Vote Begging Contest

Interesting point... I do not have many friends who are on both indiblogger and gmail, so I did not come across that personally but yeah.. it is sad that facebook and internet in general have diluted the definition of "like". 

"like" is the new "I read it"... we just have to deal with it I guess!

The idea of voting generally denotes democracy.  The idea of voting exudes beauty. There’s nothing wrong in it. It’s humane to crave for more when you’ve resources. I love Indiblogger because of its democracy. I hate to force anyone but I love to read every good post written by the upcoming writers. I love to read write ups that reflects extreme passion for any damn thing. I have read good, bad and ugly write ups here. I have mutely visited most of the blogs and made a picture of each blogger in my mind. My heart throbs more when someone promotes my post; I get that bliss that I usually crave for. It’s all humane I guess. I hardly use high sounding words to persuade others to read my post and appreciate my  creation. It’s your choice; it’s that freedom you are given here. You like something – appreciate it otherwise move away without saying anything. Indiblogger is getting hotter now and it’s destined to get more pleasant in the years to come. I am no oracle, I am no magician, I am just a dreamer who keeps walking through those changing aisles called life. My thoughts may not hold any meaning, my fluffy words may not soothe you psyche but I would always appreciate people who know the mechanics of writing and its timeless beauty…

why all itlalics?

right right!! keep promoting ...not urself but ur friends :))

but sometimes even the good things needs the promotion...

right!! mag

:D :P :) ;)

I will confess, I have emailed other bloggers.

But I know I was not begging for votes. A lot of bloggers are not aware of IndiBlogger contests. I did not follow the contests till very recently. And I am not making this up when I say, I am not a competitive blogger either. It really is the primary reason that I never contest. But then, for the first time, I did submit something towards a contest - my post on Emotional Atyachaar.

My email was to let other bloggers know that there is a post that I had written and it is an entry to a contest. If the blogger has some time, I requested him/her to read my post and only if he/she likes it to vote in favor.

Now, for this if it has caused some annoyance/inconvenience I do apologize for that. Maybe I did after all get a little carried away.

Not sure how all that BOLD happened with the text. Not trying to make a point all over that place. :)

Hey1 It's okay! There really is no need for an apology. This is not a post to rave and rant an annoyance. it is more to air views. Yours are welcome as well!

Cheers

To me the idea of asking for votes never appealed. I never wrote for contests but this time when I wrote for emotional atyaachar contest, I thought of sending mail to my network. I even composed the mail but somehow my inner-self did not allow me to send that and I decided that if people will like what I wrote they will vote else I will try my luck next time.

Well at the same time as pallav said Indiblogger is a democratic place for bloggers, they have the right to ask for votes on their post. So we can't stop them, ya if we don't like it we can ignore them.

@sweta.... this is the way.... promote ur stuff.... if anyone likes it he/she vote for it...otherwise they can ignore them

@Sweta - Made total sense. There has to be a balance. Cheers!

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. Neither democratic place  means you will start emailing and adding people on social networks and after few friendly chats request them to vote for your post.that way justice is not done and it also kinda maligns the very objectivity of the indivine and the other contests which require voting,

i don't want to quote names but when i joined this network there were 8 bloggers added to the network notifications on my dashboard the very first day and after a day or two  except two of them they requested me to vote on their post in indivine for the jiyolife contest,though they merely knew me, i read the posts not all but a few but voted for them all,i am not saying it was all their fault but even i was wrong at doing that.

secondly i had put up a few indivine posts from my blog recently and i got a few votes but the most surprising thing was all those who have voted not even once visited my blog.

i believe in having a few people who would genuinely read my posts and xpress themselves rather than having a big followers list where none seem interested.

i request the moderators humbly to come up with some solution and i also know that there are topics posted on the forum related to it.

with regards,

divz

True Divyangshu! Democracy used intelligently. With freedom comes power but it is up to each of us to use it wisely. I do feel a lot of bloggers do not get readership despite posting their posts on Indivine. My advise for those who have been around would be to encourage everyone to add posts but also that if they are voting for a post, please read it and it is courteous to leave a comment. If nothing, a hello even helps.

