Thursday, August 28, 2008

Links - BUSTED!

*hum-hum* Lurk-ers . . . Lurk-ers . . . whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when I come bust you?

Sorry. I have been watching too many "Cops" shows lately. I can’t get that dang song out of my head. Oh well, I will go ahead and make a post about it.

Have you ever visited someone’s blog just out of curiosity and . . . holy crap! Am I-I about to ask a q-question to my b–b-blog readers? Take a deep breath, Michelle. Try to recover from the lack of a story.

Ahem, when going to a new blog, have you ever scanned their sidebar and their favorite links to see whom they visit . . . okay. Let us drop the act and be honest with each other. We all know that when we check out their blogrolls we are really looking for our site’s name. Don’t try to deny it. We all have that stupid expectation of believing our blog is the single most important one out there and that everyone should have the link in their sidebar - in pretty colors - with neon arrows pointing it out - and selling widgets that allow them to click on the URL as we collect 95% of the profits.

So, how do you feel when your peepers scan the blogroll and you DO find your link there? Giddy? Peeved? Perplexed on why your link is on a blog which shows a YouTube video on how to make squirrel sandwiches as afternoon snacks for the kids?

(Sorry, everyone. I am not lying about the YouTube video. There is a cooking show floating around where the mother and her son goes outside with a pellet gun as they take down a squirrel. Then she shows you how to cook it. No, I have not seen the video and I do not plan to link to it.)

Anyway, I have had this happen to me - no, not the squirrel sandwich. I mean finding a lurker who has put my URL on their blog. Finding my link always makes me giggle uncontrollably as the people around me light candles and join hands to perform an exorcism. I suppose this can annoy other bloggers. "If they are visiting my site, why can’t they leave a message," would be one of the frustrations screamed at the silent computer screen.

Calm down! Don’t get worked up about it. Look at the situation at another angle: You have a secret admirer, a little like the highschool Dungeons & Dragons nerd who writes the popular cheerleader/football star’s name all over their notepad and has pictures hanging over their bed. Yes, I realize this can be disturbing since many bloggers go by other identities and could be your creepy neighbor who videotapes the garbage men while leaving them presents on top of the trash bags (I am so glad I moved from that neighborhood.) Still, just think of all the attention you are getting. Better to have your link on their blog than your toenail clippings stolen and placed on a shrine in their closet.

So, what do you do when you bust one of your lurkers? Do you give link love and place their name in your sidebar while leaving a message on their blog? Do you email the lurker to inform them that you have linked to their site? Do you ignore them until they get frustrated and finally leave a comment, at which time you give link love? Or do you do nothing and hope their shrine does not involve live sacrifices?

(Wow! Asking questions is really nifty. I shall endeavor to voice such inquiries upon your minds post haste in a momentous fashion come upon the bright aura as it glows with the flowing ticks of the clock - in other words, I will ask a lot more questions to you in the near future.)

*If you are wondering about what I do in this situation, I’ll leave a comment on the lurker’s blog although sometimes I will not bust them about the link - just a simple hello from me to them. Then I will place their link in my blogroll. Of course, I’ll admit that I am a HUGE LURKER. I have linked blogs where I have never posted comments. Of those that I read on a daily basis, I have subscribed to their posts through Google Reader. This makes it easier to read them all at once (secretly) and go on a jittery blog-deficiency if they haven’t made a post in awhile. So never fear if you don’t see my name in the various Internet applications that allow you to track who is reading your site. I am reading your posts, and I am on my way to collect your toenail clippings - MWAHAHAHAHA!*

23 comments:

  1. Silly me! I forgot to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day weekend in my post.

    Happy Labor Day Weekend!

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  2. back atcha, hon!

    [yeah, canuckleheads have most holidays sim to our american brothers and sisters]

    as for links... i got some :P

    visit/comment nearly all daily, too...

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  3. Wow! I've seen your blogroll, laughingwolf. You almost have every single blog on this world, and you post comments nearly every day. Busy...busy...

    I try for as many as I can, but I have awful work hours, especially on weekends in the wedding biz (12-14 hours.) Also, I'm a touch shy. So it takes me awhile to build up the gumption to make comments.

    BUT I HAVE THE WEEKEND OFF STARTING FRIDAY. WOOHOO! I'm going to sit in my knickers all day and watch movies. And blog. Lots and lots of blogging for the holidays.

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  4. coolios michelle... the way i like to sit around, too :O lol

    i don't always get to everyone on my roll, but try to

    no hockey yet, but the odd beer is still good ;)

    once i get my new imac, i'll be around a lot less, learning the animation software, when it arrives

    oh yeah, more writing, as well

    be well

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  5. Not only do I sing along to the COPS theme song, I also dance whenever it comes on. Did you know COPS is Spielberg's fave show?

    Anyway, yeah, I say a good way to get linky love is give it. If you leave comment for someone and they in return comment on your blog, if they become a loyal reader, then they derserve some linky love, IMO.

    BTW, love your sketches!

