Some my fellow tribesmen are using Triberr to kill blogging and it is not because your content is horrible, even though some of it truly is.
Stop using hashtags in your headlines.
What makes you think that sending out headlines populated by hashtags is a good idea, because it is not.
This is me shouting INCONCEIVABLE!
Those headlines look like hell and read worse.. It is alphabet soup and simply horrid. If you are going to pump out gibberish you might as well have fun.
Why not try one of these:
- Flying Butt Monkeys Attack Squirrels
- Spicy Food Hairy Nuts
- #^$@^$^Y#%%^^
- 123 Uses for Viagra and Female Alligators
- Your Words Make Flames Shoot Out of My Derrierre
I’ll lay odds that one of those five will be as effective as sending out “Toms, Drums and Mud #music, #drums.”
It is time to return to regular headlines and to stop the madness. Don’t make the monkey mad because believe me you wouldn’t like to fight with the mad monkey. You’ll lose.
And if by some chance you defeat the monkey in single combat you’ll feel badly that you beat up a monkey and even worse because the crazy people in PETA will sue you on behalf of the monkey.
What will your children say about this. How will you explain that you lost your house because you went bankrupt trying to prove you had the legal right to defend yourself against the mad monkey.
Besides the monkey has friends. You don’t want to face the monkey’s friends.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Change your ways or risk the wrath of the mean monkey and the scary clown.
P.S. If I share your post I am probably going to strip the hashtags out anyway because they really do look like hell.
Good onya for this post, Jack!
There’s a lot of crap floating around on Triberr nowadays. When I joined my first tribe, Anubis more than a year ago the quality of posts was very high. I actually had to change my blog format in order to get in! Now, all you have to do is look at the headlines and you’ll see how much hard sell, badly configured hashtags and gunk are used there. I think Dino should use his powers for good and clean it up a bit, eh?
Cheers,
Kris
Hi Kris,
Yeah, Anubis and the rest have changed a bit. It is not like it used to be. There is a lot more noise and the quality is questionable more often than it used to be.
But I still come across some very good posts, so not all is dead, just changed.
Jack,
I have used a hashtag in the title only a few times. Every time I have used one in my title it has been at the request of a sponsored post of some type. My personal opinion is that I think it would hurt your google ranking if you continued to do it. I think the spiders would read them as partial gibberish….just my opinion of course.
Aaron Brinker aka DadBlunders
Hi Aaron,
I think you are right. I think Google would “frown” upon it.
I’ve only just joined triberr today Jack so I’ve got lots to learn about it yet. I arrived here because I was doing a search on triberr to see what folks had to say. Seems like the consensus is that it it a very good place to be as long as people stop spamming ( not unlike any other place where self promotion is allowed hmmmmmm)
Looking at that mean monkey friend… I am NOT going to risk his wrath ho ho
Hi Karen,
Triberr is a wonderful tool and its usefulness has quite a bit to do with how you use it. I say that often but I have really found it to be true.
You SO made me laugh! So… this is an interesting conundrum to me; are people using Triberr to kill blogging, or has Triberr so enamored people that they’re losing commonsense? I used to really like Triberr but I’ve been feeling more and more uncomfortable about it… not enough to quit it yet, because I have to figure out my discomfort more clearly. But part of it is that it feels like it’s contributing to a lot of shouting, over-sharing & less engagement. Ooh – I think I just found the premise for a blog post I’ve been wanting to write!
To your point about hashtags; same thing with @ names in the title – again, they’re doing it because it makes the most instantly shareable without you (anyone) having to go in & edit the title (which most people don’t do anyway, from what I can tell). Me, I’ve used hashtags in titles when they’re relevant (eg if it’s a #measurePR recap, or if it’s an event like #give2max or whatever). Not otherwise.
Hi Shonali,
Common sense does seem to be missing. The methods we used to use to communicate with people are evolving and not everyone is keeping up.
Twitter has become much more of a broadcast channel than it used to be. Time was that you could tweet a link and your followers would go check it out but I don’t think we see the same sort of response to CTAs anymore.
Since I like to experiment I joined some more tribes and now have a reach of about 6.5 million or something like that. It sounds great, but I know I am not seeing the kind of response I would like to get from that many.
If ten percent made this blog part of their daily routine…
So I am trying to figure out how to rework and adjust how I use Triberr to see if I can make it more efficient and effective for me. I am still a fan, but just need to tweak it.
BTW, I edit headlines. I will strip out the hashtags and change the titles. I don’t do it every time, but it has happened more than once.
While I know full well that people can be spammy, I must agree with Shonali. Far worse than the blog article with a title littered with long, chcaracter-eating hashtags is the one that aims to get the guest author (or even the author and an organization – two @mentions) Twitter mentions by injecting their Twitter handle in the post title.
In fact, hashtags can be a very good thing, for organization, for reaching far beyond your/our own followers because they can assist in reaching those actively and passively following tags – who may not be following us in Twitter.
I’d like to show you my own private-beta stage hashtags optimization tool, sometime, and how people put it to use to do non-spammy things. Connect in G+ and Hangout soon?
Hi Saul,
That sounds good. I’d be happy to learn more about what you put together.
I agree, mate. Let’s ban hash tags in titles! It makes for terrible reading and it’s and so unimaginative and lazy.
