cre8Buzz Blog

Here we go ya’ll. I’m givin’ ya my two cents on this whole Blogging to Fame/Suburban thing. The hardest part of this task is how NOT to go on a tangent, cause there are a whole gang of sub issues in this thing. So I’m a gonna do my best to keep it real and straight.

Most important to get out is that I don’t believe anyone, especially Suburban and Divya have or had bad intentions. Let me be clear, and my life lesson to all of you. Intentions are to be measured and judged, FIRST AND FOREMOST, long before we judge the action and the outcome. So following this rule, I see no malice in anyones intentions.

Next, let me start with my girl Suburban, because it was her post that got the whole thing started.

Suburban is very bright, this is clear. She writes a slammin’ post. Her blog is well laid out, and very ascetically appealing. She has an excellent writing style, very professional, quick and easy to read. Even if a specific topic or post is not my kinda’ thing her writing style makes it easy to enjoy.

All this being said, her post on Blogging To Fame, according to her was to help folks avoid being taken. Good intentions. This is one of the greatest values of the blogosphere, we can stop a scam or injustice in its tracks in no time flat.

As I see it, there were two problems with Suburbans post. It is these two problems that set this thing in motion. First was the fact it was clear Suburban did little research on the topic. She shouldda givin’ it a little more “research” time. Meagan over at Velveteen Mind stated that their observations of BTF and it’s authenticity were “tongue and cheek” and that it was all in fun. This is where the biggest mistake was made. Back in the days “tongue and cheek” at the fence post or on the phone was ok. Unfortunately the blogoshpere is no place for “tongue and cheek” when it relates to other people. We have audiences, some big, some small, but we all have them and they are viciously viral. It is our obligation and responsibility to be keenly aware of this and act accordingly. It is my feeling that Suburban did not take this into consideration. Secondly, I feel the tone of Suburbans posts were rather negative, condescending, and as Paul O’Flaherty put it, Xenophobic. Statements like:

“Um, hey genius, did ya happen to READ my last post by chance? You know, the one where I posted the comments? Didn’t think so.”

“As far as the concept of healthy blogging, why don’t you brush up on the concept of proper punctuation and spelling?”

“Have anyone stopped to think how they are even going to enforce the results of a contest held in India? No? Big shock. If they could I’ve got 3 or 4 emails proving I won millions in lotteries in Russia and China.”

are all incendiary and hold a bit of anger in the tone. None of which, in my two cents, add to the original intent of informing the public, her readers, to be aware.

The blogosphere has given us all megaphones. See, I got mine! We need to be cognoscente of this fact. We all wield much bigger sticks.

Finally, I feel Suburban has responded well. She as softened her take on BTF, admitted she could have done more research and as committed to apologizing if she is wrong. I applaud her for this. She has also been very open with comments and ensuring all sides are heard. Understanding her intentions, and the level of exposure her post has created, if I were her, I would reach out to Divya, introduce myself, ask her for more information, as much as I could get out of her, evaluate her first hand and then report back to my readers what I learned. Boy, what a post that would be. But just my two cents.

Now, for my girl Divya,

I did not know Divya personally, but I did give her Blog a “Shout Out” way back in the day. I have had nothing but positive interaction with her since then. She has demonstrated herself to be nothing but hard working. She has been committed to blogging and being a good blogger through her posts long before Blogging to Fame came to be. Actually, if you have followed her over the past year, the idea of BTF would not have seemed odd, but actually very consistent with her brand.

Despite these things, Divya is responsible for a few missteps. She clearly should have provided more information to folks. I understand how hard it is to launch a new effort. To Divya’s point she needed to get it out there, and I appreciate that. However, like Suburban, Divya had a responsibility to provide as much information as possible. She needed to keep in mind that she has an audience of people she knows and doesn’t know and needs to cater them all. She needed to anticipate, that in today’s world, there are scams and unscrupulous folks and to do what she could to separate herself from them.

In the end Divya handled herself well. She did not go on the attack. She reached out to those who knew her for support and she kept true to her effort. As I said earlier. If Divya and Suburban could find a way to connect and report back to us all the impact of their interaction, what a post that would make.

The last side of these two pennies. I don’t think Blogging to Fame is a scam. I think it is a good idea, and I wish Divya and her team the best of luck. I think Suburban is a talented young woman and has a lot to offer the bloggosphere. We all loose if either one of them comes out worse for the wear after this.

Thanks for all ya’ll chimin’ in and givin me your 411.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.