My Manifesto on Blog Parties

So here's the deal.

source 

I like linking to blog parties. I like hosting the occasional blog party. They're a great way to interact with other members of the blogging community, but let's be honest...the main purpose of participating is to increase traffic to your blog.


I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I do think that there's a way to participate in a classy way.


I've heard some murmurings of discontent regarding blog parties from several bloggers, and I thought I'd share my personal philosophy on blog parties. My ideas may be different than many of yours, and that's okay. We can agree to disagree, right? Please don't send me hatemail. Seriously.


One of my biggest pet peeves about some of the parties in Blogland lately is that many aren't parties, but merely long lists of links. To me, the word "party" implies some degree of socialization. 


Example: If you showed up to a a real party at my house, dressed in your finest, consumed all the refreshments, and allowed people to compliment you repeatedly while you sat in the corner basking in the glory and not speaking to anyone...people would start to get annoyed. I wouldn't invite you back.


Why should a blog party be any different? I personally try not to link up to a party unless I know that I can take the time to visit at least two or three blogs on the list. Truly, if I can spend the time writing a post, adding a link to the host site, and linking up; then taking 5 minutes to do a bit of socializing won't kill me. It might in fact bring me a new friend or two!


That said, I think there's a big difference between linking up and doing a bit of visiting later on in the week and just linking and leaving. The same would go for returning comments left on your posts. It's taking me longer to return visits now than it did when I had fewer Followers, but it is something I make an effort to do. I don't expect someone with 700 Followers to get around to all 68 comments on their post, but it's nice for those of us with smaller blogs to take the time to return comments.


When leaving a party, would you just walk out the door, hop in your car, and drive away? I've also noticed that the number of comments for blog party hostesses are drastically smaller than the amount of links. Take a moment to thank your hostess for going through the trouble of creating a MckLinky list, writing a post, whatever. It's just the polite thing to do.


I hope I haven't offended anyone! I just wanted to share my thoughts on what may be a touchy subject.


{I'd love to read your thoughts on ways to make a blog party successful!}