The blog complex – the mysteries of getting submitted (committed)

3-1-14 

I have been on the Internet since 1996, (yep, I could be considered a pioneer lol) And in that time I have surfed through the waves of cyberspace and made my mark designing countless websites. I have even submitted them to various search engines with the ease of a click. (I am of course talking about free submissions and not doing the heavy-duty promotion work that is so prevalent today) 

However, I think I have wandered into some troubling territory with the 'blog submission', which by the way has gotten me completely baffled…

I am a “newbie” of sorts to the Blog world. Hard to believe, I know, seeing the web has played an avid roll in my life over the last 18 years and in all those years (geesh has it really been that long – seems like just yesterday) I had never gotten into the craze of blogging…until now. (February 16, 2014).

I know that I am not as 'up' on the workings of the web like I used to be, in fact I feel I am as prehistoric as my first IBM running windows 3.1. (No, I don’t still have that one, but I have to admit I still use Windows XP – “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” J ) Ok, maybe not that out of tune, but I have not kept up to date with a lot of things, like how I also never got into using Facebook - however it seems if you need to get noticed (or gossip a lot), that and Twitter would be the place to do it. (I don’t even own a cell phone – I hear you don’t really make phone calls anymore…) 

What possessed me to venture into the sometimes blatant ramblings of people exposing their inner most secrets in public? (Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of blogs that are very informative and some quite entertaining) I just felt I had something to say, something that might interest people and just felt like sharing it. (maybe boredom, not quite sure yet…)

So now a few short weeks later (3/1/14) I felt that maybe I should expose it to the world, or at least to someone other than my family J (They are my number 1 audience! Ok maybe my only audience at this point…)

Let me tell you, it certainly is not easy to get your blog listed in those so-called ‘blog directories’ that are out there. (it really could be easier finding a needle in a haystack) As I said, I know how to submit websites into search engines, (doesn’t take a rocket scientist) but submitting a blog is more like applying to the Secret Service! (not that I have ever tried) 

First, find one that is still active, I have clicked through lists of outdated blog directory listings for what seemed like hours, really it was hours. (it is unfortunate how there is so much out of date information that is on the web – I think someone should take a vacuum and clean up the dust bunnies…) When you begin your journey of finding directories you will definitely need to use up some vacation time from work.

Next, very few that I did find wouldn’t just let you submit your blog, (that would be way too easy and uncomplicated). Some just wanted my money for the honour of being in their directory, well I have none, so it was easy to dismiss them.. 

For others, you must join their group first before even being considered. (I am starting to think it is more of a ‘secret society’) these directories are also very choosy of who gets listed, or at least that is what they claim now that their directories are overflowing, they have apparently become more selective (however after reading a few of the blogs that are listed in there I should be a “shoe in”…)

Joining involves the usual information – name, email, url, etc. be prepared, some have quite the list of questions, I haven’t seen one that has asked for your first born yet, but then again I have just scratched the surface..  – (Note: just signing up will not guarantee that you will be included). Signing up is the only fast & easiest part about this whole process. 

For some, you get sent a verification code and then verify who you are by clicking the link. I guess people pretend to be someone they are not on the Internet, imagine that… Next be sure to put their logo on your blog with the link back to them – this is very important because if you forget to do it immediately, they will decline you. (speaking from experience) I guess this proves you are the owner of that blog (or so that is why they tell you to put it on your site – personally why would I be submitting a strangers’ blog? Hmmm, I guess there is even plagiarism in the blog world, that or they just want the page ranks…) 

On one you fill out a bio, (just what I needed, another bio of me out there on the Internet) I must have a billion bio pages floating out there by now! –wonder if I am still who I say I am…

Then you sit and wait, and wait, and wait some more... all the while hoping the great OZ of the blog directory will grant you a small slice of cyberspace within the great directory walls, only to be lost within the millions of it’s inhabitants…

I know we all are used to ‘instant gratification’ (get your mind out of the gutter) when it comes to the Internet, and I am told that patients is a virtue. Who needs virtue anyway..  

When it comes right down to it, the web is no different than waiting in line at the Walmart in Florida. Just think, it is probably worse! There are more than just your towns population waiting in that line, there are literally millions of other people out there who think their blog is an important written work that must be shared too… “wait your turn!”