Saturday, May 14, 2005

So, What's With This Whole Alliance Thing Anyway?

21st Century Paladin had an interesting question Saturday.
But how does something like The Alliance of Free Blogs get started?
Well, let's take a look at that. According to the Alliance:
The goal of the Alliance is to replace Instapundit as the biggest thing
in the blogosphere by means of links, hits, and humor, thereby helping
Alliance members evolve upward through the Ecosystem
Promoting each other. There's nothing wrong with that. Success is mixed, since the Alliance is ranked below several alliance members. Say, that's odd.

Anyway, why Glenn Reynolds? Again, the Alliance:
Because he has so many readers, if he links to your site you get a
LOT of hits, which is very gratifying. His links are highly prized by
bloggers.

Frank J., of IMAO, is an up-and-coming blogger who occasionally mocks Glenn as a way to gain attention.

And, it worked. But, consider this, before you try some such thing. It's been done. And done successfully. Not to discourage anyone. Heck, I'm the last person to give advice on something like that. But, I have seen others try to mimic Frank J. in that regard. One or two have had limited success. Most looked like asses. And I don't mean "a fool" when I use that term. I'm talking butt cheeks and sphincter. They looked that bad.

Anyhow, if you want a target to shoot for, it makes more sense to target Instapundit than Bass Pundit.

21st Century Paladin had another question:
But if it's the Alliance of Free Blogs, why are there so many requirements? That's as much a misnomerPeople for the American Way.
Good one. But let's address that. To me, the requirements do two things:

  1. Promote the Alliance.
    • Banner: Visual promotion.

    • Fake quote: The Alliance's "signature."

    • Link: It's all about the links.

  2. Provide a way of collecting data.
    • Sitemeter: Got to have a way of counting.

    • Enroll in the Ecosystem: You can't be counted if you're not on the list to count.


So, they serve a purpose. On, and here's a third one, though quite possibly unintentional:

  1. Provide humor by having many requirements for something supposedly free. Admit it. That's funny.


And there's one other think I think should be addressed. 21st Century Paladin said:
(If) the goal is merely to be the anti-Instapundit it seems a bit petty.
No, this is petty. Indeed.

4 comments:

  1. Hey,
    I'm not so sure you gave me a reason why joining the Alliance is a good thing? No secret handshake? No cool buffs? I mean, my Blimpie Frequent Customer Club has more perks.
    -Paladin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Actually the "Free" part of "Free Blogs" means that we're trying to free ourselves from Instapundit's tyranny.

    If it were free of requirements, it would be the Alliance of Anarchist Blogs.

    Now THAT'S funny :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susie:
    Thanks!

    Paladin:
    Aren't the smoochies from Susie reason enough? It is for me.

    Harvey:
    Now why didn't I think of that? I bow to the superior intellect.

    ReplyDelete

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