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A Hardcore Spanking, Web 2.0 Style

A Hardcore Spanking, Web 2.0 Style

Getting punished never feels good, regardless of your age.

Years ago I was banned from Digg when I created a second account to praise my submissions. Not realizing that I was violating the TOS of the site, I was quickly ‘banned,’ my primary e-mail address unable to access Digg to this day.

Then came the Pay Per Post debacle. Sure I made some cash, but my blog tumbled from a Google PageRank of 5 to 1. And I don’t care what people say, it does make a difference. To date, I have yet to climb back to 5, even with traffic growth and good linkability.

The latest technology spanking came courtesy of Twitter. After underutilizing the service for quite some time, I went on a following blitz. Unbeknownst to me, there is a follow limit of 2,000 currently in place.

All of these situations could have been avoided had I done due diligence. Whether or not you agree with these policies, one thing is clear: I need to start reading the fine print!

I’m a big believer that early adopters of new technology get the worm, so I’m quick to pull the trigger. But I’m starting to think it makes more sense to do your research, have a plan to leverage the medium and let others act as guinea pigs.

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What do you think?

If you’re looking for me, I’ll be in the corner with my dunce cap on.

View Comments (8)
  • Hey man, if you’re going to be an early adopter, you have to bite the bullet. As for myself, I’m never an early adopter. I tend to use the wait and see approach and that has worked out well. I also don’t do anything outside the norm so I’m right there with you with regards to letting others be the guinea pigs. Wouldn’t be better for people to sit back and laugh at those guys rather than laugh at you because you’re the example?

  • Andrew,

    I thought there was some magic followING to followER ratio that had to be met. In other words, more followERs wouldn’t limit you to 2000 followING. There are many examples of people on Twitter following 10 to 20 thousand people. They usually have a ton of followers too.

  • I feel your pain. I got banned from wikipedia. Complete accident on my part and quite embarrassing. Didn’t read the rules before I made changes.

    I think they’ve let me back by now. But I still sign in with great trepidation.

  • Yikes! I just recently got banned from Digg myself. Fortunately, I just started using the site and lost only a few integral sites.

  • I’m with you guys. Sometimes early adopters get the worm . . . sometimes they simply get a hunk of dirt. As someone banned from Reddit for sharing some of our site’s top articles, I know how it feels.

  • Andrew,
    I think it’s all about comfort zone and how far you’re willing to lay your balls out to get stepped on. Personally, if I feel I’m coming from right place w/ intent, and trying to provide good content to share that will enrich others, I’m ok w/ early adoption/ promotion.

    I almost consider it my duty if I think the information is important to get in front of the right eyeballs.

    It’s all about risk tolerance. I have high tolerance so will take risk. it’s just how I’m wired. different strokes.

  • I almost got into the “Pay Per Post debacle”, and I am so glad I didn’t. A lot of my friends have horror stories to tell, much like yours, of lost page rank. I know a girl who went from a rank 7 to a 1. My sympathy is with you.

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