Calendar
Network
Feeds
- 29
- Sphinn It!
Should you be the first to Sphinn your own article?
Went Hot: August 7, 2007 - 12:20 am
Posted By: jfj3rd 698 days ago
Topic Type: Discussion
Category: Sphinn Zone
Today I read “Cheat Sheet For Google Cheat Sheets” by Barry Shwartz and felt it was a great resource to Sphinn as well. (http://sphinn.com/story/2229)
So I am wondering why I happened to be the first to Sphinn these articles when these two well known guru’s in their own right should have that credit. I am also wondering if I am getting deadly arrows pointed at me as we speak.
Thoughts from everyone else on Sphinning first?
22 Comments
Comments
I suppose you could Sphinn your own articles. My problem is when someone (a) Sphinns nothing but his own articles, and (b) his articles are nothing but one or two paragraph intros to much longer articles somewhere else by someone else. That's a little to much for me, as the longer articles may well have warranted a Sphinn, but the links are generated to the Sphinner's site which has, in my opinion, no real value-add.
If the post is somewhat unique, that is not recycled news, there's nothing wrong with selfish sphinning IMO. Eventually we're all attention whores, what means that everybody knows s/he's an attention whore and that everybody knows that too, so not sphinning selfishly is obvious self-deception or unreal understatement, IOW it means that you don't trust/value yourself. ;)
If you Sphinn your own article, you can control the introduction. Sometimes this is valuable...you can make the argument for the value of what you wrote better than anyone else can.
DianeV,
I suppose the size or quality of the article is always going to be highly opinionated but I do think that someone who consistently Sphinn’s themselves with a mere one – two paragraphs with a link to their main article isn’t contributing to the community all that much. Do you think it is OK to do this on a rare occasion though?
Sebastian,
I’m definitely an attention whore. I didn’t think much of the ‘attention whore’ concept until today after I sphunn Barry’s post. Me writing this is because I quickly came to understand how someone like myself can constantly aim to Sphinn articles that others have spent a lot of time and energy on (At least in Danny’s case).
How do you feel about others getting to your article before you do though? If the original author Sphinn’s first then that is great, I have no concerns and as you stated it would appear to be self-deception if you don’t Sphinn the article first. Then again, what if the author of the article doesn’t give a hoot about Sphinn?
Toddmintz,
Good point on controlling the introduction. I don’t have the best openings myself but at least I can give it a try and edit it if need be. What is your viewpoint on ‘Sphinn Whores’ though?
These topics are addressed in the Sphinn guidelines:
http://sphinn.com/guidelines.php
- Yes, you can submit your own stories. In fact, we'd rather you directly submit your own stories you think are of interest to the community than have someone do it for you.
- Yes, you can submit your own blog post about a news story you read. However, we'd prefer you only do this if you've added something unique to the general news topic, such as an extended opinion or further clarification.
I'd also add, as a general user, I'd also prefer to see the original authors submit their own articles. I don't like to see stories submitted by non-originators because by appearance of the submitter's photo next to the headline makes it look like they are, in fact, the author.
Maybe that's just a layout matter, but I know I've been hesitant to submit stories because I don't want it to appear that I'm taking credit for the content.
At the same time, I'd like to find some discussion on certain topics quicker than it takes to wait for someone to Sphinn an article. Maybe some sites (SEL, SER) should be white-listed such that their posts are automatically submitted.
Maybe that's what Danny had in mind when he mentioned that Sphinn discussions might eventually replace Search Engine Land's comments. Please make it so!
TimDineen,
I don’t know if I like this ‘white-listed’ approach where certain sites get their articles automatically submitted. I think this would take away from the ‘Social’ aspect that this site has become. Plus I might add that articles that interest you may not interest me or others and visa versa.
I have a feeling down the line someone is going to create a widget for Wordpress or other CMS systems where every submission is automatically added to Sphinn. It can’t be too far behind if it hasn’t already been created by someone.
You said, “… as a general user, I’d also prefer to see the original authors submit their own articles…” Going back to what I said in an earlier response to Sebastian”
“… What if the author of the article doesn’t give a hoot about Sphinn?”
I may read something that I feel is Sphinn worthy, the author doesn’t care about Sphinn but I as a reader feel it is good enough to share with the community. If we were to wait for someone else to Sphinn it we might be waiting an awfully long time.
By the way Tim, I think you are the first to answer my question the most closely. My question wasn’t entirely based on whether the author should be the first to Sphinn their own article but it was primarily focused on if it was OK for non Authors to Sphinn an article.
