Blogger to Bloggers PFO
Blogger also known as Blogspot and now owned by Google, has been the Blog platform of choice for millions of bloggers. It’s quick and simple to set up and appears to function with a minimum of fuss. Recent changes to the cumbersome commenting system in Blogger made it more difficult for non-Blogger users to leave comments and include their non-blogger website address. For instance I could no longer leave www.thegurrier.com as my website link, only http://thegurrier.com would create a link.
Now Blogger have seen fit to remove this ability completely. When commenting on the Blogger platform one can only enter a ‘nickname’. No weblink is allowed. This is a royal pain in the arse and will lead to less comments being made and less links between bloggers being created and shared.
Blogger aren’t stupid, Google aren’t stupid, what benefit does turning Blogger into a walled garden like Facebook or Bebo have? On the flipside Blogger have announced support for Openid, but this is not a feature turned on by default and is still in beta.
What can you do? Blogger users and Non-Blogger users alike can head to this page and ask them to turn the feature back on.
December 10th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Aw no, not Blogger now.
What we can do is add a message to the comment form to say that links back to commentor’s homepages (embedded in the comment text) are welcome and encouraged.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I’ve seen a few suggestions along those lines. A few others suggesting switching to Haloscan.
My fear is that this is the thin end of the wedge. The opening shots insome sort of squeeze on other, more open platforms such as Wordpress. The whole blogging phenomenon is moving into a different phase now. Most casual users are moving to Facebook and their ilk and I fear some horrid social networking behemoth coming down the line for Blogger.
Blogger practically insists I comment using my gmail account now, a feature I find vaguely sinister.
All your comments are belong to us,
All your mail are belong to us,
All your documents are belong to us,
All your search history are belong to us.
All Microsoft ever wanted was your desktop, Googles seems to want your internet soul.
December 10th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I’ve added a request to their list - for all the good it’ll do us.
My loyalty to blogger has been partly ’cause I’m lazy - we started our blogs there, and it’s not all that great of a process to switch. The other part, though? That’d be that blogger actually maintains the integrity of comments. Yep - you heard me: I stick with blogger because I can’t change the comments.
For me, the balance (up ’til now) has been that blogger acknowledges that comments belong to the commentor, with each of us having the right to remove said comment. Nobody can edit the comments on blogger, unlike other engines. Yeah, you can go through & fake a comment from somebody (or, you used to be able to, before they changed their functionality), but you couldn’t really edit it, unlike WordPress or TypePad.
Why care about comments? Well … let’s put it this way: I own the space on my blog, and can take comments down, but I do not own the comments, really. It’s a question of ownership … and I think that blogger came down the right way on this issue, which is why I’ve stayed with them.
It’s petty, it’s a minor issue … but it’s all about intellectual capital, and the fact that they did this one thing right meant something to me.
I’ll be reconsidering shortly.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:09 am
Good point, DaviMack–I didn’t think about comment ownership. I guess I’ve taken it for granted that I can edit comments on HaloScan if I wanted to, but I’ve never had the need, other than deleting a few trolls every now and then.
Speaking of, I’ve used HaloScan for over four years now and I’ve never, ever had one complaint about it.
Disappointing news about Blogger, though–I think you’re right. I’m more dismayed that people have given up writing on blogs to spending their hours sending fucking teddy bears and Vampire invitations to people.
I say this having hardly written anything of substance on my own blog for the past six months, but I blame that on a heavy work schedule, not because I’m too busy joining Facebook groups.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:08 am
At some points it’d be nice to be able to edit the comments … but I’ve just had to contact the ‘author’ instead, to ask them to rephrase, after I’ve deleted their comment. It works well, if you can track them down (which you can’t, always, with blogger, but can with HaloScan - another flaw in blogger).
Actually? I’m glad that some folk have given up blogging; if what they’re really interested in is a virtual club, complete with skanks and freaks, then facebook is their place!
December 11th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
[...] off a pretty massive portion of the blogging public. Well, they’ve pissed off me. And the Gurrier. And, from doing an ironic Google search, lots more [...]
December 11th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Thanks Gurrier. I was looking for that Blogger feedback link. Cheers.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
You’re welcome Jimmy and congratulations on the concert last night, I heard it was only massive.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
I think the blogging phenomenon on a single format platform like Wordpress or Blogger has well and truly peaked and the offerings of Facebook, Bebo, MySpace et al are closer to what most people want from the web.
I think the shakeout over the next phase will see the majority of new users hoovered up into social networking sites, leaving the dregs or the hardcore bloggers behind. So we are left with those who hopefully have more to say or a load of elderly mouthy cranks, like me.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Oh, I don’t know: you don’t seem to be really all that into trolling for internet dates. I just can’t see you fitting into the social networking sites all that well because of that lack of lecherousness.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:24 am
The scary part to me isn’t that Google seems to want my internet soul. It’s that I seem to want to willingly give them my internet soul. I can’t help it; I like their services. I like Gmail. I like the search engine, which I’ve been using since 1999. I like Blogger except for a myriad of minor idiocies like the one you just mentioned. And, god help me, I like Facebook.
I think I’ve joined the dark side.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Don’t talk to me about that concert. Pagey’s all smart suits and sunglasses now. No time for a flared trousers with dragons ‘n’ stuff on them. Nope. Faithful old dragon trousers just get left in the wardrobe.
Mind you, seeing the sorts of people that made it there, I’m (almost) glad I didn’t get to go. Have a look…
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article3031550.ece