Question on Personal Ski Blogs and Posting Etiquette

[salsgang]

Hi - I am trying my hand at writing a personal ski blog - something I started a couple of weeks ago. It is just for fun and I am not doing any google ads at this point. I have a link to my blog in my forum signature.

I wanted to inquire with the forum moderators / community what is appropriate in regards to posting links to my blog in the alpinezone forums.

My thought is that if I post a link to my blog that is on-topic with the thread conversation that is OK. Such as my link to a blog post on ski-swap buying strategies in the ski-swap thread.

How about trip reports? Is it OK to post a short trip report in the trip report forums... with a link to my blog for more details?

Any advice or policies that can be communicated would be appreciated. Thank you!

-Mike

 

[rocojerry]

I stopped writing in my personal ski-journal blog, and mostly post trip reports here instead.... occasionally I'd link back, sometimes I'd have more pictures on my blog site.... I didn't like having the same text/content twice...

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my 'blog' this year... I do like that it remembers trails/conditions etc more than my brain does

 

[Nick]

I don't have a problem with it, the more the merrier. It would be nice if you would at least feed us some details before going to your site though!

We have several posters here who run their own blogs. What I think seems spammy is when you only come here to post your blog posts and then bolt, just to get traffic. But that's not you, so don't worry about it

 

[salsgang]

Thanks Nick - I will be sure not to be just a link spammer on here... I hope to finally make an AZ Summit this year (if it is at Sugarloaf again) maybe meet up with some AZ'ers pre-summit at Saddleback.

 

[riverc0il]

My take as an AZ member with a ski related blog is signature linking is good. I don't think quick hit thread starting with just a link to your blog without forum contribution is good posting etiquette (Nick may think differently, that strikes me as blatant self promotion). I'll post a link back to my site within a discussion if it is relevant. If I start a new thread (i.e. Trip Report), I always try to put some content and pics on AZ and perhaps a link over to my site for the full report.

Basically, unless you are linking relevant content as a reply to someone else (just like you might link content on any other site that is relevant), someone shouldn't have to click through to get content and context because you omitted it with the intent of driving traffic to your site. The main point, context, and perhaps some pics if it is a report should be included in the post.

Just my opinion there... I feel my site's reputation stands on its own merits without whoring it out wholesale. If folks want to check out my stuff, they can subscribe via RSS or FB.

 

[Nick]

Well said rc

 

[riverc0il]

FWIW... I think it is even more complicated if a blogger is whoring out their web site and they get ad revenue. My site is proudly 100% ad free (at my own expense) but that is relatively uncommon. Blasting links could be seen as a way to drive revenue and profit off ad links which could be seen as using a larger network to drive traffic. I guess traffic patterns could be beneficial both ways. But I see that as a slippery ethical slope.

But that is coming from someone without ads so of course that could just be my bias and another blogger might have a completely different take.

Bottom line is does the post and link benefit the AZ community or is it spam to drive traffic without contributing. Gray area for sure....

 

[Sick Bird Rider]

As another non-commercial blogger, I agree with rivercOil. If the back-link adds to context or is a relevant sidebar, be sure to put it in. I find it frustrating when people don't.

If it is a blatant plug and not relevant to the story, be respectful and leave it out. I included the link above because if you haven't checked out The Snowway, you really should.

I really don't care if you look at my blog or not. On the other hand, I take great pride in knowing that a surprising number of people do look at it. The Internet is all about sharing stories and communication. If your blog will do that, by all means share the link in your signature, try to write well, participate respectfully in other forums, run Google Analytics and have fun.

 

[Harvey]

IMO RIver has set the standard for proper forum etiquette. The guy has contributed tons of thoughtful content to the skinet, and rarely posts links at all. (Personally I think he should post more links but that's not what is important.)

I try to post some kind of unique content in a forum whether I'm linking back or not. Having our own forum has helped me better understand the webmasters pov, and I'd hope that if Nick felt I was out of line, he'd PM me. (I PM'd a guy who posted three links to the same TR in four days in our forum, and he seemed to understand and modify his behavior.)

The key IMO is to understand the audience and decide whether or not they'd care about the topic. I post a bunch TRs every year from Gore on our site and know that most people could care less. Serious Gore hounds probably know about NYSB already.

Curious about what others think ... I always feel that if you can post a few of your best pics from the day into the forum, especially if it's into an existing TR that doesn't have pics, it adds value. Also I'm very hesitant to post direct forum to forum links. Many forums are a business and I try to respect that.

Disclosure: We've got advertising on NYSB, but we're not talking money for it for a couple reasons. (For one thing you've got to make significant cash to make it worth filing with the IRS.) Our advertisers are just businesses we want to support for a variety of different reasons. One is a ski shop in North Creek. After the big ski shop went down, we think it's crucial to have one in town.

We did do a bit of Google Adsense two years ago, but I killed it for a variety of reasons. Didn't like the way it looked, the ads ultimate started to interfere with the way the site was loading.

We are going to have ads in our forum soon, as the "free" forum software now requires it, or a payment in lieu of advertising. But we won't be pocketing the money, just retaining the free status of our forum.

Back on topic ... checked out maineskifamily.blogspot.com and it looks pretty cool. Maine is a HAUL for me, but if I ever make a trip I'll definitely re-read the mountain reviews closely. I do think salsgang should INCREASE THE FONT SIZE of his signature for us old farts.

 

[salsgang]

I do think salsgang should INCREASE THE FONT SIZE of his signature for us old farts.

Ha - done! I put it up one notch. My blog aint good enough yet to shout it out too much. Thanks for all the comments - very helpful.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I just kicked off my blog this summer as a way to keep people informed about the goings on at Burke Mtn (since the mtn wasn't releasing any information). I know I've shot a few posts about updating my blog. However, I have been sporadic with my updates the last two months and I feel that some people would want to know that I actually posted something new. I have never started a new thread to do this, always embedded within an existing thread. This winter I plan to keep adding trip reports and other content to the blog as time allows. I look at this as a fun thing for me and I will not be turning on Google's revenue option.
I aplaud you guys for having put together great blogs. I am finding that they can be a great compliment in content to a forum like AZ.

 

[billski]

The blogging thing always felt like an obligation to me. I'm primarily here for ski conditions, past, present and future. I get sucked into the blather just 'cause I'm hear and enjoy the banter. There are not a lot of people in my small part of the world that care about snow or any sort of sliding on snow (including tubing or tobogganing.) Just the fact that we all appreciate those cold days and the anticipation of a good storm is good enough for me.

While looking for conditions, the quid-pro-quo should apply. If I take, I must give.

I'm really not interested in "speeds and feeds" as we say in my business. The number of runs done, what I had for lunch or who I saw I don't find particularly interesting. Not to say you didn't find that a highlight of your day. I'm a Libertarian at heart, go for it, say what you want. Skiing and Boarding is an individual experience and you get out of it what you want.

I'm also very appreciative of everyone watching out for and posting deals. The sport is already to damn expensive, which keeps many people out, and attracts a rather "exclusive" group. Hey, they pay the bills.

Lastly, the cacophony of opinions is critical for a good read on conditions. I'm happy to read through all the reviews and hone in on the content of interest to me.

Thoughtful, flip and ridiculous postings are OK with me. Please, don't advertise a for-profit operation unless you've coughed up money to support it.

I enjoy appropriate links and adds. That's why I maintain a page of links, commercial and free, whose combination only interests me. It is what we make of it.

As long as we're free to discuss, and dump those who personally attack others, I'm good. Reasonable people should have reasonable discussions.