Team Blogging and Multi-Author Blog Etiquette
May 15, 2008 by FaultlineUSA
Filed under News
We bloggers are pretty independent minded and we aren’t afraid to share our opinions with the world. Independence can be isolating but blogging should never be a lonely pursuit. The loneliness of writing is usually offset by the discovery of multiple social networks where we can relate to and collaborate with other bloggers of like mind. This usually begins with making it a point to comment frequently on blogs where we feel a common bond. Eventually, if we are fairly consistent and reliable in our work, some multi-author blog owner or editor is going to invite us to join his or her team as a contributor. That’s always quite an honor as-well-as a big responsibility.
Team blogs are as varied as each blog owner’s personal whims. Some team blog owners are quite laid back and trust the judgment of each contributor as to when, how, and what to publish. Other team blogs have strict rules and some, with numerous contributors, have posted rules as to when, how, and what type of material a contributor can post.
The first rule of thumb is to get familiar with the team blog where you will be a regular contributor. Familiarity means reading as-well-as commenting on other contributors posts in that particular blog, and learning what the expectations are for contributors.
Some team blogs are set up for each contributor to post weekly or monthly. Others leave it completely up to the contributor. Some team blogs are small and intimate and contributors stay in close contact. Others are big and more formal with less individual interaction. Both kinds of team blogs can be advantageous to bloggers.
Small team blogs are often set up to aid individual bloggers in keeping a blog alive while the blog owner has to take a leave or vacation. Reciprocity is the key here. If I ask a contributor to post in my absence, I had better be willing and able to do the same in return!
Cross-posting is posting the identical information from one blog to another blog. If I post an article on my own blog and then post it on a team blog, it is usually considered correct form to write at the top or bottom of the article “Cross-posted from MyBlogName” and hyperlink it to the permalink of my blog article. Warning: If you cross-post one article at too many places it can be considered spamming. If you’ve cross-posted to two or three blogs, some bloggers put at the end of their article “Cross-posted to” and list the other hyperlinked blogs where the article is posted.
What to do about comments? I’ve noticed that it has become common practice for some contributors to redirect comments from the team blog to the blogger’s blog. That makes it far easier for the contributor to respond to comments, but I’m not sure it does much for the team blog. This is a decision that should be left up to the owner or editor of the team blog.
Since I’m a contributor to several team blogs and I also have contributors to my own blog, I’d like to mention two of my pet gripes:
Small blog owners should never harangue or threaten their contributors with comments like, ”If I don’t get some contributions from you folks, I’m going to shut this blog down!”
The blog is the blog owner’s responsibility and if contributors have not agreed to post at specific intervals, blog owners - get over yourselves!
Contributors should never write an e-mail to blog owners like this: “I have this fantastic article I want to post on your blog, but first I’m submitting it to the NYT or other big publications, and if it doesn’t get picked up, I’ll post it on your blog.”
Thanks for the compliment contributor! That’s more information than I need to know.
The primary key to being a good contributor is to drop your ego and maintain a sense of common purpose.
A Team Blogging Environment for Multi-Author Blogs is excellent article on team blogging, using the restaurant metaphor, from The Reader Appreciation Project.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Multi-author blogs are not so different when it comes to the restaurant mentality. Authors are in charge of their own section, and in charge of their own readers (customers).
If readers want to leave a tip, it’s through comments, ad-clicks, and links.
With a team environment, however, an author sees the entire blog’s readers as their readers. A reader who comments on one post might as well be commenting on their post. A reader who is dissatisfied with one author might as well be dissatisfied with all authors. And a reader who expresses love for the site, also expresses love for the individual authors. . .”
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Being a newb and not very smart I assume I haven’t done anything wrong… Jenn has been far and above the most helpful and guiding light I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.
Not really knowing the ins and outs I trust other bloggers to grab anything of mine they like, with a link back of course…
I gotta agree with you about Jenn. I’ve worked with her for quite a while now and I have to say it has been a pleasure. I trust her judgment and I agree with her direction. I’m glad I’m a part of this blog!
Jenn has been great and very helpful to me too. I think we are all in a sense “new bloggers” as quickly as the blogging world is changing. It’s impossible for one person, with the exception of Jenn, to keep up with all the new innovations!
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. Buffoon, and Faultline, as our newest collaborators, you all have been wonderful additions to our team. (And no, I would not know where to begin in keeping up with all of the new innovations - there are literally new technologies every day, it seems.)
Barb, this is a very good article, and very useful. If you don’t mind, I’m going to add it to our “about” information in the next few days.
As for the comments…it has seemed to me that it is good to keep them in the blogging community, but I’m open to trying something new on that…if someone can figure out the technology for forwarding comments to another blog (Ron? Esteemed IT Guy?)
Hmm, where do you want to forward comments to? I’m not sure I understand what you want to do.
Ron, we were addressing this paragraph of the post:
I suppose the way we would do this would be to close the comments on the cross-posted article, and add a link to the bottom of the post back to the original post for comments…? That is, if we decide we want to do it that way. I don’t think Barb was necessarily calling for a change - she was just mentioning that there are options to be considered…right Barb?
I don’t think redirecting comments would be a good idea. If you manage to get comments, the commenter is going to look for additional comments in the same place. If his/her comments are somewhere else, that makes it more difficult.
Cross posting has its advantages and disadvantages. I think that if the author wants the comments on his/her blog, he/she can copy them over so readers there can see them. But comments should remain on the blog where the commenter made them.
Sorry but I’ve been gone for the last few days so couldn’t respond.
Regarding comments: No I wasn’t asking for any changes. Personally I don’t think it’s a good idea to close or redirect the comments for a couple of reasons. (1) It isn’t good for the team blog. (2) If I’m reading an article on the team blog I don’t want to have to leave the page and comment on yet another page. I want to leave the comment exactly where I read the article.
If I’m cross-posting an article to another blog the only way I will know if there are comments left is: (1) to periodically go back to that blog and check, or (2) be the first to leave a comment on that article so that I will receive an e-mail notification.
Thanks Jenn. Yes please add the article to the ”About” information. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I think on FHK, we’ll leave the “default” alone, which is that comments made on FHK will remain on FHK. It’s good to know, however, that we do have the option to redirect them. There may be a time when an author specifically would like to have all of the comments on a given topic in one place, such as for research purposes, and we’ll gladly oblige.
Also, for now, I’ve added a link to this post to FHK’s “about” page. I’ll be re-writing that, soon, and plan to incorporate more of it at that time. Thanks, again, Barb, for the great info.
Jenn