Recent Blog Entries
Being Exclusive
Written by Scrivs on June 6, 2006
When we announced the Round 4 list I knew there was going to be some excitement and disdain for the simple fact that it is a lot of sites. 115 (yes we added 4 more and could quite possibly sneak a couple more in) members added in one fell swoop is no laughing matter and almost double our current member base so it’s only right for some people to be concerned about us losing our exclusivity.
It would be nice to admit that there is a plan on how much more we would like to grow, but to be honest we are starting to reach new territories now. We are starting to see submissions every round where the quality gets better and better and that was the “problem” with Round 4. There were just too many damn good sites to say no to. When asked what number we are going to take every round, we always respond by saying we never want to put a cap on quality.
I can understand when you see such a large number you may think that we are growing too fast, but if you sit back and think about it, we have only had 4 rounds in over a year. We only add sites when we are ready to grow and in between each round we have updated our site to try and improve the experience for our Members and Readers. Changes will be made further to this site in the upcoming weeks (as has been mentioned before) that will make communities more like communities.
We have to solve the problem of keeping relevant content within each community. Our biggest issue is definitely that design content can show up in the science community as an example. Once that is solved, our community pages become even more relevant. There are of course other issues that need addressing as well and we are looking into those.
It’s no secret that we want all of our communities to become the go to places on the web for that topic. Our next site update will extend that vision further by truly making 9rules a community for both Members and Readers to participate in. This also includes adding the best sites in each community regardless of community size.
We accepted 115 sites out of 700. That’s only 16.4% of the overall total so depending on your definition of exclusivity maybe we should’ve let in less. Technorati tracks over 43 million sites and if we pretend that only half of those are blogs that means 9rules contains around 0.00012% of the blogosphere so I don’t think we will be hitting the mainstream any time soon.
I was going to post some screenies of the new stuff, but I need to talk to the team first to see if they are ready to show themselves naked (it’s 3am and they are all sleep).
June 6th, 2006 at 3:35 am
If all of the sites you have just let in were in the same ‘community’ then maybe it could be seen that you are losing your exclusivity. However, as the sites are all from a broad range of subject areas you are still only taking the best from each area.
On the other hand when you accept 16% of all of the sites submitted that is a large proportion. It would be interesting to compare that to the percentages from the other rounds.
June 6th, 2006 at 3:58 am
It does not really matter how many blogs were accepted, rather it appears the quality of content has improved to an extent that a decent percentage made the list.
If anything that speaks volumes for the blogging community - to suggest such a number renders 9rules less exclusive is both arrogant and quite short sighted.
9rules is a network - indeed it’s a community.. communities grow and I for one hope the growth continues.
June 6th, 2006 at 5:20 am
[...] about how 9rules would handle so many blogs and if it would remain as exclusive as before. 9Rules explains their growth and exclusivity “It would be nice to admit that there is a pla [...]
June 6th, 2006 at 7:36 am
You should resolve this the way all disputes should be settled: a drink off.
June 6th, 2006 at 7:46 am
Regardless who gets in or not, I think for the people like me who were not lucky enough to get in, gives me more drive to improve the blog I have for next time.
If anything, it allows us to all put on our sceptical caps and dig away in places we may have ignored before.
As mentioned before, communities grow and should always grow to envelop new people and ideas. Congratulations to the people who did get in this time round.
June 6th, 2006 at 7:55 am
[...] Tags: 9rules, blog, internet. Er is weer een nieuwe ronde van 9rules voorbij gevlogen en 115 blogs mogen zich nu laten voorkomen als leden van dit speciale net [...]
June 6th, 2006 at 8:40 am
[...] t 9rules now since applying and being chosen to join. I like what was said in a post about 9rules’ exclusivity by Scrivs: “It’s no secret that we want all of our communit [...]
June 6th, 2006 at 8:48 am
I honestly don’t think you lose any luster whatsoever when it comes to your community, as long as you continue to take cuts from the top of the pool. There are hundreds of excellent blogs out there, you guys take the top, categorize them and make them easier to find.
Only when sites that don’t deserve to be in the mix get accepted will you lose your exclusivity. You are still the premier blog community around. That’s not going to change with 100 additions at a time. With blogs popping up by the hundred every day, you are going to only find it harder and harder to make your picks as the competition thickens.
June 6th, 2006 at 9:03 am
James, hearing that really makes us feel as though we’re building something extremely positive and special. I’ve read on other blogs that people say 9rules is impacting the blogosphere as a whole, where we’re making everyone pay more attention to their content and better their own writing, and just the idea that we’re impacting people’s blog quality is amazingly touching.
June 6th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Surely that just means the quality of blogs is improving. I, and many others, trust the judgement of those that decide who gets in, and after looking through the 111, I don’t doubt that every one deserves it.
Besides that, I expect a lot were sites that got turned down in previous rounds and have been striving to improve since. So really, it’s more like some round 3 re-submissions, some round 2 re-submissions, and some new round 4 submissions.
Bloggers are getting better, not the requirements getting lower. My 2 pence, at least
June 6th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Bluntly: Screw exclusivity. It might be difficult to incorporate all of the sites into a managable unit, but quality is quality - and that’s what 9rules is all about. And yes, quality is improving all around.
