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Fadi Zaghmout

Popular Bloggers like popular high school people

After a couple of months blogging, learning how things work in the blogsphere and trying to work to get my blog popular brought back the feeling of high school.

First, I just wanted to write, to speak myself out, maybe having only a space where my friends and the people I know can read my thoughts, but then, and while browsing other blogs, I felt that I want to reach more people. I want my blog to reach as many as I can.

I became to know the aggregators, I heard about Jordan Planet and Itoot, I tried to submit my blog in both of them, but it didn’t work out. They seem to follow some kind of strict policy before adding new blogs which left me out for now. I tried other less popular aggregators, and succeeded in submitting my blog in Arabo and Sawtona.

While you can find popular blogs on Jordan Planet, the elite ones are those on Itoot. Old Jordanian bloggers seem to know each other. It is like they have build some kind of friendship, a sense of respect to each other, and a kind of identity that bring them togather. They compliment each other on their blogs as a mean of support as well. They remind me of those popular people at school where they form some kind of a circle that is not easy to cross.

It needs sometime to get noticed. Trying to read as many blogs as I can, commenting here and there to make myself get noticed. “Hey guys, I am here”.

Batir has noticed me, I appreciate his gesture of putting my blog in the list of new bloggers that he likes to read. Thanks man.

I want to cross the circle of Batir, Pheras, Black-Iris, 360East, andfarway, Tololy Box, Bakkuz, Mental Mayhem, Rambling Hal, and Lina, and be right beside them as one of the popular Jordanian blogs.

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Responses

  1. bakkouz Avatar
    bakkouz

    First of all Thank you for your compliment, even though i do not consider my blog to be amongst the elite or popular, As for getting your blog noticed all i can say is Patience my friend, you have an excellent blog and it will get noticed and become popular, I’m sure of it.and I do agree with you, the blogsphere is a social network, and its a two way road, you need to give in order to receive, the more you comment and requent other people’s blogs, the more they’ll frequent and comment on yours, it helps also to have their blogs linked in yours, This is a good means of building your circle of friends also a subtle way of introducing your blog to others, For example this post, I knew about it through my incoming links list which appear in my blog’s control panel, simply becuase you had a link to my blog in your post, And here i am reading it, noticed it, And also I’ve added your blog to my blogroll…subtle but effective.As for the aggregators, JordanPlanet should list your blog, but at the time being their having some issues and upgrading their platform so you might need to wait a while, but it’ll get listed eventualy, itoot on the other hand has different criteria for selecting blogs which only they know the ways of it, but from experience and from my own blog stats i can tell you that getting your blog listed on JordanPlanet will increase your hits and views much more than itoot.Anyways, like i said, introduce yourself to the community, comment on blogs, link blogs and build your circle of friends, and eventualy you’ll get there 🙂Best of luck.

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  2. The Observer Avatar
    The Observer

    Thanks Bakkouz for the advice. I will be patient here 🙂Best of luck to you as well.

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  3. Nas Avatar
    Nas

    i dont know what constitutes popularity anymore, the blogosphere sure is different from high school that’s for sure. is it stats? comments? linkage? I don’t know frankly, perhaps stats is the best way to weigh a blog’s popularity but even with that some of those you mentioned in the circle have moderate to low stats but can still be deemed popular.as for the tight group. some of the bloggers are friends, but I think generally the attitude has been to support each other especially those of us who were on JP early on. This doesnt mean the circle is closed to others, its just that some of us on JP for example are the “old school” and with the expansion of the jordanian blogosphere it gets to a point where you cant remember all the blogs and it becomes tougher for the newer ones to stand out from the crowd. so its possible those of us you think are popular have seniority as an advantage. in other words, imagine it’s just that group in the begining and after awhile a whole lot of people flood in to the classroom…it changes things.toot on the other hand is somewhat selective. but you can do what bakkouz did and beg the hell out of them until they add you. (just kidding bro). but like bakkouz said, JP is more effective stats wise.

