These blog hop hosts want to spread the word about their hop which in turn helps all those who participate. However, as someone who has had their link deleted and received an email message stating that I didn't follow the rules, it made feel terrible. In my defense, it's not that I didn't want to post about the blog hop - I either didn't know there was such a rule or I hadn't gotten to it yet. As a result, I no longer participate in that blog hop because I was made to feel bad for breaking the rules.
So my question is for my fellow bloggers. What is your opinion? Should blog hops have strict rules about posting buttons on side bars or creating a post for the blog hop? Should the blog hop hosts enforce these rules and delete those who break them?
I host two blog hops and I don't have any strict rules. I host these hops as a way to bring fellow bloggers together, to create a relationship with those who visit my sites and introduce others to my blogs. And to be perfectly honest, I don't have time to police who is and isn't following or if my blog hop button is being posted. When I come across a blog that has posted my blog hop button, I always thank them because I feel that they have posted my button because they truly like participating in my hop.
Let's hear your opinions as fellow bloggers.
Cindy Buccieri helps bloggers, business owners and entrepreneurs harness the power of the internet and learn how to make money blogging. As a blogging expert and author of 
Hi, found you through Totally Tuesday Blog Hop! I'm following your blog, twitter and facebook.
ReplyDelete~ Stacey ~
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I TOTALY AGREE! I am a fairly new blogger (July '10) and I am stymied by some of these blog hops. Sometimes they want answers to STUPID questions. They ALWAYS want me to post a button.
ReplyDeleteI don't want those DARNED buttons all over my blog. Some of those blogs are so CLUTTERED between buttons, adds, and whatever that they are a nightmare to navigate.
So, when are your blog hops? How do I get on?
kt
YEAH! FOUND YOUR BLOG HOP!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Yours is so much easier.
I went to all those other HOPS on Tuesday and the first 4 had ALL THOSE RULES! So I quit.
THANK YOU! I signed up from Tues thru Fri
kt
I agree with you completely! I don't like being told that I MUST POST a button to my blog or post the blog hop linky to my blog. I do however try to visit as many blogs as I can on the day of the blog hop and the next day as well. I want people to follow me if they enjoy my blog.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have yours set up the way you do!
Dawn
http://www.thewayiseethings.typepad.com
I stopped doing hops a while ago for this very reason, it was just all too much, way too time consumming and I don't like all the rules.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is a waste of time policing it.
AND I hate a bazillion buttons all over the place making it impossible to navigate the site well.
I do agree with you. Blog Hops are suppose to be fun way to meet new friends and of course bring some traffic. I don't do may hops because many of them have so many ridiculous rules.
ReplyDeleteAfter you done few hops you can tell which blogs just link up to promote their giveaway or to get new followers. You also know they will not come and follow you and if by some miracle they do they will never comment or be part of any discussion.Just don't waste your time with them and maybe write down their name for next time.
No need to be policing, removing links or sending emails about breaking their policies.We are all adults.
And what is the deal with....if you link up to my linky and I don't offer code do not have your own on your post deal?
I am sorry about my rant, apparently I have few issues with this topic,lol.
I am following you from Java's
Bibi - www.dailyorganizedchaos.com
P.S I am so stumbling this
I agree with you to a point - If you are participating in a specific type of blog hop, like a Friday Fragments or something that requires you to link a specific post and you don't do it.. your post should be deleted - or at least a warning sent...
ReplyDeleteI host a commenting blog hop every week and while there are few rules, one of them is to link to a specific post of the blogger's choice and another is that it can't be a giveaway... I send an email to new participants if they don't link to a specific post - that they should do so in the future, and delete any giveaways, since you can't leave a comment on them without entering... If it's just a meet and greet hop, there should be more flexibility... then again, I've stopped doing those kinds of hops since normally all I get are hit and run posters... who rarely come back to post again...
I stopped doing blog hops because A) screw rules about what I have to put on MY blog...it is MY page! B) I participated in the same blog hop twice and nobody stopped by my blog so I decided I was done with it. I want people at my blog because they find it interesting. Plain and simple. I never agree with people telling me that I MUST do or not do anything on my personal blog. =)
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings on this issue. Mainly, I don't understand why someone would join anything and not participate. And I don't feel it is the right thing to do to advertise my blog in a hop list and not give the hop host and members something in return. To me, relationships of any kind, including blog networking through hops and other things, is a give and take situation. I don't have much respect for those who have just the "look at me" mentality, taking and giving nothing in return.
ReplyDeleteI don't make people post about any of my hops or have the button. The only one I do enforce is if its a Facebook hop and they post their blog link and then I delete the blog link. People email getting annoyed if its not all FB links (or whatever theme the hop is).
ReplyDeleteYour newest follower. I was wondering how I find out the number of RSS readers and email subscribers that I have? I still haven't figured out how to find out this information and it would help to bring more giveaway sponsors to my blog, thank you.
ReplyDeleteHeather
http://www.airplanesanddragonflies.blogspot.com/
If a blog hop has too many rules, I just skip it. I don't have time to do all that. If I follow a hop I usually put the button within my posting and not in the sidebar. I only put the buttons I want to participate in regularly in my sidebar.
ReplyDeleteI kind of think the rules are silly....the host gets lots of clicks from visiting bloggers going to others' sites, so it seems like it all works out without all the demands. I enter some, adn click through to a lot. If I enter a lot, I put the button on my link site, but I don't clutter up my main page with tons of buttons.
ReplyDeleteI don't use any rules either. I don't like it when there are rules and I don't want to put them out there myself. Of course I like it when people follow me, but I want them to follow me because they like my blog, not because I forced them. I'd also much rather have less but all true followers then high numbers that don't mean a lot because most subscribers hardly read what I write about :D
ReplyDeletei personally don't think it's fair when you follow a blog on a blog hop, the person says they follow back but when you follow them they don't follow back, especially if it's the hosts of the hop. you're doing something to increase their numbers but they're not reciprocating the gesture. sorry for ranting but it bugs me.
ReplyDelete