I've been part of BlogExplosion for quite a while now. I like the service very much. It does exactly what it claims to do - bring more traffic to our weblogs.  That's not the only reason I signed up, though.  The main blog I use for posting political opinions is made up of a small community of people who don't always get along very well. Okay, how about they throw hissy fits and go on the occasional verbal rampage. It's stupid and childish, so I went in search of another place to do my blogging where I was less likely to have some moron criticizing me because he's a fading star.  that's how I wound up at BlogDrive. Occasionally I think about closing the other place down completely, but there are some people there I really like, one in particular has become an online friend, and I've got a truckload of stuff I'd want to move.  So I keep things as they are and have most of my surfing credits going toward the other place.

One of the main subjects of dissent at the other journal site is who shows up on their most read journals of the day list.  For some that seems to be an indicator of just how good a blog is because it's a measure of how many people read it in one day.  I wasn't a member of Blog Explosion long before I realized that a topic of dissent there is the rating system. It's the same popularity issue at both places.  The journal community does it with numbers of readers; Blog Explosion does it with arbitrary numbers members assign to each other through a ratings system.

I didn't really care about the rating system at Blog Explosion. That's not why I joined. I just wanted more traffic, and I wanted to see what the rest of the blogging world was about. I got what I expected. But in the process I also got rated whether I liked it or not. I didn't pay much attention and as a result, I didn't know what my rating was unless I made a point of checking which I didn't often do.

I know some folks took the ratings very seriously. A message board was set up to discuss it. Complaints were received by Blog Explosion because people wanted to rate anonymously. Rating wars were apparently going on with low ratings as the revenge. So, BE made the ratings anonymous and had a poll to get input on what system should be used. I had no idea how that was going. When I saw a blog I really liked a lot, I rated it. My ratings were in the 9 point range with 10 being the highest rating available. The criteria I used for my ratings system was purely subjective. I liked the place for a number of reasons that mattered to me, so I rated. I didn't bother with those that weren't my preference. Frankly I liked being able to leave comments far more than the numbers rating game. With comments I could be specific about what what on my mind. So I did more commenting than rating.

The other day I found out that BE has revamped the rating system. I found that out because I read it on a blog I was visiting. So I checked out the new system. In my opinion, it's a fucking mess. There's about a bazillion and five categories I'm supposed to rate and then it all gets merged together into one final number. I noticed that I already had one rating. So I read it.

I don't know who it was who rated my journal. I don't care, nor will I bother to find out even if I can find out which I don't know that I can do. The main point the reviewer seemed to want me to know was that he or she didn't like my layout. No, let me rephrase that. He or she really HATED my layout. Big Time. Enough to finish the rating and then add an additional comment that the layout really stank.

This is hilarious to me. I used to have more to my layout, but there were some suggestions that it was too busy. So I de-busified it. It is now about as bland as it can be and still have what I want. No flashy colors. Easy on the eyes. Bland. The content was my focus. My one and lonely reviewer said the content was okay, but geez... that layout is dreadful.

Now, this could be interpreted as sour grapes, but it really isn't. I don't care what that reviewer thinks of my journal. Not one bit. I have been criticized for what I write, for what I don't write, for what kind of fancy layout I have, for some vague I-hate-the-layout complaint that tells me nothing about how to fix it. for being on a most read list, for being a sycophant, for being a bottom-feeder... the list goes on. If I took any of this to heart, I would never blog another word.

So what's my point? Believe it or not, I do have one. I'm not going to participate in the latest version of BE's rating system. I think it's ridiculously bogged down with categories, and I have no interest in that kind of evaluation for my blog or someone else's. I will, however, continue to leave comments. It's my opinion that blog owners get more pleasure from those anyway. There's nothing wrong with blogs being competitive, but there's Blog award spots for that.

As for that stupid most read journals list at the other place... there's still people who don't realize the list is too easily manipulated. They continue to throw temper tantrums because of who is on the list and who isn't. Puhleeeeze. Grow Up. Try blogging because it's a nice pastime from which there is some recognition if just one person shows up to read what we've written.

All these subjective opinions simply don't matter, but still.... I Mind.