Last week, my blog was honored with The Versatile Blogger award.
I was thrilled--and touched--to receive such recognition from Rosi Hollinbeck, a fellow writer and blogger (The Write Stuff), whose opinion I respect.
This was my fourth blog award, and I treasured it as if it were my first.
Unfortunately, most such awards come with stipulations, which amount to a lot of work. So much work, in fact, that I hesitate to pass them on to other deserving bloggers.
Why is it my favorite?
Because it came with no strings attached.
It was a compliment, pure and simple.
My Thursday Two Questions to you are:
- As a blogger or blog follower, what do you think about blog awards?
- Should blog awards be given without a list of things to do, or does the "home work" serve a valuable purpose?
As always, thanks for stopping by.
Margaret
28 comments:
1. Yes, I think it's great to be recognized.
2. I think it should be given without any stipulations. With stipulations, I don't believe it to be a genuine award.
Hi Poetic Shutterbug. I'd love to see more awards given out that are stipulation free. Do you know of any? I'd love to pass some of them along.
I would rather not receive an award with strings attached, especially if I have to pass those strings on to people who have become my online friends.
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Hi Kay. That's one of the reasons I haven't passed this one on yet. I'm waiting to see how many people feel this way before I do. As a teacher, I've given enough homework over the years.
I think your questions are excellent today. The awards should come with no strings attached. It's great to recognize someone, but if you're asking them in return to do A-Z, it doesn't serve the purpose of awarding. I totally have to think twice about the process that comes with the Top Commenter Award I run every three months too. Yes, I think it is a lot of work, and that is why most people resort to just thanking the person that gave the award and not going through the other details.
It always makes me feel great to get an award, so congratulations! You deserve it and many more.
Hi Self Sagacity. Yes, it feels great to get an award, but I so agree. It shouldn't come with strings attached. It makes it hard to accept the award and then pass it on to others, and I think that defeats the purpose.
I think the awards are great for newer bloggers. They are a way to meet other bloggers and have your link show up on various blogs. The list of requirements do tend to get rather long, the idea behind them is to introduce yourself to others.
I got to the point where I started skipping the requirements and doing a short write up on the person who gave me the award. These days I tend to post the award on my side bar with a link back to the blogger who gave it to me.
There are several that don't require any work, if you like I would be happy to share them with you Margaret.
Receiving awards is very thrilling, and honoring a the same time. It shows that there are people who think enough of you to pass them on.
I guess the whole system of awards is for us to recognize other bloggers or friends that we value.
Congrats Margarette on yours..
Hi Squirrel Queen. I like the idea of putting the award in the side bar with a link back to the blogger who gave it to me. I also skipped the requirements on this last award and did a write up on the person who gave it to me. Yes, I'd like to know about awards that don't require any work, so I can pass some of them on.
Hi Icy BC. Yes, we must keep in mind that these awards are honors by people who think enough of us to pass them on. I'm hoping, though, to get a list of awards I can pass on without specific rules involved, so the recipient can handle it in his or her own way, and pass it on with out qualm.
So many awards are just ways to get you to link to their blog. I think awards should come with no strings attached. It's fine to offer code with the award that they can copy paste, but if it's really about recognizing those sites, those sites shouldn't have to do anything with it.
Hi Gale. I agree. The best award comes with no strings attached. The sign of a true gift.
Hi Margaret!
Awards with a request to pass it on is a social link. We received lots of those plus requests to install buttons/links on our sidebar which can pose serious problems. My dog Sweepy lost a blog because of this.
These awards are for fun encounters but some use it to spam links or simply to install ad links which is sad. If you want to advertise simply say so. Some receivers also do not like to receive awards like those (and they say so in their blogs) and some who simply design awards like Aris are rare.
But rare or not, I am sure they were sent with good intentions although when I receive them I thank the sender but notify that I do not pass awards.
Hi Margaret,
Look on my sidebar for Flowers of Friendship, it's an award I created and gave to all my followers last year. There are no strings attached.
If you scroll down more you will see The Circle of Friends that has no requirements. Two more that I don't remember having requirements are From Me-To You and The Sunshine Award. Feel free to save the images of any of these.
Another one is one my "awards" page, look for the link to my pages on the sidebar. It is called Faithful Follower, it thanks people for following and commenting.
Reading Gale and Lui's comments above, I have seen awards and 'buttons' like those and I never use those links. I only link an award to a blogger I know and I create the link myself.
Have fun!
Hi Lui. Social links that serve as fun encounters are great as long as they don't become overwhelming with their requests. And you're right, most are sent with good intentions, and we should follow the instructions and pass them on at our own discretion. I don't think any blog-award police will cite those who veer off the path.
Thanks so much Squirrel Queen!
Congratulation on your awards!
Awards have become a bit tiring for me since last year with so many requirements to complete. However, I think it's a great honor to be recognized, and it would be fun to receive without strings attached.
I believe awards should have no stipulations. I've thought of creating my own awards for just that reason. I'm always honored, though, when I receive an award and usually quite happy to pass them to others I think deserving. Maybe I'll start breaking rules and just pass them along without attaching the stipulations! ;-)
Hi Rosi. SquirrelQueen above, generously shares some "no stipulations" awards she has received. I think creating your own, however, makes the award even more special. And then you can give the extra "gift," of allowing the recipient to pass it on condition free.
Thank you, Doan Legacy. Congratulations to you, too, in receiving so many awards. Isn't it sad, though, that they became tiring when they were meant to commend and uplift? Guess thats another vote for sitpulation free awards. Who will be the first to start?
I believe awards were initiated to encourage us to visit and recognize one another. They encourage one to want to blog more, but they are also time consuming when they come with stipulations. It takes a lot of time to hunt up say 15 people who will graciously accept awards, but most of the people I last awarded (after several hours preparing this post) did not hand out the award or link back to me. You can get more traffic by participating in a meme and visiting other participants.
Hi Judy. With my first two awards, I passed on the honor to bloggers I thought were deserving. Only one thanked me and linked back to me. That, alone, was answer enough about my reservations in passing such awards on. Blogging is enough work without the added "home work" that comes with some awards. Here's to awards with no strings attached.
1. It's great to have a blog award shared by friends with you. However they shouldn't be just created on a whim.
2. It's alright if you want to pass it on, but I don't agree with telling me a bunch of rules to follow with the award. Maybe I don't have the time.
Aloha!
Hi Jamerican Spice. I agree, awards shouldn't be given-or created--on a whim. That would reduce their honor and significance.
Everyone pretty much said everything about awards that needed to be said. Sometimes I've seen, and myself included, bloggers doing several awards in one post, since you don't have to come up with things about yourself or the people again to pass the awards on. Congratulations on your award.
Hello Blogger Broadcast. Several awards in one post would work. But my question is, should we be getting several awards at once? Are we that good? Shouldn't they be sort of difficult to get? I think because one of the stipulations of many of the awards is to pass them on to say 7 or 12 people, we dilute their value. Hey, I'm very happy with mine, and I may not have received even one without the "pass it on" stipulation. Just asking the questions, stirring up the pot.
Congrats on your award!
Blog award are always appreciated, especially when they're sincere and not on a whim, like Jamerican Spice said.
I'm terrible at passing along awards because I don't like the stipulations and rules the come with them - while I appreciate them, I think I rebel at the whole rule aspect of them. ;)
Aloha: Pet Food
Hi Stacy. I think we have a consensus so far that although we love to receive blog awards, no one likes the stipulations and rules that come with them.
Post a Comment