Comment Showcase: Top Comments Of The Week

Thanks to all those who commented this past week.

I thought it interesting that the Entrecard Strikes Again Post got so many comments moving this post into first place as my most popular post ever so far! It even brought out some first-time commenters!

Daisy the Curly Cat said:

I don't care about bounce rate, either. It seems like there is a constant stream of half-thought-out changes rolled out before the earlier changes and problems have been ironed out.

Melissa at Your Fun Family said:

Entrecard has been making some really bad decisions lately. It seems like they are on a mad rush trying to make money but they have no idea how to do it. All of the failed attempts have cost them respect from members. They have even cost them some members. I was really upset when the blog stated the new idea of giving points to nonbloggers for reading blogs. The idea did not upset me. I just thought it was a stupid idea. What upset me was that the blog post asked for feedback and spirited discussion. I made two comments to that post. The first one was deleted within hours and then they switched to moderating comments. The second comment was of course not approved. Entrecard has made it obvious that they really do not care what the members think.

I am not upset about my bounce rate at all and I actually find that the current system gives me a competitive edge because I feel like I have to really catch the droppers eye and keep them reading. I also worry that I will be deleting more spam comments.

Chris said:

I agree with you Karen. I don't care about my bounce rate, and EC was a good source to get new readers, but they're really going to make it difficult. I'm waiting to see what they consider "interaction" but in the end if it makes life more difficult I will probably leave EC. I also feel they are doing this to keep from paying out the cash for credits. I requested a cash out 4 weeks ago and it's coming very very slowly in $10 increments (2 so far with 6 left unpaid), so I'm thinking they don't have the money to pay out. It's really a shame to see it decline in it's usefullness to bloggers. I've let them promote the paid ads on my blogs from the beginning but now I feel they have not kept up their end of the bargain.

Tahtimbo said:

I agree with you. Graham cannot be happy unless he is trying to destroy Entrecard. The paid advertising came close, but not good enough, so he is trying this. I feel if people find something to interest them, they will stop and read the post. I feel it is wrong to try and force people to comment on something that may not interest them. You may be right, it might increase spam ( I never thought of that angle). Anyway, I feel the Entrecard is in its last months and I am already planning for that time.

Health Nut said:

I agree with yours (and most people) that this has more to do with financial constraints than with bounce rates. It's not as if anyone has been complaining about bounce rates lately. It's yet another ill conceived , ill disguised plan by Graham.

Last year I thought EC was going to be big, now I think EC is going to be one big failure.

Sample Taste Makes Sale At GNC
Mrs4444 said:

I've wondered about all the hype about the Acai berry. I'll look at these twice the next time I see them.

Great question. On Saturday, the sample lady talked me into buying hummus with pine nuts. It was wonderful, if expensive. Won't buy it again, most likely, though, since it's not in the budget. Wouldn't mind finding a recipe, though.

6 Things I Learned This Week of 2009-Part 27

Fruit Flies

At Keeper of The Home I learned how to get rid of fruit flies: pour about a teaspoon of Pine-Sol in all her drains every day until they are gone. Then about once or twice a week after that. Also, she wipes her sink with it. Be sure not to run any water for about an hour after pouring it down the drains. Pine-Sol is also a disinfectant.

New Blog Discovered for Pet Owners

I came across a new blog called Pet Pride for pet owners. What's different about this one is that each week you get to leave a link to a post about your pet through Mr. Linky. A nice way to get a link to your blog and also find posts about others pets.

Dog License

I finally got around to getting a dog license for our new doggie, Abby. I found out the Drug Mart nearby has them so got it after work on Monday.

Networked Blogs Widget

I just discovered how to add the NetworkedBlogs widget from Facebook to my blogs this week. There's so much to learn about Facebook! Thanks to all who follow my blogs! I am flattered. I just got up to 50 followers this week through Blogger
Friends Connect--yea!

