I don’t usually weigh in on 9rules issues. Yes, I’m a member, but at the same time, I’m just another blogger, trying to make it big in the three-ring-circus of the interwebs. And I usually let other people say what I’m thinking when it comes to things like this.
However, when people have unrealistic expectations–about people I happen to like, no less–I have to step in with my two cents. Of course, it won’t be a friendly two cents, but I passed being friendly on the blog last year, when I started giving people I don’t like mean nicknames. Deal with it.
Anyway, it turns out that some people–I would think more than one, since the rule of thumb is something like if one person speaks out about it, another 10 (or is it 100?) people are thinking the same thing, but aren’t speaking up–feel that 9rules isn’t keeping it’s promise.
The question is though, what promise is 9rules breaking?
There are many who applied during the last round who have, as yet, heard absolutely nothing. Not a thing. Since October of 2006. Nada.
I wonder, then, if Brenden was around for round four. Between May, when 700 people applied for membership, and June when only 100 or so were actually accepted, no one heard a peep from Tyme, Scrivs or Mike. And the other 600 sites that didn’t make it in? They never heard anything at all. They were left to scour a huge list to see if they had made it in or not. And I don’t recall anyone complaining then about how they were notified. Complaining about how they didn’t get in, yes, but the notification procedure? No. Maybe people did, but I didn’t see any of it.
So, here we are, six months after round five closed. People have been accepted, they have been added to the network (such as my good friend Josh), but no, there was no one definite post saying who was in, which would tell those who were on the list that they were out. There were a bunch of little posts saying who they had decided on to that point.
For me, that would mean that everyone not on those lists? Not accepted. Just like if my site hadn’t made it onto the round four list, I would have known I wasn’t in. I didn’t need a personal email to tell me that I was in or out. Just like a job interview. If you don’t get a call back, you know you didn’t get it.
Brenden then goes on to say:
If something is important, one makes the time it needs or deserves. If one isn’t making time, then obviously the matter simply cannot have any importance. We no longer matter. That is the message 9rules is sending.
But, really, how much time do you think needs to be spend on adding quality sites to the network? Brenden complains that no one has been added in the last month, which implys to him that no one has been working behind the scenes.
I for one am glad that they are taking the time to go through the list, talk to the bloggers, find out if it’s a good fit for both the blogger and the network. After all, I’m always a bit afraid Tyme’s going to come back and say “hey, we totally made a mistake, you write rubbish” and take away my leaf.
If it takes time to decide, let them take their time. There is more to running a network than always letting new people in. You have to take care of the people already there, the infrastructure that connects everyone together, and make sure that you’re always moving forward.
And it’s much better for everyone if it takes the rulers six months to decide if a person is in, than taking a five minute look at your site (which could be on a day that site is down), and make a flash decision right then about whether the content is good enough.
And finally, the bit that bothered me the most?
A network that has no new life, no new inspiration and no new voices, is a network without growth and without a future.
Sorry, but to me it’s like saying that the people currently in the network? Good for nothing. It’s like saying once you’re in you’re stagnate, and fresh water must be trucked in daily. The problem is, if you bring in too much water, you flood the system, and everything gets waterlogged–meaning things get lost.
The only way to keep bringing in new life is to keep removing the old, otherwise the room get’s crowded, and you can’t see the hot guy across the room (and, sorry to change metaphors, but I just couldn’t work that into water.) And at that point, what’s the point of the network if everyone and their brother is in it? The network has just become a blog directory that anyone can join if they can string two words together.
Tyme, Scrivs and Mike work really hard to make the network feel like a community, and I think they do the job beautifully. So, the longer they take to add sites, the more confident I am that the sites that make it will be nop-notch stuff. And that is what 9rules has always been about.
Quality, not quanity is the name of the game. And quality takes time. And Tyme. So I’m willing to wait to see whatever she and the boys bring us next.
–”Thnks Fr Th Mmrs;” Infinity on High: Fall Out Boy
Hi,
First up – let me say I have the utmost respect for the 9rules crew.
I was afraid that there would be knee jerk reactions like this. And yes, I was around for round 4 – I submitted then too.
I’ve also been a 9rules notes user on an off for several months. Again, I have no disrespect for those within 9rules – quite the opposite.
My point was that the last round was a bit of a shambles and letting the whole thing drag on wasn’t at all the professional experience that had been 9rules up until that point.
9rules has now actually finally closed out round 5 – submissions are closed for the time being until such time as the team can, indeed, spend the time and energy needed to bring new voices into the fold.
6 months is a long time – things change rapidly in that time.
I’m glad you disagree with me, in a way. I’m pleased someone has taken exception and made their voice heard as well.
I enjoy reading other points of view – even if I don’t agree with them.
I’d also point out that round 5 was different, as the door wasn’t politely shut after the initial list (which is what has always happened in previous rounds).
It’s not that I expected to get in, at all, rather that hope was dangled like a fishing line lure.
If the round had been closed, as previous ones were – I doubt I would ever had reason to finally cave in and express my frustration.
Seriously. 9rules is good as it is. Anything extra is sugar on the top. If you’re not in 9rules, enjoy it for what it is and hope for the future to make it even better.
Well first, I should say that I was accepted in Round 5, and only after I had financial and internet connection problems was I dropped from 9rules until I could make my comeback to the internet. I was put back in the network, not because I re-applied for submission, but because it was a matter of having my old content on my new site.
In any case, let me say that you can criticize the network if you wish, but three people, looking at 1100 websites, some of which were having hosting issues, is a long, tedious task. When Tyme initially announced the semi-final list, she said she would get back to those that were having hosting issues and make a decision on those once they were resolved. If I remember correctly. I’m not about to go back and look because I’m lazy. In any case, if you weren’t one of the ones having hosting issues, you didn’t make it. ‘Nough said.
Since then, the 9rules crew has launched Ali and my.9rules. Three people to handle two huge tasks. They can only do so much.
Don’t go knockin a network, or three people, for not responding in a timely manner (at least what you think to be a timely manner). You don’t know what’s been going on since the last Round 5 list till now, so who are you to judge something that you only know little about?
I agree with Lisa.
Sing it, sister!