The Ever Important Buddy List

I am what my husband lovingly calls a buddylist snob. My IM lists, my address book, my friend lists on Facebook, MySpace and here on ProgressiveU aren't chock full of people as are many others. Those that have a place on such lists have, for one reason or another, earned that place. If I don't know and like you, your friend requests on Myspace will go rejected. If I don't recognize you on IM, your attempts to gain my attention will be ignored.

On ProgressiveU, the buddylist has an even more important role. It's been dubbed the "list of people whom I read religiously." When I log on, new posts by the people I've added to that list get read first. During busy contest times (outside of moderating necessities), they're the only posts I read. And they are, quite often, the only ones that get comment aside from the general moderation type things (check spelling, read the FAQ, space space space, cite cite cite, etc). To me, it's a pretty important list.

These are the people that I hope to see fare well in the contest. The one's whose endeavors I support. Or, if you've joined the faculty post contest... the ones I think are freaking awesome and adore. You're the people who make me think, make me laugh, and who often make me look like an idiot. The few.. the proud... the adored. The 34 of nearly 50,000 that sparked my interest enough to make me add you.

So, being the buddylist snob I am, I really don't understand people that add any and everyone to their lists, who add absolutely no one to their lists or who feel they must repay an add to another's buddylist in kind. Do you truly enjoy reading those posts or are you just trying to be nice? Do you leave those posts confused as to why you even bothered? Do you only find poorly executed posts when you log on?

In the grand scheme of things, having that spot on the list really isn't that important (unless like me, you try to keep up with those people). You probably don't give a flying flip if you've made the list or not. But... in the contest scheme of things, that list is pretty important. Those who have been here for a while tend to view the buddylist in somewhat similar terms. You have to earn your spot. And once that spot is earned, you have our loyalty (up until the point you screw it up and have to once again prove your worthiness heh). We'll read your posts anytime they pop up on that Buddy Post list. We'll, quite often, comment on those or check back to keep up with the commentary. We'll check to see what you're reading and comment there as well. The recent post list is relegated to the "out of sheer boredom or necessity only" category.

And that translates to... points, of course! You get one point for every unique read of your posts. And you get 10 points for each comment you make. If you have 50 people reading your posts first and commenting, that's 50 points for you... in addition to how many ever comment points you're able to earn by responding to our comments or to the people that have responded to our responses.

In my two years, I've noticed that those who are frequently buddied are the people who tend to lead the pack where the contest is concerned. It's quite, quite rare that someone who isn't buddied often wins or comes close to winning (unless you are the nameless comment whore or nameless pitied soul from last contest in which you made the top out of sheer ignoration of the rules or sheer sympathy).

So the point of this incredibly long and quite likely boring piece is this.... use the buddylist wisely if you're in the contest. Add those you enjoy reading, those you wish to see fare well and make it a point to stop adding everyone just because they added you. Chances are that 90 percent of those people are no longer even around. When they add you, read a few of their posts. If it isn't your flavor, don't feel guilty for not adding them!

Take the list out and dust it off once in a while. If you do add someone and they disappear after a while, remove them from your list and reserve that spot for someone who challenges you to think, to persevere and to continually write the awesome posts.

Even during slow periods in which your read count is creeping along, it's likely that many of those reads are coming from the people who have added you as is much of the discussion. Return the favor. Reserve your list for those you want to see top that list with you. If nothing else, it will remind you that there is (even when bad spelling attacks en masse( hope, that there are still gems out there to fuel your addiction and that there is a point to continuing after all.