I have an idea, let’s get all the whining, bitching and well meaning dissatisfaction out of the way BEFORE this competition starts. The competition is going to bring out the worst in people at the end. The usual tricks will come out… cut and pasted blogs, 201 word long blogs about the cutest kitten in the world, latching onto divisive topics or pop-culture and then writing a blog about how exploiting such subjects for points is cynical and stupid. There is no question that this site asks the most time for the least reward of almost any scholarship. I happen to think that most of the discussion and personalities are worth it without the money, but somebody here to win feelings are going to run pretty high.
After the whole deal is over we can go back and read this blog, and maybe some others if my idea catches on and see some predictions or see that all the discussion has been done and move on with ourselves at the end of the contest. Hopefully any wounds will have time to harden into scars and we can take pride in those we received and handed out now instead of resorting to eye gouging and shin stomping at the end.
I frankly hated seeing the end of the competition turn into some kind of high tension bitch fest peppered with occasional heart felt, though un realistic, ideas for change. We fought about who’s blogs should be worth points. We fought about who was being the most mature about winning/losing the competition…
If you are here to win, fine, but know that you are going to be writing 2 or 3 blogs a day and leaving at least a couple comments. You will catch flack if these aren’t up to snuff. Some of us like to hold BlogressiveU (ganked it, and I will keep using it) to be a step above. We like to see quality blogs and interesting thoughts. Some people will just say that your blogs are shit and shouldn’t count because they don’t like you and want you to lose points. In all honesty, those of you here to win are probably gonna ruin the last month or so for everybody. The fact that you spent countless hours typing and commenting and thinking for a slim and diminishing chance at $500-1000 is going to come crashing down on you like a steel I-beam made of numbers. Just try calculating the pay per hour, or thinking that at least half of your blogs could have been used as essays on other, less cluttered scholarships.
Don’t get me wrong though. I really like this site. I really like that they have a scholarship. It keeps people coming and hooks them long enough to keep them here, but competition always ruins people. Thank you ProgressiveU for this forum. I certainly appreciate/enjoy it. Thank you for giving those of them that type their little fingers raw a bit of money for their trouble. Oh, and thank you for letting me say fuck. This is so far the most intelligent and interesting blog site that doesn’t mind when its members curse up a storm. I bet it doesn’t get you on the welcome page, but what the hell…
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Actually, I just joined this site yesterday. And yes, it was because of the scholarship. So I don't really know what it's like at the end, when everyone gets really competitive, but I almost have the feeling it's going to be fun to watch. I'm not going to too competitive, so I probably won't win. I also don't really care if I win, I just like to read people's thoughts on important issues...and I think it's funny to see people get so angry that they can't tell they're being ridiculous.
Ciao, Janna Lynn
Very nice. You made it onto the front page despite your language.
I agree... I sat out at the last part of the last contest because things were getting so... out of hand. I'm still waiting to see if any of the suggestions were taken to heart, though (and then shortly after I write this, something POPS up...crazy).
~C
Visit my blog.
And now we have a voting mechanism, nice! Good to see some of the suggestions coming to fruition. I think Fanaile Essence wanted the voting system, no? Could have been someone else... there were a lot of suggestions from a couple of people at the end of last contest.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
Yes! I had suggested some sort of rating system for the blogs, and Art had replied that they were working on it.
It is so nice to see it happen.
This really is the first tangible evidence that although we might complain about things, they really are trying to do their best to make this site for and about us - the users.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
What you have written is a true statement, and it's amusing to read too. lol! I think those who are true to the scholarship will ride it out to the end despite the bastards and bitches who will try to bring them down. It should come down to a human reading some of the top blogs and deciding not in a matter of hours, but a matter of days. They have a month at most in my book otherwise, there is gonna be a problem.
Cheers-
-Marty
eye gouging and shin stomping at THE END.???!!!
I have been growing my thumb nails, and fitting my heels with mountain climbing spikes in preparation for the BEGINNING of this season. Start as you mean to continue, that's what I say. There's gonna be some learnin done round here.
PS: Congratualtions on making the front page while throwin a good old fashioned fuck into the mix. That put's my little conspiracy theory to bed. But now it just begs the question: What about one in the title? Ante up my friend.
I have to applaud ProgressiveU for not wussin about like so many other blog/forum sites who just grab their ankles and squeel girlishly for the censors. Thank you for having the testicular fortitude to stand upright and protect our right to express ourselves however we see fit, and not condescending us like the language fascists hosting most other sites.
I salute you.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
Three cheers for the comment, Tuffgong!
On a side musing: We really need a comment cheering option as well. While the blog voting is cool and all, I've realized that some of the best stuff is to be found in the comments. They deserve proper recognition as well.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
Now they have a voting option too? The process is getting too complicated~
I disagree. This means that "201 word long blogs about the cutest kitten in the world" will get the rating they deserve. It seperates the wheat from the chaff. Instead of rewarding people for writing blogs with no more thought involved than would be required to take a dump, people who actually spend time writing something of substance will recieve the recognition they deserve.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
Hear hear! Not sure how much effect it'll have on points, though.