Enlarge Text on Websites

Most may know this, but I just found out from Fatherlyours you can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, press Ctrl and the
plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts); on the Mac, it’s the
Command key and plus or minus. Read Tech Tips For The Basic Computer User for more great tips.

Facebook

According to the Ohio Lawyer--July/August 2009, three out of 10 Internet users visit Facebook every month! Do you? Just leave a yes or no comment and we can see if this statistic is true, but need you to participate either way. Please! If you'd like, share something you learned this week as well.

Entrecard Strikes Again!

I wish Entrecard would stop trying to manipulate its users. Now their latest thing is not to give credits for drops unless we interact with the blog. They say they are implementing this to improve the quality of traffic to our blogs and cut down on the high bounce rate. I don't care about my bounce rate. I figure if people at least come, they may see something they are interested in. I love reading comments too that are related to the post, but I'm afraid with this new system, it may increase spam comments. I hope not.

On the bright side, however, I sometimes get bored dropping on my favorite sites regularly when there is no new post to read which takes up a lot of time. If I won't even get credit for these drops, I think I'll just use my blogroll and Blogger reader to visit sites that have posts that sound interesting to me and spend more time on discussion forums, blog catalog and blognetwork through Facebook, and Personal News Network (PNN). I spent most of Friday following my favorite blogs so I can visit from my reader instead of through Entrecard.

I have used Entrecard to drop on categories that I think may be interested in a post I just did. Such as when I do one about my pets, I'll go through the pet category in the hopes that those blogs will return my drop and perhaps read the blog post that I think will interest them. In this way, I hope to gain new followers. With this new change though, I just wonder if people will even return drops.

I really wish Entrecard would leave well enough alone and stop trying to "improve" it. It just seems every change made lately is not good and ticks people off. They've already lost some great blogs because of the paid advertising change and now this. It's normal for blogs to have high bounce rates. So what?

I really think Entrecard just doesn't want us to get so many credits so that we'll pay to advertise on the blogs instead of getting all the free advertising we earn by dropping. What do you think about this if you are an Entrecarder? I don't know when this is supposed to take effect. So far it looks like I'm still getting credit for all my drops.

Another opinion: The Only Bounce I Care About Is In My Step

Sample Taste Makes Sale At GNC

Last time I went to GNC for my vitamin supplement, there was a dish of what looked like wrapped candy. It was Garden Greens AcaiBlast, a soft chew that tastes like a grape Starburst. Acai is a fruit from the Amazon Rainforest. These grape chews are rich in two of nature's most potent antioxidants that are supposed to be good for us. There are 300 mg of super concentrated Acai fruit per soft chew. The salesman told me it is good for the heart. I don't know about that, but it tasted good so I bought a bag.

Have you ever tried these? What thing did a salesman get you to buy that you had no intention of buying when you entered the store?

Comment Showcase--Top Comments of This Week

We thank all those who took time to comment on this blog and recognize these top comments for this week:

On Blogger Is Getting Me Aggravated
Grace said:

I scheduled a post to run and it never did, it just sat there in the lists of posts with "scheduled" next to it. So I copied and pasted it and published it and then deleted the one that said "Scheduled" PITA

On How Do You Decide What To Read Next

Tina T. said:

I like to use the suggestions on Amazon, they have quite a history on me by now, so their suggestions are usually pretty good.

My favorite method was my neighbor who seemed to read every new book of value and would pass them all along to me when she was done. Too bad we don't live next door to each other any more.

On Abby's First Car Ride With Us Here are the two top comments:
magic eye:

hey abby! good on you! glad you showed that you too had a right to ride on the seat! great to have you on board Pet Pride
am sure you will have lots of fun meeting others out here!
cheers! bozo!

Sandee at Comedy Plus said:

They always win Karen, always. Our dog loves to look out the window. She also likes to sleep when we go for long rides. I'll have to check out Abby's new blog.

On Our Dog's First Car Ride
Daisy Said:

Oh, a car ride and a walk home, that's a great combination! I think Abby should get her way. Definitely!