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  6. Laughingwolf;) Can't forget the writing either during the weekend. LOL!

    Josephine: I didn't know about Spielberg and COPS. Huh? I learned something new today.

    I'm still trying to go by your Rules of Blogging. It's hard going, but all I can do is try.

    Glad you like my sketches! :)

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  7. You crack me up!!!!!

    And I'm happy to send my toenail clippings out to anyone who wants them. he he.

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  8. Hello, Ello! Thanks for stopping by!

    As for the toenail clippings, um, you know I had something witty to say. But your pig picture has me mesmerized by its constant stomping and surly demeanor.

    BTW - you're not sending the pig's toenails, are you? LOL!

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  9. I always leave a comment, thank them for the link-love, and then tell them that I'm reciprocating.

    I love it when I find someone, previously unknown to me, linking to my stuff. It validates my entire existence!

    (Well, not my entire existence. Just a part of it. But it's a part I like very much!)

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  10. must NEVER forget the writing... even when voudon rites are pressing! :O lol

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  11. ha ha!! I love coming here!! I always get a chuckle!! :)

    Um..in response you your question..... usually I am flattered...that is ..if I like their blog..if so.. I will leave a comment..if not..?..I will not leave a comment ..I agree sometimes it is creepy!!!! this is why we don't leave our full names and addresses I guess ;)

    Oh and usually I get more annoyed when I always leave comments on someone's blog and vice versa and they still don't put me on their blogroll!!! that's worse :(

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  12. (grinning) When I first started blogging I just added to my side bar any blog that I happened to visit and liked. Silly me, I thought that it would make it easier for me to visit them. I didn't know anything about Google Reader then and still don't. :) I just thought I would add, add, add, to my blog roll the blogs that I was digging. I didn't care if they linked to me or not.

    That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :D

    And a Happy Labor Day weekend to you too Michelle!

    ya know...you've got me a little bit curious as to whom this lurker is that you want to bust...:)

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  13. Suldog: If I remember correctly, I was one of the people YOU busted. I thought I was being clever - making my way to your blog via Sandra's blog so you wouldn't catch on. I didn't want you to know about my raving about your wonderful posts . . . what with the restraining order. LOL!

    Laughingwolf: HAHA! Good one!

    Fancypants-design: I see you got a new picture up. Nice colors, but what is it? A leaf motive?

    Well, I haven't found a blog I didn't like -yet- so I have no qualms about creepy people putting me on their blogroll. Who could possibly be creepier than this place? As for the full name, I used to be one of those anonymous people. But after I had set up the links to my published newspaper articles . . . and those have my full name and city where I live . . . the situation sort of became a moot point.

    Sandra: Okay, I'll buy that story for now. LOL! Seriously, I am like you. Stick the people on my blogroll willy-nilly whether they link me or not. But I will always give the link love in my story posts for those people who stop by and comment.

    And there is no lurker (per se) that I want to bust. I just wondered if the toenail shrine bit would be a good idea.

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  14. But what do you do about lurkers that DON'T have a blog? Well, as far as you (me) know, anyway. Case in point: There's some person in North Carolina who reads me every day, and has been doing so for about two years now but has never left a comment. That kinda amazes me. Or freaks me out. Depends on the day.

    Nice blog, Michelle. Strange coinkydink: I have a friend whose name is Michele Hickman, with a single ell. For what that's worth. ;-)

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  15. Buck: Thanks for stopping by!

    Another Michelle Hickman in the world? I feel so...unspecial.

    Huh? I don't know what to do about those lurkers who are sans blog. Just hope they never get your street address, unless they are hot-looking lurkers. Then I guess you'll have to make a choice after that.

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  16. glad i made ye laugh, else not living up to me [online] name ;) lol

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  17. Give a howl too. That is also a part of your name, laughingwolf;)

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  18. Okay, I stopped by from Buck's blog. I always leave a comment, because I hate it when people stop by and say nothing - making me wonder what they thought. I thought you blog was great - very funny stories!

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  19. Thank you kindly, bag blog! And thanks for stopping by!

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  20. i oughtta get organized about linking and lurking and tracking. eh. that might make an okay new years resolution.... you know. one of the one's you never get around to?

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  21. Chris: But as long as you THINK you'll get around to doing it, well... that is winning half the battle.

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  22. And then every now and then, someone shows up on a Google alert or Technorati page, and I find out that some Surly Writer has been reading, quite unbeknownt to me. That's how I found you just now. ;)

    Typically, I'll add a newfound blog to my Google Reader and follow along for a while. When I find myself commenting semi-regularly, I'll add it to my blogroll the next time I make changes.

    Thanks for noticing, lurking and linking to me.. I never even heard you breathing. ;)

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  23. *huffing and puffing in a mirror* Yes, I AM ALIVE! ;)

    Hillary: I found your blog through our lovable guy, Suldog. I've been a fan ever since... my little old shy me not commenting and hoping to keep my whereabouts secret. Curse you, Technorati and Google Alert, for blowing my cover!

    Thanks for stopping by! :)

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