Latest Update To MyBlogLog
MyBlogLog has made a few updates. Most noticeable is the ability to send messages to community members on a larger scale. In other words, you can now spam people more efficiently. 
I don’t understand why MBL would allow such a feature, but they’ve done it, nonetheless. The first message I received this evening was, I thought, one of those messages that appeared to be meant for someone else. Perhaps the sender mistook me for another member. But then I started receiving a few others and that’s when I noticed what was really happening.
What I do like is the ability to easily subscribe to another member’s feed upon viewing their community. Another is that you can now read that member’s latest blog posts on their community. That’s great because it means you’ll be getting increased exposure from passersby, and that means increased readership.
What are your thoughts about these updates? Notice anything else? Likes or dislikes?
[tags]mybloglog,blogging,social networks,community[/tags]
Popularity: 5% [?]
- MyBlogLoggers: Know It, Embrace It: If MyBlogLog were a coffee shop, then MyBlogLoggers.com would be the favorite table you’d sit at each time you visit. This hangout is where...
- MyBlogLog Responds With Opt-out: Well, it was this time last week that MyBlogLog released their community messaging feature that sparked a fire from their members. MBL promised to consider...
- Extraordinary Boost In Viewers On MyBlogLog: I try to check my stats regularly, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. This evening I noticed that my profile on MyBlogLog indicated...
About the Author: Mark Sierra is an online entrepreneur and web publisher. As the owner of StarFrost Media, he continues to add blogs and products to his online portfolio designed to help inform readers on software and blogging, teach them to be more productive, and even learn how to make money online.
Brown Baron | Jun 30, 2007 | Reply
You got a great looking Community Member widget there!
There are some members that are testing out the send message to all members feature. It will probably last another day or so
Mark | Jun 30, 2007 | Reply
Yeah, it is pretty impressive, yes?
You know, since I wrote this last night, I received about a dozen messages of people “testing” that messaging tool. Funny - did you notice that those messages don’t allow you to mark something as spam like you do with individual messages. Bad idea.
Mike | Jun 30, 2007 | Reply
I DO NOT like this new message feature
I love MBL but…ugh…bad, bad idea. They should at least throw in a button to ignore community messages if they get too irritating.
Mark | Jun 30, 2007 | Reply
Eric had something to say about this on the MBL blog. I respect his position and agree that it would be worth waiting a week to gather more comments. But I don’t see my position changing by then.
Mike | Jun 30, 2007 | Reply
Obviously all the points he made are valid and respectable. I still don’t like it…hehe. If they just add a way to turn off those messages that would be great. Even a way to turn off messages for each community you’re a part of separately would work for me.
Jodi | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
At first I thought, “Hey this is cool” and then…it happened…just as you said. SPAM.
Now if its a simple Hey just a hi without all the linkage, I am okay with it, I guess…but I like the idea of a button to ignore them as well.
Guess I didn’t answer it did I? lol
Mark | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
Hi Jodi, good to hear from you.
I’ve seen more comments in favor of removing this feature than supporting it. Let’s cross our fingers that they’ll decide to either remove it entirely or provide some powerful features to keep it from being abused.
Thanks for dropping by!
Tay | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
Personally I don’t mind the community messages that much. I don’t use MyBlogLog’s message center and I don’t really read them all. It’s not my main focus. But yes, I don’t see why they did it either, when there is such a high chance of a lot of spam. Is there a limit to the amount of community messages that can be sent per day, or has anything like that been implemented yet?
Mark | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
They did put limits on the number of message you could sent to a blog using their service, but I don’t know if they’ve applied such constraints on this new feature. And even if they did, it’s irrelevant to me. Sure I still got those “Hi, great blog, please visit mine!” messages from time to time, but more often than not, it was genuine communication from one blogger. That, to me, makes it more about developing relationships and growing a community, not the scatter-shot tactic this new feature provides.
Robyn Tippins | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
I know the community messaging is hitting some people hard. I only have a dozen or so communities, so I’ve not gotten a spam message yet, but those people who have hundreds are really feeling this one, so rest assured we’ll all be looking at the feedback very carefully.
Thanks for your post, letting us know what you want is the key to getting it!
Mark | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
Hi Robyn, thanks for dropping me a comment. I’m sure you guys over at MBL will review this thoroughly and come up with a solution.
Nirmal | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
I got some where around 100 messages in the past 3 days due to this community messages. You are right, an effective way to spam.
Mark | Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
Hang in there, Nirmal. As you can see, Robyn from MBL posted a comment here stating that they’re continuing to monitor the situation. Hopefully, a solution will be provided to rectify things.