Found you via BlogExplosion.

Excellent points, especially on the commenting. When I first started using BE, I would just zip though sites as soon as possible. Then I started doing my best to comment on every blog I visited... it got a little ridiculous. Now, I've found that happy medium, where I don't watch the clock (most of the time) or comment excessivly. I suppose I've come to a point where I'm using it to find blogs I enjoy and thoughtfully participate in the blogosphere.

I hate the ratings system thing. It's seems so...unnecessary. I honestly wouldn't miss it if it disappeared.

These blogs are all expressions of soul and the tiniest taste every morning feeds me like a pat of butter on a roll.

Brilliant!

I just don't rate blogs unless I like them. If I don't like a blog, I'm not going to waste even more time there giving them a bad rating - I'll just move on.

I do try to read/skim all of the sites I land on, but I can only comment when I feel I have something to add - I'm not going to be like "Hey, got here through BE. Your blog is okay, NOW VISIT MINE!!!"

Hmmm, think I will jes' stick with MT. It seems highly capable of puttin' my crap onto the internet for the whole world to see. ;) I now know much more about something I knew nothin' 'bout, but fixin' stuff when it ain't broke ain't really my way of goin' through life. That might be the reason my primary word processor is still WP6.1.

A few things since I started and got over the initial interest.

1. If I don't like a blog, I click the panel to get the next one regardless of the timer. I just like BE for it's convenient random-browsing concept. If I get traffic, fine. If I don't, meh.

2. I've rarely rated a blog, and I save my comments for the blog itself. My blogs got a few '1' ratings. I care not. My blog is for me, and I like it. Let other people hate it.

3. I think it may change the overall flavour of blogging. People will be trying to squeeze the "punchline" into the first 10 seconds. I bet you'll see a change in writing styles.

4. If I see another f---ing Thanksgiving post, I'll loose it.

I personally found BE to hard to use. The few times I was in, no matter what I clicked it gave me results I didn't want. The uploading banner process was ridiculous for me, how many times do I have upload it and get it approved to stick? No matter how I followed directions I never got the elusive credits.
It did although give me exposure to blogs I might have not seen otherwise. I did like some so much I added them to my read list.
As far as commenting we-ll I am more of a lurker then a commenter unless I am moved enough to make a thoughtful and useful comment.
A review of a blog can not be effectively be done in 30 seconds. Myself I would not bother reading a review unless it had a certain citeria . I think the best reviewer must spent a couple of hours or days reading a blog. Only linking to archive posts as examples to back up the point. The if you are going to do a review of a blog then you should know the complete history. Unless this is done how would a reviewer know of a post that might so good that its unforgetable. People have bad days, bad weeks, bad months in writing and inspiration. I deeply feel that you have to dig deep to find the big picture.
I have been reading this blog since its first month of posts (blogspot days). I am sure although there are posts I have missed. I am sure there is something I missed out on.
I am not the biggest commenter here, but I am probably the reader who has been readin g it the longest. It counts for something doesn't it.

I just can't get into the concept of forced blog reading. I don't want a shitload of strangers surfing through my site and sucking up my bandwidth or using me to get credits. Most of the time the stuff I post is silly, but every now and then it's pretty personal and I like feeling that I'm among friends, not shouting out to a hundred strangers.

But then again, I'm weird. And you already knew that. ;)

I love you for this post...okay well, before this post.

Where is the nodding in agreement button?

I have discovered some wonderful blogs while surfing BE and I have received some very nice comments from other BE members. However, this rating thing is silly.

And the top ten list...do not even get me started. Who exactly decided that number 4 is better than number 7 or for that fact number 1,582
A few of my favourite blogs are in the top ten (yeah Buzz) but other favouirtes have never made the top ten. So what? It makes no difference. None.

If I like a blog I like it despite the rating. If I like a blog I comment (or sometimes ramble).

Yes, I am rambling...and I might back to ramble some more.

Oh and some of the blogs in the top ten have blog-keepers wondering...how the hell did that happen?
Trust me...I have spoken to one of them.

Finally, a post about BE that sums up my feelings too! I never rate blogs and I only leave comments if I feel I have something to say. And that's true even for my favourite blogs that I visit every day. So why shouldn't it be true for blogs I visit through BE? And personally, I am not so keen on the - hey, surfed here through BE, check out my blog comments on my own blog...
(Of course, I surfed here through BE and Blogmarked you!)

I agree with what you say. I have enjoyed BE just because it has given me some great new sites to read, and if I get some traffic from it as a side benefit then okay.

If people don't like another person's blog, there's no need to rip them over it. It's their blog, so they can do what they want. Just quietly move on and let them be.

Nice post. Guess I don't have to say I came to you via BE.

You couldn't have said it better, and I have not read the rest of the comments.

You are right on about the complainers - yeah sure, I don't need to read about the latest recipe or stitch, but someone else out there does! More than I'm sick of reading about politics I'm sick of reading posts that complain about political blogs.

