to break people's Web sites by directing a whole horde of AOL users at their site'. Whether you alert the author or not, the people who see it on the Welcome screen are going to visit the blog if they choose to.
'We were concerned that Web sites might not want the extra attention'. If you were really, truly concerned that someone might not want the extra attention then common sence dictates that you would actually ask that person if they even wanted to be featured before putting them on the Welcome screen.
Once again AOL is assuming that its members want and agree with its changes, and come up with this gobbledigoop explanations for why we are no longer getting the quality of customer service we were used to in the past. Old school is it? What AOL seems to forget in its strive to achieve the Number 1 position in cyber space is the fact that behind all of those screennames and account numbers are real people who still expect to be treated like humans and with common courtesy. We're not bots. We're not just potential customers for your advertisers, we are already customers for YOU and we deserve and expect a certain amount of satisfaction for the services we pay for. Its called customer service and satisfaction, its called integrity, its called common courtesy. Its how all businesses who care for their customers treat their customers.
If AOL is no longer willing to provide its subscribing membership with satisfactory service (according to the members, not the AOL boardroom), then perhaps it should give up providing the service altogether and just focus on its new baby, its portal.
American Portal Online... sounds catchy don't you think? And there would be no confusion by the users as to what to expect... just bare basic anonymous, take it or leave it internet access and hosting.
Personally, when I had an AOL blog, I was thrilled to have it linked somewhere. But I was also grateful back in the old school days, when I was sent an email, letting me know that my blog was being "quoted" on TV Talk or elsewhere. That way I could go look at it, maybe get a screenshot (oh heck, no maybe...) and admire my fleeting fame. :D I think (and I'm sure she'll correct me if I'm wrong) that's what Brandi is asking. She would have liked to enjoy her moment, as she has, IMO, the right to do. Shoot, they (mysterious editors) had to go to the trouble of linking her. Why was it too much trouble to have a form letter/email to send her just to let her know. (And on the opposite side, allow her to ask that it be removed if she found offense.)
One of the best times for me ever was when one of my blogs (devoted to a popular television show) was featured on the main welcome screen. The MAIN welcome screen. I couldn't understand why I was getting so many comments from people I didn't know. And my counter went berserk. (I honestly thought there was a glitch.) And then I crashed, because I had uploaded media, like I normally did for my normal, expected audience and all of a sudden, with no warning, I was getting flooded, totally exceeded my bandwidth, and finally saw my own link on the big screen. Most fun ever! Seriously.
And that's why I think the editors should make a point of alerting the bloggers. It's no fun to be featured when you don't know you are. C'mon. It's not THAT much of a hassle, and it's only fair, considering the free mileage you're getting out of somebody's hard work and effort.
~~ jennifer
Folks -- I'm sorry if you disagree, but linking is an integral part of blogging and blogging culture. To require notification or permission before linking to someone else's blog would KILL the timeliness, responsiveness and interaction that is so integral to blogging -- if blogs are conversation, links are the language that makes it possible.
Thanks -- Joe
Late in 2004, I gave approval to an editor to run my picture, screenname, and a link to my blog in the Women's area. The editor took something I wrote out of context and made me sound like a hooker.
The next t hing I know my screename, journal, and picture and out of context quote are featured -- without my knowledge -- on the front of the People Connection page. Everytime I log on, I'm suddenly inundated with jerks sending IM's that start out "Hiya Sexy."
Somewhere in the fine print if I gave permission for an editor to link to me in one area that meant another editor could use my name, picture and blog link in their area too -- WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Or telling me. So you've been doing this crap for awhile.
Now you feel free to link without even bothering to tell someone. Then I should have the option of requestting that you put me on a DO NOT LINK list. Unless I provide a link, you may not link to me.
You are putting women -- way more than men, because female journals outnumber men by about six or even eight to one -- in the unpleasant position of having to deal with a boatload of creeps.
Especially since, based on my experience, you editors are going to make it seem like someone can link to a really hot babe.