~C
Visit my blog.
I like being able to rate posts, and I think it gives a little more insentive to write high quality posts, rather then slapping together as many (random, uninformative, and poorly written) posts as you can.
I am stoked about the voting. Now I can see which blogs are good and which just attract reads and comments because of cheap controversey.(selfish, yes) Plus I can see which blogs are worth reading. I am not real worried about points, but now some of the people who have been skating by on lame blogs will see that their content needs improvment, and I can see where my content needs improvement. I really hope people use it honestly too. It is anonymous so hopefully a good blog will get good votes and a bad blog bad votes despite who may be voting.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
I like the rating system too. It also tells you how much progress as a writer you are making or how much progress you need to make up for. And I know that the scholarship brings out the worst in people, but if we didnt have it we would not get as high quality writing. Plus the people who do write quality blogs and spend a lot of time on here really do deserve it.
Francesca Chambers
I am betting that we get petitions to leave all blogs without at least 3 stars out of the point rankings, or maybe multiplying the rating number by the points we get for posting a blog to determine how much it is worth, or is this all covered in the new rules blog?
I hope there won't be many complaints about being picked on and getting low votes all of the time because they are conservative/disliked. I also hope people wion't vote based on whether they agree with a blog and vote on how it is written and if it is a unique idea.
Just like in the real world we are being given power to vote and we need to use that vote responsibly and intelligently.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
Well, as with everything else, I think there will be people who will abuse this feature and others who use this feature wisely. Hopefully, the system will only be used to help gain exposure to those posts with high ratings until a point system can actually be decided on and implemented with the ratings.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
I think that the lowest rated posts shouldn't be counted, because by and large, they will be pointless posts. However, the rating system isn't mentioned anywhere in the rules as far as I know, so who knows what's going to be said about it. However, they DID say that previous winners cannot win again. That should eliminate the problem people had with that last contest.
~C
Visit my blog.
I would love to say that people would not gang up on each other, and so the posts with the lowest votes would not count. HOWEVER, after the nitpicking I saw at the tail end of last season, I have lost that trust in users. Not all, but it only takes a few to ruin it for everyone else. You know? Comments and reads are the best way to do points because you have complete control over comments, and people, even if they dont like you, have to give you a read to leave a comment.
Francesca Chambers
And let the blogging begin.....I'm excited to see if it gets as out of hand as last semester~
Peace n Bike Grease~Sara
I think it will. It seems like race is gonna be one of the big issues this go around.
According to the new rules any past winners are not eligible to win this competition. I myself am not taking part in the contest. Actually I will be deleting my account here soon and making a newer one. I'm just going to be here to be relaxed and not as high tensed as last competition.
http://www.colbertnation.com/
http://www.NRA.org/
Why is it so important to curse or have the freedom to do so? I thought this blog was inspired and well-written, and it definitely beats all those out there that obviously are just written for a few bucks. I guess I don't get the point of using fowl language to get the point across, but that's just my opinion, and I'm happy if you're happy that you get to say the word. I read this blog after two completely redundant blogs that didn't even consider what punctuation was, and I almost quit until I read this post. Competition, and intelligent competition at that, is what will keep this scholarship blog alive.
Refer to this blog and read all the comments if you want to know why it is important that we are allowed to use supposedly 'fowl' language. It will save us reiterating what we've already said on the subject.
http://www.progressiveu.org/215518-offensive-and-sad
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
Capital suggestion my good man, simply capital.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
very nice. keep it up.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/man-in-trouble
I think that if people are here just for the scholarship money..then they ought to try harder with other ones. Granted the only reason I saw this site was b/c I'm losing my existing scholarship (HOPE for the GA peeps), and was on fastweb.com to find ways to get money for college. What caught me was the type of blogs that they wanted posted. Wow.. a blogging sight that makes it easier to share opinions of the world today...and they also offer money to those whom are desperate for it. However, winning a contest like this, with so many people, is a long shot..and in my opinion..not worth it to try..if that is all you are trying to do. What when this contest is over, you're just going to stop commenting and blogging? Chances are, you won't win if the only reason who are here for is that sole purpose. I'd like to think that the person with the most heart, the most interest in this, and the most insight in the world today will win... But then again, I am sure that there will be some people with out a social life who will just make the same hundred's blogs over and over again..and end up winning the stupid contest...and if that is the case...I hope they are happy...because it is obvious that they got more out of this than the money...
I did not think that this competition could turn ugly but I guess you have experiences that first hand. I am trying to post things that would interest highschool/college students to get them interested in replying. That is the point of the competition right?
I am a 34 year old mother of 3 returning to school and would like to win just as much as the next guy and beleive me just because I am older doesn't mean I don't need it more. Cutting and pasting someone else's blog is deffineately wrong but just because someone's ideas aren't awe inspiring, remember we are not all in the same shoes but we are all after the same prize.
Don't try and post necessarially what you think people want to read. Post on issues that you think people NEED to read. Most people our age dont want to read about politics, but they need to.
Francesca Chambers