5.20.2012

I DON'T HEART YOU

  First, this mornin's Zinnias--ain't they purty??






An' now--I don't heart you!  ( not y'all, but them folks below)


Yep--work is in mah face. I'se tryin' to git mah self hitched up an' OOT, but Aunty gits an email thas' pure solicitation an' now I'se off on a major meltdown rant.


"Heeeeey, Auntyyyy! Wow, like, we really your blog.  We think we can work together to increase your traffic and maximize opportunities for Aunty and  *&*&* (their platform). Take a look at us at *&*&*. We'd you to join our community.   Sharing your life can be a rewarding career!  We integrate your creative content to build a multitiered  identity across trending and emerging social media. Oh, and check out this infographic to see how other bloggers are cashing in on their content."






Listen, I got yore number. Drone that ya is, ya' throw yore seine  over the innerwebs lookin' fer every scrap of content that might be monetized.  Take note: Aunty doan wanna be no blog slog, chained like a galley slave to the oars in some global market warship, hackin' away in the wee hours at market-targeted "content." 

Iffin'  sharin' "my life"  becomes  mah career, what's left of mah life?   I begin to suspect that in this privacy starved world, the idea of private time, a private / personal life  is goin' the way of the dodo bird.   If TSA done looked at the label on yore BVDs, whas' left to be private?  Thang is, iffin' the only me is the me that the whole world gits a piece of, ain't no "me' in me. All I'se sharin' is the marketed me--the careerized me.


I'se had this rant afore...but recently two other bloggers I read got theyselves monetized.  One at least had the decency to say she's gonna keep her $$ blog an' her personal blog separate. But ya' know that ain't how it'll be.   The personal  blog will subtly refer to the items on the $$ site...an once again readers ain't fer pleasure, but fer cha-CHING! 

 I ain't got nuthin' against makin' money-- I'se an unapologetic capitalist, but I'se so weary of  the whole world bein' about makin' money.  Uncle say it be on account of the economy bein' such a horror that folks is clutchin' onto anythang that moves. 


Iffin' y'all stop by the Porch fer a glass of lemonade, I doan wanna be thinkin' about how I can slice a shilling off yore hide. 


Philosopher Josef  Pieper  wrote a book called Leisure as the Basis of Culture.


His basic idea is that only when folks have leisure time--non-money makin' time- they create the stuff that holds a culture together: Opera , art, cuisines, literature, dance ...an' genuine relationships that hold up  based on a shared  life outside of the bidness of bidness, do they have loyalty, community, an' finally, love. 


If we's become a society that looks at each other as jes' another meal ticket, we might as well turn out the lights.


12 comments:

darkfoam said...

Yeah, I've stopped visiting a few blogs when they started writing about products and putting adds all over the place.

Anonymous said...

Interesting how many of those I get on my relatively new not known beyond a certain haiku group blog, even my spare pages. A lot of outfits are out there seining all the time, it seems.

Guess they really tripped your trigger - long post for someone trying to go out of country ;).

S~

Debora said...

Well spoken. I'm going to look up that book. No monetizing for my blog either!

Doom said...

YES, Ma'am! :)

Some things are only worthy of being given freely. Next they will try to monetize love(tm).

I am in total agreement. There is another reason I stay away from monetizing. When your selling sugar you aren't allowed to tell people there are certain applications of it that are not good. You've sold your rights to free speech, well, if you want to make the money. Though sometimes even if you want it, through contracts and such, you really can't tell the truth or speak your mind.

Google really keeps pushing that. If they ever force it I will quit blogging. If you see my place monetized, it was quite by trickery and I will get that resolved. They put a button I almost didn't see, pre-clicked, at one time... to monetize. Monster tricky brats.

moi said...

I can't imagine "monetizing" my blog. For what? If I blogged for business, okay, but I don't. I keep my blog strictly for water-cooler purposes.

That being said, if someone desires to start a blog to make money—offering advice, say, or serving as a shill for various company's products or services—have at it, even though sitting back and collecting pennies for stupid ads is, well, stupid. Personally, I need to feel like I'm actually MAKING something--that my body and mind is in service of my purpose-- and not just push a bunch of figures around or try to snatch them out of the ether. But I guess as long as no force or out and out thievery is involved, these grubby lil' blobsters can have at it. I won't play, though.

BlazngScarlet said...

Money ain't the end all be all.

Nice rant Aunty ... and I couldn't agree more!
I've been at this for 7+ years and my life is not for sale.
To anyone.

Anonymous said...

Auntie I agree. It taints the blog.

Pam said...

I totally agree, Aunty! And have almost quit reading quite a few blogs because of it also. I don't mind the little ads that show me that Google knows what I've been surfing for ... but I don't want to be clicking on ads on other people's pages.

MEANWHILE, Has anyone heard from Troll? I can't believe he hasn't felt compelled to write about this double-winning horse who might go all Triple Crown on us! Troll, where are you?

Aunty Belle said...

All,
huff puff--packin' now...sorry I cain't answer each comment.

I rush to say that I ain't talkin' about blogs that have some ads on the margin. Or even when some folks link to their own professional services--thas' not itchin' me so. All y'all who emailed me--not talkin' about y'all.

What I mean is them blogs where the CONTENT --what they's talkin' about--is directly meant to gin up sales. This means, whar' they used to jes' jabber about their lives or ideas, now their jabber is crafted toward sales of their advertisers or "partners."

If my blog carries adds/ links to Zappos, fer instance, then all mah content suddenly is about shoes, shoe shoppin', etc, now the blog is jes' one big ad!

grrrrr.

WE MISS YA' TROLL-Man!!

y'all is the dearest!

czar said...

Back when I first started my blog, I monetized it . . . for about 3 seconds. Because my blog is -- let's face it -- an ad in itself, all the ads that popped up were those of competitors. No, thank you.

SophieMae said...

Dawgawn, has it been almost a week already since you said you were going to Spain in a week?! (All week, that song has been in my head. You know the one... well, I never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music...) 8-] Hope your time away passes just as quickly FOR US.

grins said...

That's why I closed down my other blogs. Way to many emails and offers. I'm sorry I didn't tell every one, but one day I just got tired of answering so much stuff and some how every time I made a post I got an email for every other person that made a post.
You did right as far as I'm concerned. It's a hobby not my life.