Thinking of removing blog functionality

[MOJ]

Originally Posted by NarkyOtic

It's all well and good to try to further 'bot proof' the blog system, but as has been said by sothis and others;
a) even most legit blog posts are little more than glorified Facebook status updates,
b) done half-arsed to get a badge,
c) it's an expensive tool that requires a lot of maintenance for very little dividend, and
d) the value of good blog posts can be streamlined into the forum setting through both the merging of site and forum, and by creating more ways that this content can be posted on the forum and receive the attention and engagement that it deserves. Fundamentally, good blogs aren't even seen - which to my eye should be causing more mutters than this thread's topic - but moving/merging the essential function with main forum activity, they can be.

And overall, by sothis delegating more mod work to other capable members (which she cannot currently do with the menial task of bot-nuking the blog-o-sphere every damned day), A-P can move forward into this golden horizon of awesomeness much more smoothly.

*dances on rainbows throwing daisies*

I would call myself a radical blog supporter, but what NarkyOtic said made quite a lot of sense. If the blogs i worked so painstakingly to write would have a better chance of being seen on the forums than on the site, then i would support the site-forum merger.

If however blogs are kept, then i have a few suggestions:

1. Add a feature to report blogs AND users. This way the admin won't have to go through every blog to find all the spam. Users could narrow down the list and all the admins would have to do is give one look and ban the person/ delete the spam blog

2. We have "good" badges on this site, there should also be "bad" badges. Blog less than 100 words? Give em a high school delinquent badge. I'm sure this feature would not be implemented because i remember how passionately i was refuted about how such an aspect will move people away from this site (which i still don't agree with). Such small things can be quite hilarious and should attract more people.

3. Add a "like" system for blogs where the top rated blogs are showcased

4. Set up a group of users who can go around policing the blog page. I would happily volunteer for such a position (for free obviously). Such small jobs still look good on a resume you know. Trustworthy people could be chosen.

I honestly have no idea how much money and time is spent with all the features. I can only applaud the admins and donate to this site for the opportunity to enjoy site a well built site.

[SeiyaManG]

I can't say I'm thrilled about the feature being removed but from what's been written it's understandable.

Honestly though, I would just like to see the work of helpful people like Chii get preserved.

[Dreador]

I would have thought that rather than removing them completely from the site, you just let them be there for viewing only and just stop new blogs from being made so existing content is not lost.

An option that could be considered as an alternative is allowing a small RSS feed to be shown on your profile so people can link to their blog from a blogging site.

[sothis]

external blogging has existed for quite some time, you can add a link to your blog from your profile edit page

[Dreador]

Originally Posted by sothis

external blogging has existed for quite some time, you can add a link to your blog from your profile edit page

Ah ok didn't notice that, probably cause I don't blog. I guess people have that option open to them already then :)

[Jet]

Lots of options have been mentioned already. I for one side with the idea of certain criteria or what I would rather call requirements for blogging. Like proof, that u'r no spammer: add bio, anime list, your own list, rate something, visit AP at least thrice, wait for a day or two and witness this new feature's emergence. Can such a filter really harm any old or new bloggers? Will improve mostly dead user-base instead. It looks like all spam-bots just registered and won't ever come back online too. So how come, you can't automatize the process :o.

I don't use blogs much, but vote for 1) anyway. Seen too many useful features gone already. Like random not watched anime button, personal TOPs right next to userinfo or personal entries overviews. Most of newer updates come unnoticed. And no, this forum is no substitute. I use it out of necessity only^^. I'm sure, that lots of ppl use blogs for storing invaluable for 'em info. Didn't know, RL daily activities are that much of a prob..

[sothis]

It looks like all spam-bots just registered and won't ever come back online too

not the case - many of them come back and spam again a time period later, often multiple times

So how come, you can't automatize the process :o.

as i mentioned, anything is possible, but spending a lot of time and energy (when i have very fleeting time to work on the site anymore given my paying day job/RL priorities) on upgrading something that very very few people use probably isn't the best use of my time. spending it on content, new features in areas people use heavily (reviews, recs, anime lists) is likely a better choice.

[GodzillaGus]

as if blog spamming wasnt enough, spam profiles are also up...

wealthfromhome | Anime-Planet

[SuriZen]

Originally Posted by Drahken

I find the blog to be a useful way to give out site info & answer FAQs, such as what certain tags mean, how much time a single episode counts for, why the life bar seems to jump oddly, etc. Beyond that I don't care much one way or the other.

Considering the afforementioned cost invested in creating it though, it'd be wasteful to just throw it all away. I would suggest 2 things to try before dumping it altogether;
1) Give someone else modding powers to delete spam blogs.
2) Make it so that you have to be a site member for at least {X} months before you can post a blog. Spammers aren't going to sign up, then come back a couple months later to actually do their spam.

You could also reduce the problem by adding a list of all known throwaway email sites to the block list, no legitimate member would need to use one. Of course, there are a slew of them out there, with more popping up constantly, and spammers could still sign up with other email sites. *shrug*

I don't know how difficult/expensive either of my suggestions would be to implement though, and while it'd be a waste to throw away all the time & money already invested in the blogs, sometimes it's better to cut your losses. *shrug*

^ I agree.

Okay, so admittedly I don't blog, but one of the things that I find incredibly helpful are the watching orders list to some anime. It would be a shame to see all that gone. Now if this content was moved somewhere else maybe I'd be on board with that. If you do decide to get rid of the the blogs in the long run, because it would be better for the site then by all means do it. But I would hate to see all the money and time that was put into the blogs wasted.

[EverElegance]

Such a shame. I really enjoyed using the blog.

Part of the problem, I think, is that no one knows how to write a blog, which is why we have so many "dear diary" entries. But that's a different problem entirely.

I say, if the system doesn't work, then get rid of it. However, we should do something for the people who did have a good blog going. Even if it is just a thread in the forum that advertises good anime blogs.