Am I being downvoted on Reddit simply for posting my own links?
So, what's the problem with self-promotion again?
(July 26th, 2007 / 3 comments)I've been submitting all of my blogs to Digg, Reddit, del.icio.us and Stumble. The goal is to get a few eyes on my site that wouldn't have seen it otherwise. I know that nothing I'm writing warrants a first-page placement on any of those sites and I have no delusions of such treatment.
But I've noticed that on Reddit in particular, as soon as I post a story it is almost instantaneously downvoted. One Reddit user was kind enough to give the motivations behind his downvote for my sexual identity post.
"Blogspam. Self-promotion. And honestly, really not that interesting to me. Downvote."
Ouch.
Please understand that I'm not coming down on this particular user. He clearly states that he didn't find the post interesting - fair enough. This implies that he actually read the post, which I'm happy about. No complaints there.
It was the "self-promotion" part that caused me to wonder. This is a brand new blog with no regular visitors and no real audience (yet!). How else does one suggest I build this blog's readership without self-promotion?
I've also noticed how quickly my submissions are downvoted in most cases. Most users aren't so kind as to leave their thoughts, but I can only guess that they haven't actually read the posts, given that they've downvoted me within 30 seconds of my submission.
Am I really not "allowed" to submit my own pages to these social sites? Again, I'm not expecting any amazing returns - and I don't think Digg or Reddit need to worry about my "blogspam" clogging up their databases. So what's so wrong about putting my content up in a place that's free and visible to millions?
I'm sorry! I never realized that I was supposed to sit on my hands and pray to God for a miracle every time I wrote a post instead of actually doing some work to promote my site! Please, forgive my ignorance of your ridiculous standards!
I'm going to keep submitting my own stuff for the moment. The chances of anyone else randomly finding my corner of the web and submitting me is too slim and I don't see what could be so wrong about trying to promote something I've worked hard on.
Bring on the downvoters.
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Found my way here via reddit (homeschooling post). I like your site design.
Don't worry about the self-promotion thing. It is not against the terms of service. Some users might downvote you for it, but there is nothing you can do about that.
If you write articles that people find interesting, you will find they don't care so much about self-promotion.
Thanks for the encouragement, Matt!
The average user downvoting things because they're self promotion has someone else to do their promotion for them -- i.e. they're sitting in a cube somewhere acting holier than thou because they're coders and not in marketing.