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  4. Nas Avatar
    Nas

    well youre on jp now so welcome to the planet 😀

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  5. The Observer Avatar
    The Observer

    Finally I am on the planet :).Thanks Nas, I tried several times with Itoot. They replied in an email a couple of weeks ago saying that they are going to add new blogs in the coming few weeks and that they think mine is good so that they will take it into consideration when they do their reviews. I guess all what I have to do is wait now. I am sure that their has been some old blogs that didn’t gain any popularity, right? Only those who has good talent and persistance can manage to keep their blogs going. So, I wouldn’t say it is just only seniority advantage. Maybe it is even harder now with the amount of new blogs.

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  6. Reem Avatar
    Reem

    You read my mind, but you express it much better than I do!

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  7. Reem Avatar
    Reem

    You read my mind, but you express it much better than I do!

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  8. Batir Wardam Avatar
    Batir Wardam

    I think there are two issues here to discuss, and let me begin by saying that the QUALITY of your blog is excellent and it will eventually get what it deserves of attention.I have used the word ‘attention” more than “popular” based on my owm blog. My blog gets attention but most of the comments I receive are composed of negative replies and even insults, so the statistics of visitors does not indicate popularity. I started my blog in januray 2006 and then got listed on JP in march. This was the turning point since JP listing can assure you a lot of hits, while TOOT is very limited. After 9 months of blogging I managed to reach 50,000 visits last week and I do not how much ‘attention” that means in the blogsphere.As for ‘friendship” I think this is not a big issue. I meet my fellow bloggers maybe once every 2-3 months in the JP meeting but we share ‘cyber-respect” from day one. I think another priblem of your is that you are anonymous so you even cannot promote your blog outside a trusted small circle of friends. This is why the best advise is from Bakkouz. Visit other blogs, comment, engage in debates and that will make you a “figure” in the blogsphere and many more people will feel the need to visit your blog.It is an evolutionary process but I want to stress that you got the qualities to be a major blogger so keep this in mind. W

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  9. Roba Avatar
    Roba

    First off, welcome to the planet 🙂Your highschool analogy is quite interesting, although I tend to think more of blogging as a social circle based on a common niche interest, which is blogging. Keep blogging 🙂

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  10. The Observer Avatar
    The Observer

    This seems to be my lucky day. First, I find my blog listed as a recommedation of Batir for new good blogs.Then, I find my blog suddenly listed on Jordan Planet where I have tried a couple of times to submit it before but never worked out.Then, suddenly I got more hits than ever. Till now, the counter of technorati indicates 60 new visitor.And lastly, I get comments of bloggers who I have been checking their blogs for months, and do consider to be leading blogs. Thanks guys. Batir, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your opinion about my blog. You really made my day. Thank You again. I also want to congratulate you for the 50,000 visit. That is a very large number. My counter say 1011, I reached 1000 today :).Roba, thanks for your welcoming. I will keep on blogging 🙂

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  11. Saadna Avatar
    Saadna

    haha. That’s cool.I keep mine – NOT to reach others, but for myself. 🙂I have wayyyy TOO many thoughts than the average person per minute and need a place to record all my extreme ideas 🙂I hope your Blog’s becoming popular in Jordan.

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  12. Oula Avatar
    Oula

    Don’t look at numbers!I have been in the media sector for more than six years… I worked for dailies, radios and monthlies… and now I know or a fact that more readers is not what counts… what really matters is how much your blog has helped people notice something, think about it or simply disagree about it.. it is how much you have contributed to the ongoing quest of people to arrive at the truth that really counts… I believe… I will keep raeding you… I promise!

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  13. Oula Avatar
    Oula

    Don’t look at numbers!I have been in the media sector for more than six years… I worked for dailies, radios and monthlies… and now I know or a fact that more readers is not what counts… what really matters is how much your blog has helped people notice something, think about it or simply disagree about it.. it is how much you have contributed to the ongoing quest of people to arrive at the truth that really counts… I believe… I will keep raeding you… I promise!