And I do hope that BE gets rid of the ratings system... like Frac, I'm afraid that people will adjust their writing styles to accomodate the 30 second rule or to get a good score. I don't take ratings seriously because I have a feeling people only rate when they feel strongly about the blog (good or bad). The only way for to get me to respect the ratings would be to make them mandatory... and then in that case, I'd take my blog off and leave :)

Wow, did we both wake up on the same page this morning or what??

I like BE too. I didn't find you through them though ;d. Wouldn't miss the rating system in the least. What I am waiting for is the ability to surf only the categories I'm interested in.

I've bookmarked some great reads so far. So for me it has served its purpose.

This is mostly just me, another avid Blog Exploder nodding in agreement with what you, and several others have said.

Personally, I think Blog Explosion is great. I've gotten to meet some other great bloggers, and I kind of like getting a different viewpoint from my own. I must admit, I don't read the knitting blogs or the adolescent angst blogs as closely as I read the Mommy blogs, but is rare that I find a blog that I don't get something out of.

Beyond that, I will say that the rating system is pretty broken. I write a blog that is heavy on the political side, and I have gotten a lot of ones and negative comments because people disagree with my politics and appear to be incapable of entering an intelligent discussion about the issues.

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.

Well said.

You make a lot of excellent points in your post. I find I'm spending more time reading each blog, now that I've been BE-ing for a while. I don't earn as many surfing points or mystery credits, but I get to read some interesting blogs.

In agreement with your assessment here. I'm having issues with the clickage, though. I've written feedback, but they continue to blame it on me. That's pretty frustrating. I am getting errors saying that I clicked the wrong number (which I KNOW I didn't) and that I'm surfing "too fast" (which is rediculous because the button says "GO" and many times it's long after that because I'm actually READING!). Anyone else getting these error messages?

Nice thoughts, and I agree entirely.

Had to comment to let you know I read to the bottom :)

I've been wanting to subscribe to BE but I've been hesitant. I've heard bad things about blog elitism and what have ya.

I know it sounds cheesy but when people are rude for no other reason than to say that my blog is "boring" or "uninteresting" it makes me angry. Last I heard, I wasn't doing it for them and I tend to get angry when people are invited onto my lawn only to shit on my tulips.

I think I'll join anyway. There is a un-subscribe button right?

BE has done a good job so far I agree with you there. Don't complain if you don't like a blog! You have the choice right there to block from viewing it! So why complain? We all like different things. Some people don't want to see political blogs but I do. So the button is right there for you to block from viewing and you don't have to view it again and if it really bothers you block it and don't hang around for the 30 seconds and move on to the next blog:) It really is that simple. I like what they have done here at blogexplosion because you can block the blogs and I do not see a lot of marketing only sites like many of the web traffic programs are. There is a good thing going on here with this one. It is more content oriented which is partly do to the users they are more actively involved is what makes blogs and BE pretty good.

Now on the rating system I can care less if you all give me a zero. Yes, we have that competiveness but there is just to many cheats out on the internet. So it can be good and it can be bad. However, how a system seems to be working on a rating system is sometimes where I start from the bottom up or the top down. It's kind of like a critique if I like what they right I may look at the ones the rate good and then there are times I will look at what they don't like depending on who it is...

Oh well keep up the great blogging here. I liked your blog and this post.

Brandy, you should join. And if it's not for you, you can just delete your account and go on your merry way - no harm, no foul.

And - yeah, here I am, jumping on the bandwagon to say 'Buzz speaks for me.'

All I know is that I have some interesting visitors coming by (and commenting, when they have the time) on a regular basis now - whether or not I'm surfing to build up credits.

Seems like putting up with a few inconveniences (seeing subjects I don't care much about for 30 seconds, for example) is worth that...

I just joined BE and so far it's been a positive experience. I'm rating yours a 10, just because I can! I agree with all of your points. When I get to a knitting blog I just wait my 30 seconds and move on. Who cares if no one likes my journal? It makes me happy and that's what matters.

I concur with Michele's comment about some of the top 10 rated bloggers being mystified about how they got there. Someone just emailed me to tell me I'd gotten on there (by accident, I can only assume) and, when I looked at the list I found your site, which I clicked on and here I am. Very glad to have discovered you, btw.

If Kim is still wondering, I started to type that I've never seen an error, but indeed, it now says "Wrong click" in my Surfing tab in Firefox where I just moved to another site! I'm also confused as to how the credits work. Every once and a while, I "blogexplode" to some credit page where I have to enter in a special code. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me how it works, but it's just odd....

Also, while I agree with most of y'all that BE has been pretty good overall, I'm starting to wonder what I need to add to my blog to get a comment or a vote every now and then! I'm not really fishing for a whole bunch of comments, but it's nice to know what people think about the Zepfanman Blog. I guess it's because I use my blog more as a personal journal than a public forum.

By the way, Buzzstuff is a great example of BE success. I find myself coming back to this site often as many other BEers link to Buzz. I initially was drawn to the site from BIF IX...

I whistled that same tune a few weeks back, baby. And I'm usually still humming it. Except for that time I saw a fetus on a banner in the clickbar and lost my composure for a while. It happens.