A lot also beg for votes (which is why this topic came up). I think people who do that should do it with some class; ask people to leave comments and let you know what they liked or disliked about the post. It will get you genuine feedback. I know a few who do not read the post but vote for it. I think they kind of miss the point of being part of a community. I'd rather not have people who have not read my post, vote for it.

So true about the indivine posts... and some of my best posts, which generate a lot of traffic for me, are amongst my bottom 5 on indivine because people dont get to it

Wonderful topic to discuss upon :) First up, let me say it boldly that I do mail to the people in my network to vote for my post (Not all, only those competing in a contest). Sometimes this can be annoying to some people. But I think that this is the only medium you have  got to promote the effort put in by you in indiblogger. (Dont even think of promoting your blog in the indiforum as it is for discussion and not promotion..and beware the indipolice (addy, mohan and company will rip you apart :)) )

To explain in simple words, This is what they call "Marketing". I fully agree with @pallav also. Tell me honestly how many of you have come across products in the local market that are far far better than the big brands ? But still they have only less takers. Why? Because they are less known ones. Many new bloggers are less known ones. 

                To be honest there are much much better posts in indivine which go unnoticed. By mailing, the blogger is just saying "Dear friend I have taken some effort and time to write a post, if you like it, do look into it and vote for it...all I wanted to do was to just to let you know that I have made some effort"

I don't understand whats the harm in that ? This is not begging, may be can call this as "a shout for recognition". I bet you these mails are much much better than the spam viagra mails that rock your inbox daily no matter howmuch you try to restrict them.

Finally let me even say this, Indimail is a system where in you can send/receive mails only from your mutual connection. That means you have agreed to add them in your network and receive some communication from them. Now if you feel that some guys are spamming you or irritating you then you have all the liberty in the world to remove that blogger from you network. Simple you wont recieve any more mails from such a person.

I proudly use indimail to ask people in my network to help me out when I am need of help. If they think I dont write quality posts, I write pieces of junk then I have the highest probability of not making into anybody's network in the firstplace.

Thank you :))

Dear friend I have taken some effort and time to write a post, if you like it, do look into it and vote for it...all I wanted to do was to just to let you know that I have made some effort"

Bravo! This is how it should be. you put it across correctly.

Hmm... promotion isnt bad! now if you feel you got something, promote it among your friends who you know well. The best promotion is when others promote your article, and not when you promote. You need to let your friends know and ask for their comments rather than asking them to vote. If someone is annoyed, how good ever your article is, you wont entice their attention..

Instead, if you start sending and asking people to vote, those who dont even know you well, it would ofcourse annoy you! aint it?

Keep Blogging!

http://hemalshah.net/blogs

There is a thin line between inviting someone politely to read your stuff - versus saying vote for me- and I will do the same !

True. I do agree that just asking someone to vote is not acceptable. My email is then free of guilt ...

yup.... now three cheers for results

Vote for me if I deserve it is okay but I will do the same is lame!

Yup its cheap and selfish! And I do not recommend it! And its not "The Rules".

Its desperate and showing off that you are weak! and you yourself do not believe in your creation.

PS: errr.........while at all this crap....can you guys please vote for me on IndiVine and Indibloger of the month contest?

lol Addy!!

@ addy, but the one who writes best, and  sits down not networking properly, he will fail on that front. 

a kind of chicken and egg problem?

Hi Addy,

I don't think self promotion is cheap. Let people ask for votes and rest lies on the readers to choose whom to vote. When there's a product launch the company spends a lot on advertisements. Thats how we come to know of new products in the market. But decision to buy it rests on the buyer depending on how much convincing the product is.

Hence, I don't see any harm in self promotion. Let the users choose whom to vote.

Being said that, I've been nominated for the "Rookie Blogger of the Year 2010" at "http://tycoonblogger.com/blogging-tips/vote-now-rookie-blogger-of-the-year-2010". I'm the only Indian Blogger to be nominated there. So Guys, please vote for me.