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  14. Tololy Avatar
    Tololy

    Congrats on joining Jordan Planet! I am flattered you mentioned my Box in here, thanks.I do not believe you have to share your “real” name with your readers to score “popularity”, contrary to what Batir suggested. However I do agree with him that it is the quality of your thoughts that is the most essential element.

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  15. Oula Avatar
    Oula

    Don’t look at numbers!I have been in the media sector for more than six years… I worked for dailies, radios and monthlies… and now I know or a fact that more readers is not what counts… what really matters is how much your blog has helped people notice something, think about it or simply disagree about it.. it is how much you have contributed to the ongoing quest of people to arrive at the truth that really counts… I believe… I will keep raeding you… I promise!

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  16. bakkouz Avatar
    bakkouz

    على فكرة….دقت الكراميل؟

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  17. Ahmad Humeid Avatar
    Ahmad Humeid

    Hi,What a coincidence.. Today I was talking to Isam Bayazidi on the phone asking him about a technical glitch in Jordan Planet. I can tell you the guy is very busy at work and he has quite a backlog of submitted blogs that need ‘processing’.I found this post of yours on Technorati, as I was checking out the latest links into 360east..As for toot, we are a very small team. We are working on our next 2 products and we too have not added new blogs to itoot.net in a while. I hope we can get around to that soon.And thanks for the comments on 360east.. alway appreciated..Best of luck with the ‘observer’

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  18. Lina Avatar
    Lina

    Being a late commentor I will obviously be repeating most of what’s been already said, but I will say it anyways 😉1. Your blog is definitely one of those with real quality content, and is quite a treat to read.2. Welcome aboard Jordan Planet 🙂 it sure constitutes a turning point in a blog’s life – especially when it is as good as yours.3. The questions of popularity, the social nature of blogging, and attention sure make for interesting reflections. I remember the day I was added to JP, I was blogger number twenty-something… 21 perhaps! It was so much easier back then to keep track of the blogs I enjoy and to read and comment. It sure is a bigger challenge now, and I feel that I’m missing out most of the time, but the growth of the Jordanian blogosphere has been amazing.4. I’m really flattered to be on the list you mentioned 😉 thanks!!

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  19. The Observer Avatar
    The Observer

    Saadna, thanks :), this is way so cool 😛Oula, thanks for your comment and advice, you are right, what matters is my effect on people I reach, not there numbers. I will hold you to your pormise 🙂Tololy, you are welcome, I agree with you, I think the name of the person doesn’t mean anything to the read. Ahmed Humed, thanks for your wishes. Man, make it a bigger team on Toot! A lot of people are waiting to be listed I guess. The site is great, and very user friendly. Keep up the good work.Lina, thanks for your compliment and welcoming. Yes, it seems to be a bigger challenge now to get your blog popular or have more attention as Batir says 🙂

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  20. Pheras Avatar
    Pheras

    Haha, I’m not even close to being popular on the blogosphere; the gizmodo incident, and the fact that I still can’t join JordanPlanet are just two simple examples.But it’s so true what you’ve said, it is like if you’ve got enough friends and contacts over the blogosphere, khalas you’ve made it, you’ve got people to cover up your ass, but if you don’t, you’d be an easy catch to those more popular bloggers. Having said that, I guess that’s the way around everywhere else, the tough stick with the tough, and those who aren’t just remain unnoticed.I think a good way to gain popularity is just to make enemies with some really famous blogs; on the day of the gizmodo thing, i had about 18,000 hits in one day, it would take me a year to reach that number if it werent for them!

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  21. The Observer Avatar
    The Observer

    Hey Pheras, maybe I should have wrote as Batir said blogs with ‘attention’ rather than popularity 🙂I have no idea of what is gizmodo! 18,000 hit in one day! wow that is a very large number! It doesnt seem a bad idea at all to make an enemy out of a famous blog if it is going to generate that many hits! lol. Who do you advice I should attack? 😛I will stick with the tough to stay notices 😉

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