What do you all think of blog awards? For example, this Premios Dardo award that has been flying around lately.

Do you accept them graciously, and assume they were given out of true good spirits and respect? Or do they bug you because they carry an obligation to do a bunch of cross posting, notifying, etc. that takes you away from the real purpose of your blog and may bug other people. That is, do you think of them as honest acclaim, or blog chain letters?

I am very interested to know how everyone reacts to and handles "awards" like these.

Message modifié par son auteur, Jan 13, 2009, 7:36pm.

It depends.
I think if I get one and it's a relatively slow period in my life, I'll "play" along and do the crossposting bits...but right now, when I'm in school and working and life's a bit hectic...I don't care. I feel fuzzy and thank the person who gave it to me, but I ignore it and "break the chain."

Honestly, that's what they feel like to me. Chain letters.

I see them as chain letters. If someone really likes or is interested in something on my blog, usually they comment and we have a "conversation."

I say "thank you" and don't continue the chain.

I think it's very nice to be thought of in such a positive manner.

And I hope that the passers' on of awards understand that not everyone has the time to continue the chain. Students, for one. Mom's with sick children for another. Not to mention all those ARC obligations..., in-laws in the hospital...

Message modifié par son auteur, Jan 13, 2009, 10:16pm.

I'm always pleased if someone thinks well enough of my blog to give me one of these awards. I do assume they are sincere, and I thank them with that thought in mind.

However, like others, I do break the chain. My coblogger and I are pretty committed to keeping our blog focused on reviews, recommendations, and giveaways, so we generally don't do memes, awards, and such. When these awards are going round and round the Internet, I for one get a little tired of seeing them, and I don't really want to add to the noise--or use up valuable reading time posting and linking.

I'm guilty of breaking the chain too. At first I was thrilled, but now I do look at it as a chore to go through all the reposting, etc., especially if I don't know some of the other bloggers well, I feel kind of awkward passing it on to people I don't very well yet. I thank them, post the banner and that's the end of it.

I'm another chain-breaker. I really am flattered when I get one of these, but as the owner of a very minor blog I feel a bit presumptuous "awarding" what really is a chain letter to people I think are much more awesome than myself. Plus, I have been trying more and more to keep my posts more focused, other than the Sunday Salon meme I still participate in.

I actually ran into a question of blogger etiquette on this today. I got my first award, this Premios Dardo, since I decided to stop participating in these. And I couldn't decide which was the right thing to do: (a) leave a comment on the person's blog thanking them as graciously as possible and explaining I would break the chain, or (b) do a post on my blog thanking them and breaking the chain. It seems like (b) would be nice in that it directly promotes the giver of the award, which I would do as a thank you, but it also makes it seem like I'm taking the award without following its rules, which seems almost selfish. Anyway I went with (a)...what a difficult and complicated life we bloggers do lead, ha.

This is all interesting for me. I did all the steps of the Premios Dardo because I didn't want to be a stick in the mud, but I was a little cranky about it and I felt guilty for loading up others with blog make-work. I even originally called my post, "Tag, You're It!" But then decided that was too snarky and decided to play it straight.

But now that I know I am not alone in some of my feelings about these awards, I won't feel guilty for breaking the chain.

I like nperrin's (#7) idea of putting a post up thanking the person, but not naming 15 others. I also saw someone who won it put up a post thanking the awarder and putting in a link for them, but then simply "awarding" it to "all the wonderful blogs I read every day" or something like that -- no specifics and no links. She broke the chain, yes, but not in a blatant way.

What other ideas do people have?

I also saw someone who won it put up a post thanking the awarder and putting in a link for them, but then simply "awarding" it to "all the wonderful blogs I read every day" or something like that

I considered that too. I also considered, in my thank-you post, "awarding" it to all my recent commenters' blogs, and encouraging people to check them out.

Which brings up another point. Almost all of the blogs I would give an award to, have already received one.

Makes it kinda hard to NOT to break the chain.

I always thank the person who gave me an award and do think they are being sincere. Do I want to tag other people, not really, but I feel bad since someone took the time to do this and award me with something. The least I could do is return the favour and continue the chain.

~ Popin

I haven't had a blog for very long so I feel flattered when I'm given an award and I also think they are being sincere. So far I have participated but I have received some that require you to give it to 15 other people. When you have that many, everyone in the blogging world will have received it in two days! It doesn't feel very special that way. I've never sent that many for any award. A friend of mine had a good idea where she thanked the giver and posted it on her blog and participated for her part, then she invited anyone else to join in and pass it on if they would like to.

I like the idea (and always feel flattered when my blog is listed!) but sometimes it becomes much. For example, when you're supposed to tag 15 people, it seems a bit watered down. Does it really mean anything when you are one of 15 people tagged? (I always name people whose blogs I do read, so it does, but it still seems watered down.) It's kind of like posting a blogroll, and I always have my blogroll on my site. Besides, if one of my regular readers is one not one of the 15 people I tag, will they feel bad? I hate hurting feelings, even cyber feelings.

I post the award and pass it on if I don't have a book review coming up already or if I've been tagged more than once for the same award. I don't tell them they have to tag and I sometimes just ignore the "rules" (name one person instead of 20). I do like the idea of community building but sometimes it seems a bit out of control. I, at least, only have so much time for blogging, and bestowing "cyber" awards is actually *not* the priority....

I think these are generally sincere and I felt pleased when I recieved them, but I posted three at once and as two were for the same award just did one set of links. I also didn't visit everyone and tell them, I just put the post up there. Most of us read each other anyway. I really don't mind if people break the chain and the first one had to wait a couple of months until I got around to it. It's a compliment, accept it in that spirit.