So here's an e-mail I received today:
Hoping you'll host a link to my blog on your site -- and not too proud to beg! ;-)[links redacted]
Lots more original art and commentary that pulls no punches. All a solo effort.
peace,
[name redacted]
After checking the blog in question out, I decided that there was nothing wrong with it, but that I didn't want to add it to my blogroll. So I sent the following response:
Thanks but no thanks.
Maybe I could have been nicer about it, but hey, it was an unsolicited e-mail. A bit later in the day I get this back:
Wow, nice snotty reply.I'm sure your "blog" will do well with more nice widdow kitty pix...
LOL
At which point I got annoyed. Talk about being unable to handle rejection!
So here was my response:
You know something? You need to check your attitude.YOU sent ME an unsolicited e-mail asking for a blogroll link. I could
have just ignored your request but instead I took the time to visit
your blog, read your most recent posts, and decide not to blogroll
you. I then sent you a short and somewhat flip, but not impolite,
e-mail telling you so.Your response is to call me snotty and make fun of the fact that I
post photos of the work I do for the SF SPCA on my blog. That kind of
response does not incline me to change my mind. It makes me think I
made the right decision in the first place.One of us has a problem, but somehow I don't think it is me.
It takes a lot of nerve to turn around and insult someone that you'd just asked for a favor.
Comments (2)
Good response. The cheap shot at your blog was unnecessary and says more about that person than about your blog.
RE: the blogroll idea itself. It's a very tricky thing, isn't it?
I had a hard time deciding if I wanted my blogroll to reflect what I actually *read*, or whether it was a polite nod to others who linked to my own blog. In the end I sort of sidestepped the issue by using Bloglines' public folder facility.
I was sorry to drop the links to bloggers (assuming they cared) that I greatly valued and read, but it seemed to me to be the best solution.
Posted by Sour Duck | September 7, 2005 1:34 AM
Actually, when I get that sort of message I usually direct their attention to my link policy.
Blogroll space is at a premium, I'm always kind of baffled when someone expects a spot on your blogroll just because they wrote. But clearly, they are too new to the form to have figured out how it all works.
Mind you, a lot of blogroll requests I get are from people who just aren't doing anything that interests me at all, which is even sadder. I very often just treat those as spam, even if they really aren't. I don't have to tell people to bugger off just because I don't feel like linking to them, but I don't owe them a link, either.
Posted by Avedon | September 13, 2005 2:57 AM