Kind of like you just did to BRANDI.
AOL seems to have a philosophy of turning everything into yet another way to hook up for sex. While maintaining a bizarre TOS standard on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Gimme a break.
Mrs. L
Oye, there goes a good idea. Well Joe, I thank you for telling me and keeping me up to date on the way things work. I think some people might just have it out for you.
Hugs
Brandi
Joe? You make a very good point for what you are doing & I am giving you credit so I can award you, oh well.
Rein
Hi there Joe, I hope I'm in the place to ask this stuff. I might not be asking this in the right place, or to the right person or at the right time but I'm completely flummoxed about how to check which community I've got my journal listed in and if I can change or add a community?
I've got 2 old journals which are private now and one public journal, at least its getting some visitors, but I can't find it listed anywhere or any clear, concise instructions pertaining to changing community unless it is at the creation of a journal. Every link takes me back to the same About page that I already have read a bazillion times and tried this and that from.
What is the answer or where do I find it and why is it so difficult to get edit ability beyond the simple stuff that is basic maintenence, at least it seems like that.
Thanks in advance.
Robert
http://journals.aol.com/cowboyxxv/fromtoptobottom/
the journal I'm talking about.
if blogs are conversation, links are the language that makes it possible.
Thanks -- Joe
Comment from journalseditor - 1/6/06 10:03 AM
Interesting.. so when I'm on the phone.. and having a conversation, my phone company should feel free to "link" my call to other's who may want to listen in for a good time. What's next... linking our IMs so we can all be part of any IM or email we want also? Big brother is watching!
~ Promise
When did common courtsey become old school?
Joe, first of all, thanks for the response to my post, here and in my whiner's blog. I sincerely appreciate that.
I agree with the evolution of blogging, improvements are being made in leaps and bounds, many which are truly awesome. But some of the things that are being done away with under the assumption that the membership no longer needs or wants it are some of the very things that drew us to AOL in the first place. Many are finding fewer and fewer reasons to choose AOL over its competition.
As far as linking goes, it is not the every day linking that is in question, its the spotlighting. I would not expect everyone who links to my journals to ask for permission or alert me in any way. I would like to know, however, if my journal or any of my entries were spotlighted on a community or some other high profile site. For me, I would invite the attention and would appreciate the heads up so that I could bask in my 15 minutes of fame. AOL gains from the spotlighting as well so really, how hard is it for someone to shoot an email to the blogger? It would certainly improve membership moral, I guarantee it. We'll feel appreciated again, and you might even get a crumb cake out of the deal.
Hi -- I can't speak for other programming groups, but I will try to work with them to see if we can find ways to let members know when AOL Journals are featured in an editorial manner.
In a case of "do as I say, not as I do," I actually have a little more leeway in this than others -- mostly because among bloggers, it's usually the norm where someone ends up leaving a comment saying "saw your blog on ______."
Also, since my blog is so closely associated with the Journals main page, it's easy for people who have been featured to get in touch with me.
FYI, as we get into more automation (like canned searches that pull up people's blogs), there's going to be less and less of a distinction between something that's editorially featured and something that's pulled up.
For example, if there's a programmed feed module somewhere, you might see an auto-generated list of links to Journals on a certain subject. In that case, the blog might be featured, but not really selected, so there wouldn't be any way to alert the user (since the list of blogs would be constantly changing).
Other examples include the lists of "recently updated" or "newly created" blogs that you'll see on many blog sites, which limits user notification options.
Thanks -- Joe
People don't like "not having choices"... this being said you mentioned in passing the sentence:
"if you find you're being featured and don't want the extra attention, just send me a mail and I'll see what I can do (when it's an area I publish)."
That would be too little wayyyyy to late!... any chance of giving the journals here the choice of feature or not?? Like allowing a list to be made of journals that DO NOT WANT TO BE FEATURED?...
the chances of my journal being chosen is slim to none BUT on the outside chance the name is grabbed for such a thing.. I DO NOT WANT OR GIVE PERMISSION to be exploited.. thanks anyway.