I found some really cool and informative sites via submission round 4 and I appreciate that very much. Despite all the reading we all do around the web, we always miss stuff. 9rules is the place to fill in those gaps for those who are online 24/7 and for those who are looking for a place to start. It covers its bases well.
For me, personally, submission round 4 showed that 9rules is here to stay, definitely.
There’s more to all of this, but I feel a post coming on … I’ll elaborate there within the next 24 hours.
June 6th, 2006 at 10:07 am
I can’t wait to see all of the nakedness!:X
And I do believe that you guys allowed in the perfect number of sites. It’s silly to be bitter when there’s so much incredible competition out there, and it makes me realize, “wow, you guys really are picking the best! If I get in someday, I know it’s because I deserve it.” For now, it just lets me know that I have some work to do.
Therefore, thank you for your current and, I’m sure, ongoing exclusivity. Although you may not realize it, you’re helping a lot of us (especially those who weren’t accepted) improve.
June 6th, 2006 at 10:37 am
This is a concern I had, but most of those 43million are shitty MSN spaces.
June 6th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Seeing these comments here makes me even more proud to be on the list and to (once I get my email, hopefully) be part of something in a small way that is changing the blogsphere. It’s a bad time when people throw the band of exclusivity being lost of quality being compromised without realising for those on the list this can be seen as a personal attack of their standard.
June 6th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Hi there! I was just curious as to how deep 9rules looked at the content of each site. I only ask because I realized that for my webcomic site, according to my stats, there was only 2 page views. The front page and my about page. None of the other content was looked at (or at least it didn’t seem like it was looked at!)
Granted there were 700+ sites to look at but we are wondering: Would 9rules even consider a webcomic in it’s community or is it a waste of time to try to apply again in the next round? Congrats to all who got in! Looks like great stuff to come for 8rules!
June 6th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I belive 9Rules did fine. They are still maintaining the integrity of the network perfectly well. Of course with each round comes more and more submissions, so it’s only natural for them to take more and more members as time goes on. So what the network may have more than doubled in size, because 9rules is setting higher standards for bloggers which is a great thing.
June 6th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Once more, and I am sure the 9rules team got my post the way it was meant. I didn’t mind to criticize the ‘whole 9rules platform’ and stated that clearly.
Exclusive… sure and the numbers prove this. Even not 300 blogs so far (R4 counted). Besides that 9rules perfectly does what it aims to do : provide a platform with great content for people ‘who don’t know where to start’. I also discovered/feedrolled great blogs over 9rules. And they are great. So are the new ones.
My main concern was the amount of ‘new blogs’. We all agree that is are a lot of blogs. Almost 17%. Would I buy 17% of the cars that are proposed to me when I need a new one (just kidding but I do love playing numbers). I had planned to write something more profound on this topic, but wanted to make sure my comment at Natalie’s blogs was not misinterpreted due to the ‘missing post’. So it was a ‘quick fix’.
Points I also wanted to integrate were fe. where is the Windows community (there still are ’some’ non-switchers just as there are great Windows blogs). Wouldn’t a ‘monthly submission round’ always for just some of the communities be more appropriate (also due to the relevant content ‘issue’). Every month a new group of communities. I think this would improve the dynamism of 9rules, it could even create a bigger intra-community interest among 9rules readers. But above all it would make it easier for the readers to follow up the new blogs as well.
Just some thoughts. I will go deeper into those in the next weeks, but will mail my opinion next time. Believe it or not,as much as I do enjoy every reader, my little blog doesn’t deserve/need all this attention. Maybe next time I’ll start something with a specific topic and have an editor.
Brendan, communities also grow with the input of non-members. I can hardly imagine 9rules not liking topics like those. And if not I think the reaction would have been totally different and 9rules would never have become what it is today.
June 6th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
I just keep hoping that when I check back, the number will be 116, and that my little blog will have squeaked in on the hair of its chinny-chin-chin. Ah well. There’s next time.
Keep up the great work guys!
June 6th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Two words: drink off.
June 6th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
How about a game of scissors, paper, stones?
June 6th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
[...]
This post refers to the blog post at 9rules entitled Being Exclusive written by Scrivs. Although I was not accepted to the community [...]
June 6th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Because of how lengthly my comments sometimes become, as you may have seen at Standards for Life yesterday, I have decided to post my comments in a blog post of my own.
June 6th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
I’m pretty sure I’m the only environment / sustainability site in the whole mix, so I’m still feeling pretty exclusive. Lonely even.
June 6th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
If 9rules is about quality weblogs, what ground rules or characters does one consider for acceptance? I did start a commenting spree here, but maybe other 9rules or followers, etc. have their own opinion.
June 7th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Hey Cristina Marie, I actually responded to your comment over there
June 7th, 2006 at 3:58 am
Are the additional 4-5 blogs added listed somewhere?
June 7th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
9rules rules. Period. It\’s been a great resource to me for a long time and while I\’m not so much concerned about the addition of 111+ quality blogs I\’m much more curious as to how many will be kicked out (today or over time) for not \”complying\” with the nine rules so to speak.
With more and more blogs IN the network how and how strictly is QA/house keeping followed through within the own 4 walls?
July 5th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
[...] ver loss of exclusive nature, it has even prompted Scrivs to post on the 9rules blog about being exclusive: "It would be nice to admit that there is a plan on [...]
July 16th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
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