As the guidelines say, totally fine to submit your own stuff. And as some have commented, you might do it better than someone else doing it for you. As for being a non-author, you absolutely can submit someone else's content. In particular, they know when they are publishing. If they want to see something hit Sphinn, they'll be first out the gate.
As for me and Barry, well -- two things. First, we're busy and probably haven't gotten over to do a submission. Also, I'm interested to just see what people are naturally deciding is Sphinn worthy from what we write. But if it's a big deal, and I really think it should be on Sphinn fast, you bet -- I'll submit.
Hi Danny,
Thanks for your valued input on author and non author submissions. In one of Tim’s responses he was hoping for a ‘white-list’ where certain sites would always get published automatically. Is this in store down the line or will Sphinn strive to keep everything based on what the readers or authors manually contribute?
Sphinn seems to be the new kid on the block and everyone is watching it closely. There does appear to be some quality articles here, so how can it hurt to give it a try?
Sphinning your own article firs is a bit like asking the President who he votes for. I give it try and test the waters.
We don't plan a whitelist. Right now, any site can have pages listed in What's New, if they are on topic and if the site is not on the blacklist. The blacklist is for sites that simply have content submitted that is totally inappropriate. Right now, we have exactly one site on the blacklist -- one in Japanese where we keep getting submissions, even though our guidelines are for English-only.
@jfj3rd
> How do you feel about others getting to your article before you do though?
That's fine with me. Not everything I write is sphinnworthy, so I submit my stuff only when I think it is of interest for the community. When it happens that a post gets submitted by another member I'm happy to learn more about things that matter. That's why I've the buttons at the bottom of every post. Of course it's a bit early to sell that as experience yet, and certainly I love each and every vote, but I don't think I can output sphinnworthy stuff in a row.
@Tim
> I don't like to see stories submitted by non-originators because by appearance of the submitter's photo next to the headline makes it look like they are, in fact, the author.
Good point. In such cases it would be nice to add the author's pic next to the submitter's image, when the author is a sphinner.
I am sure someone can easily build a tool to auto submit sites... ;-)
^^ there you go.. thats how these things get started!
Well because i'm against the auto submit concept I might suggest that a Capcha be added for all submissions. *Hides*
I haven't submitted anything of my own or others, but I think it's important to submit your own articles if you want to control both your message (as many stated) and the marketing push behind it. The former was discussed, but I think the latter is key. If you want to generate buzz about a terrific article then you'll want to make a big splash. I would suggest soliciting a reputable SEO to submit the article for you or submit it yourself and actively spread the word, don't just sit back and wait for things to happen.
Either way, if an article goes out and several days later it hasn't been sphunn then the assumption is the author is either a) too busy to submit, b) didn't think it merited a sphinn or just didn't want to put much time into it, or c) they're too modest. At that point, the article should be fair game.
Next you'll be wanting nofollow on the links! :)
This site is for search engine / promotion / marketing people. Not everybody has friends in high places. This site gives everybody a chance to take part in the "industry" whereas on other sites like Digg you need to be secretive and crafty.
I don't see anything wrong with submitting your own articles. It's a litmus test for your article writing or research and an excellent way to network with new and familiar folks. I love it.
I hope Sphinn is kept as open as possible to all the community, and let the community decide which stories are worth getting to the home page.
Hobo hit the nail on the head.
What really defines Sphinn from other sites (other than the focus on SEO and marketing, etc.) is the ability to praise others for submitting their own articles.
It truly is becoming an open community.
Taking part in the industry is a great advantage for those of us who aren't known by everyone in the industry. The idea of a social community where we encourage & promote those who deserve the promotion is a fantastic idea.
Hobo I wonder what would happen if the nofollow was added to the links... would there still be a sense of 'community' or will a large percentage of Sphinners bail?
I for one would probably stick around, I've been able to connect here so this is a good place for me to be.
My $0.02
Well, rel-nofollow is evil by itself, but I could think of a scenario where it makes sense to apply it to new posts until those have gathered a fair amount of trust via votings. I'd hate to see that here, but I wouldn't leave.
jfj3rd,
nofollow or not, I wouldn't go anywhere. Putting up articles and writing should not only be about getting that single link. For me, sphinns benefits are networking and stating my personal outlook on SEO and the market. I have a lot of ideas in my head that I need to get out on paper. It's nice to see that someone, somewhere, in the same field as me, agrees.