Yes, I enjoy people stopping by and leaving comments as much as the next person.. but by it coming slowly .. "word of mouth so to speak".. those that come and comment and return are all enjoyable.. I don't need the direct opening for the spamers and idiots... since i've been fortunate not to have any so far.. I'll keep it that way for as long as i can thanks..
Please inform me (us) if such a list will be made for those not wanting the "free press"... I'd appreciate it tremendously.. thanks.. sorry if i got on the defensive side but after the ads and not having any choice there, I'd really like a choice in the matter of weather my journal is "advertised or not"... my choice is NOT. I'd truly like to know "either way" as far as if we have a choice or not.
thanks again, DesLily
http://journals.aol.com/deslily/HereThereandEverywhere/
Pat, there isn't a blog version of the "No-Call" list; I will put your blog in my own personal no-feature list (I actually had your blog on the potential features tab on my spreadsheet), but here I have a question of my own -- for example, does that include being mentioned here, in my blog, or just on AOL channel screens?
For example, when Katrina first hit, I did a quick entry rounding up some Journals I'd found talking about it:
http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/531
Likewise, after the London bombing, I threw together a similar entry:
http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/402
I do plan on continuing to highlight individual blogs on an ongoing basis, outside of any specific specials or features, as I have done before.
If the answer is "yes, leave me out of Magic Smoke, too", I would note that you're already featured... just by signing your comment with your blog's address (as is the norm here). However, you might want to add some text to that affect to your blog's description, next to your personal ad disclaimer.
Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed)
O.K... I don't usually post comments over here, but I would like to give my 2 cents on this one. This is just my opinion and as such should be considered/ignored as such <g>
If someone links to me in there personal blog, I don't expect any kind of notification. These are usually the "Hey, I saw this at Joe's and thought it was cool, here's his link" type of things, and are basically a courtesy in that they had it first and you are acknowledging it. By the same token, I don't 'ask permission' when I am just saying where something comes from. HOWEVER, if I thought what I was linking to might bother the original poster (i.e. it was something personal) I would -OF COURSE- ask first.
Now, THIS is something else entirely. AOL is NOT linking me in their personal journal but on a page of their service. I would think they would want to check before doing so. For instance, it is one thing to throw up a link in Magic Smoke, and quite another to put it on the Main AOL Screen don't you think?<g>
That all being said, I personally like the traffic, and although I would like a head's up so I could go over and get a screen shot of my name ;p I would still have to say... "Link me, Baby!" <LOL>
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind
http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the email and like i said in my response to it.. I appologize if I went off too much.. I don't mind you or anyone i leave comments at mentioning my journal or telling a friend of it.. I just don't like "advertised".. opening the flood gates isn't always a good thing.. just wanted to be left off a list if there is one to be "advertised" . I'm fine with the examples you sent me..
Again, I'm sorry for the trouble..
You know - when I link to an AOL-WebMD site without notifying someone at AOL, I get my journal irrevocably deleted... followed by a giant single-finger salute from AOL.
These ads are just the other middle-digit salute.
Maybe if I find a way to link to the ads, AOL will screw THAT up too - and "accidentally" delete the ads.
"Folks -- I'm sorry if you disagree, but linking is an integral part of blogging and blogging culture. To require notification or permission before linking to someone else's blog would KILL the timeliness, responsiveness and interaction that is so integral to blogging --"
Come on... can't you at least be honest? You are not talking about blogs linking to blogs, about a flowing dynamic dialog. You are talking about blatantly USING your members thoughts and work and creativity to make money for yourself - using us to promote your pages and thus your advertising, which is all over ALL the screens of AOL. We create the interesting content that you slap adversting on to because AOL is too lame to come up with their own content anymore. Its not blogging culture at all that is the issue here, its AOL's abuse of customers. Now on top, you say its to inconvenient for you to bother to tell us you will be using us as content for your profit machine.