@ Hiyaa.. your write

comments actually motivates you to write. But its the votes at the end that make you win.

Zainab - Yes. But I am writing for the love of writing in the first place and not for winning something. I would like a genuine audience that takes time to read and relate to what I write.

It's great if I get votes and win but I never started writing to win alone. If a single person feels what I wanted to convey, my wins are assured.

Promote your work - that's okay. Don't make that your single focus in life. Keep the love of writing alive and burning. That's my mantra

I'm sorry its "you're right"

Agreed.. I've never done begging myself coz I know I would rather want to deserve a win through my writing. I think the concept of getting the highest votes to win itself is not right. People dont read your post but simply vote. The moment I receive a vote i go back and check if i have received any comments but in vain. Maybe ppl r too busy with no time, maybe they just vote for the sake.. whateva.

There are new ways of getting this accomplished now!

nice sixer, mohanji,

but i can only say ,the courage it takes to ask a vote, Rahiman ve nar mar chuke je kachu maangan jaahi,

un te pehele ...

i just got a request in my facebook by a blogger (Yes, i was one of the 20 folks who were in that group thread), this is what it read - "Now it is my turn, vote for my post". 

Wah... wah!! This came after a lot of spamming comments on various blog articles by fellow bloggers posts with a humble request to get as many votes as possible by the participants!!

Few more bloggers have gone a step ahead in asking every blogger if they are part of indiblogger community through twitter... if not, that blogger can help you in getting the blogs approved! and then do that humble request to vote on their contest post!

Is this what a contest is all about? I am sorry, we are certainly heading in the wrong direction. Or may be that I am the only person cynical about this whole stuff here!!!

no you are not the only one :)

Hmm one solution to this is...

Have a jury who will read all of the posts and then vote for the best..

Now the jury could be a panel of expert bloggers, or some professional writers.

This will end all the begging..

only risk being losers challenging the credibility of the jury's fair decision

That is a nice suggestion!

I admire Gyanban's wit for choosing the title of this topic. It's been really a LOL day for me. Earlier this day I had good amount of laugh with Addy's blog, then few lines in 2 states book and now this title. I thank all these people who make me laugh.

Well coming to the topic, 'asking (sounds better than begging) for votes' is definitely up to the individual.

I have 2 thoughts here (Excuse me if it's not technically possible, am a tech-illterate).

1. Do you guys think not disclosing the promoter of the post might help in preventing those gratitudinal promotions?  

2. Making a rule that one can vote only after leaving a comment on the post will encourage genuine promotions?

I know both are like extremists' ideas that might spoil all the fun around the present voting system. However, I feel the voting liberty needs some hold for Indiblogger to sustain it's quality in promoting posts in the long run.

Now it reminds me of how Addy ends .....please please vote for me.....hahha...NO...NO.......I am not asking for it

can you all vote for me? Please! 

Let's all blog and have fun.

A new era has begun My friend and online begging is a part and parcel of it.

Get ready to see a lot more of it in the coming time unless some restrictions are applied by the Indiblogger team.

How to Correct Golf Slice

When you have a contest wherein the winner is decided by popular votes, canvasing for votes inevitably happens. It is the democratic norm. When a nation's fate is decided by vote soliciation, as long as the system of contest by votes remains, soliciation for votes will exist. You cannnot blame any party here.

So either Indiblogger should reconsider the contest format or just have to live with the format.

When everyone is canvasing for votes, yes even I do. But ofcourse, i always Insist the readers to read and IF they like it, vote for the entries.  Unless the format is changed, you cannot help but live by the requests.  After all, we don't blame political parties during election period for canvasing votes, don't we?

P.s > Do vote for me in the sharelife contest. I got two entries You don't have to search for me , one entry is in the first page and second if not in first page will be in second

I completely agree with you! And instead of complaining and cribbing about the contest rules, which was already set and was quite known to everyone, it was our choice to enter the contest! No one forced anyone.

And I believe no format of a contest is fool proof! There are always two sides to the same coin

BTW, am particpating too, and I don't mind being voted too.  Yes, ONLY IF my post deserves to be voted! All the best!