What really gets me is the tone in which you deliver these rude mandates to us....in the tone of voice of "of course AOL can do whatever they want to customers.... we a gods and the customers are our minions." (I would spell check this... but of course there is no spell check... you keep adding features that help to promote your advertising, instead of features we ask for.)
Virginia
who only blogs at blogspot now - adversting free
So let's review...
AOL puts ads on our journals without notification;
It keeps all ad revenue for itself;
It flips us off when we complain;
It can't be bothered letting us know when it's using our blogs to promote itself;
And we're supposed to happily play along and keep pumping out content for AOL.
You know, if we're that eff'n valuable to AOL, it really ought to stop doing most everything imaginable to encourage our departure. Or is that just me?
Joe,
I've been pulled into this through a series of emails pointing out the situation. So here is my take on this issue.
I'm sure that somewhere in those vague "Terms of Service" is a clause in small print acknowledging that AOL can promote your blog and can do so regardless of your feelings on the matter. So let's forget about the "permission" issue.
Look at the comments objectively, and forget for a moment that you're employed by AOL. The common theme in the complaints boils down to COURTESY.
People like to know when they're being featured. Once, a fellow blogger asked me to capture a shot of the screen on which his journal was featured: it meant a lot to him and he wanted to keep a copy of the graphic. It's a little jarring to sign on and have an extra thirty emails with New Comment Alerts from people you've never heard of and have no idea where they came from, THEN find out that you've been featured.
(CONTINUED)
(CONTINUED)
As has been said before, if John Doe links to your journal in his blog, no one expects him to notify you. When AOL links to your journal in their advertising of their own service, since they're not "equals" with the bloggers, the RIGHT thing to do is to notify the bloggers that they're being featured. I'm not saying they should ask permission: JUST SAY THE BLOG IS FEATURED. That's all.
It takes all of about fifteen seconds to drop a screen name into a "TO" window of an email, then paste a form letter stating that the journal is being featured at Keyword: So-and-so. That CAN'T be too much to ask. Again, it's CUSTOMER SERVICE and COMMON COURTESY from the company many are still PAYING just to be able to keep their blog.
The sad irony -- which I'm amazed that AOL can't figure out for itself -- is this: If AOL would take the time to notify people that they're being featured, people would feel POSITIVE about AOL because they're getting a nod from on high. But AOL seems uninterested in such a gesture, which leaves people feeling NEGATIVELY about the company itself. Why would AOL WELCOME hostility from its customers when it would be so easy to avoid it?
Patrick
Patrick,
I made it clear in my followup entry -- http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/990/ -- that I mostly agree with you that it's nice to do and I will keep trying to do it with the areas I control.
However, I also made it clear that this is simply not the norm on the blogosphere.
For example, let's take a look at blogger.com -- they have a listing on their main page of "Blogs of Note." Do they notify bloggers when they're listed? I honestly don't know, though a quick search on the Web seems to indicate that they don't.
Is Blogger being discourteous if they feature blogs without notifying them? I don't believe so -- others may disagree.
Thanks -- Joe
Joe,
You're absolutely right about Blogger. I doubt that they do notify writers of "Blogs of Note" that those blogs are listed there.
On the other hand, there is NO sense of community on Blogger, from what I've seen. None. At all.
AOL's software is BUILT upon the premise of "community." For AOL Journal writers, the sense of community is so strong that they have a term for it: "J-land." There is no "J-land" (or even a "Blog-land") on Blogger. That togetherness just doesn't happen outside of AOL.
What AOL managed to build is rather unique, and I think that it is the concern that AOL is forgetting what it strove to create that's sparking such a negative reaction here. I'm not saying that AOL doesn't care...I'm saying that to some people, it FEELS as if AOL doesn't care.
In any case, thanks for your clarification and for agreeing to do what you can to make sure that "honorees" aren't missed when you possibly can. I'm sure that much is greately appreciated.
Patrick
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