Hi Si,
It just destroys the flow and rhythm of the words- can’t accept that.
Its the curse of the Internet. We’ve learned a hashtag might just make a post visible to more people so titles are littered with #’s and content is forgotten about. I think we all know what sort of shameless shills people are on the world wide web and anything (in their minds) to push a post a little bit more, they’ll try.
I don’t know that I ever used a hashtag as part of the title to one of my posts? I don’t think that I have. And if I did, the monkey would kick my ass.
Hey Jimmy,
Yeah, I think most of us are “guilty” of trying to promote our posts through multiple methodss, some not as clean as the others. I certainly have been a part of it.
But I am working hard on balancing the “need” as best I can.
That scary monkey and his clown friend are intimidating.
If you want to know who wins, the monkey or the clown, just watch Cabin In The Woods. It’s the be-all-end-all of which scary freak ghost clown psycho wins. OK I’ll tell you – no one. The Demi Gods come back and destroy the Earth. Same thing for Triberr or maybe just lotsa traffic.
And now you have given all those with a clown phobia yet another reason to hate on Bozo. What is up with that. 😉
I’ve not seen too many headlines with hashtags to be honest but I’d probably remove them too. Maybe the Triberr company I keep are more discerning. 🙂
Hi Tim,
It seems to be a recent development, not really sure when it started but I know I don’t like it.
There are several schools of thought regarding packing hashtags in headlines and whether triberrites should be doing it. I belong to the one that says it feels mad money awkward but it may be necessary on occasion. [grin]
Hi Stan,
Well I like to argue as both anarchist and purist but from a practical POV I understand it might be worth trying out. I probably won’t but it would be sort of interesting to see what happens.
Everyone mentioned the clown, but what about the f*ing monkey? I hate monkeys.
Hashtags are evil. Makes me think of hashmarks in your undies every time I read the term.
And isn’t “Spicy Food Hairy Nuts” listed on Copyblogger’s “How to write awesome headlines” post?
Hi Craig,
How can you hate monkeys. They are kind, gentle creatures. Well, most are the guy up above was abused by the organ grinder and is mad as hell.
Hashtags, hashmarks- both can be stinky.
Can’t say if the “Nuts” headline was stolen by Copyblogger or not. Might have to send the monkey to speak with Morrow and Clark. 😉
Seriously, how can someone hate monkeys!?
I have to admit. I would be tempted to click on that headline.
There’s a great post on ConversionXL that talks about which headlines work, and which don’t. Copyblogger is specifically brought up as an example. They tell you to do one thing, but the headlines they actually use to sell products are completely the opposite of what they teach.
Hi Eugene,
I ask that very question all the time. 😉
You have intrigued me with the story about that ConversionXL post, I Am going to have to look it up.
I’ve gotten to the point that I hate hashtags. They are one of the most abused and overused things ever. I get it – you want your post, photo, tweet whatever to show up in every single search known to mankind. Write better content and it will show up regardless.
Hi Kristen,
You’ll get no argument from me. They are abused and they get to be obnoxious. Some people are under the mistaken impression that they’ll serve as the bump that makes their content explode.
Don’t make the monkey mad, and don’t spank the monkey………….at least in public…….
I have noticed lately when I approve a post in Triberr but don’t do anything else, I don’t think it is going out. Have you noticed that?
Mr. Bill,
Hope you and your son are enjoying the new time together. I have noticed that Triberr has been a bit wonky lately. I am sure the “boys’ are working on fixing that.
And if not I expect they will be soon.
I agree. I usually either remove the hashtags or don’t share the posts. But, on the other hand, if the headline is really awesome, I’ll probably end up sharing anyway. It comes down to the discussion of how important headlines (and link bait) are.
Hi Jens,
Great headlines go a long way.
My blog posts are auto imported via Google Plus. They include hashtags that work well in the twitter space… and on my blog. I’m not exactly sure why you think this is a blogging killer? O_o
Hi Amanda,
It is not really a blogging killer, that was linkbait and is tied into a discussion I have been having with several people about headlines.
However the hashtags are problematic for myself and some others. Don’t know how many people dislike them, but outside of Twitter I find them disruptive.
There is something about placing them in the headlines that sets me off. If I share the post I usually strip them from the headline because that is not how I like to share.
People can do what they want. I am not saying that it is wrong to put them in there, just that I dislike it and that it sometimes impacts my decision about whether to read or share.
Who would win the monkey or the clown?
I honestly think twice about sharing articles with hashtags, especially multiple hashtags.
Hi DJ,
Good question. Angry monkey versus scary clown- a battle royale for certain.
The hashtags are just off putting.
Side note. I do like your headlines. One of the things I like/don’t like about Triberr is that it educates you as a writer. I’ve discovered that a good headline is mandatory and a great headline can make a post. Because of Triberr I’ve become more aware of what my weak spots are and my ‘crutches’ that I use.
Hi Trey,
I am with you there. Triberr has helped educate me in many areas. It is one of the things I am grateful for. It really has been wonderful.
Your title made me laugh. I also like monkeys.
Hey Trey,
I monkeys too, they are cool.
Jack, check out Triberr. Your post populated 3 times in my Tribe (Globespotting). Not sure why. That is one scary clown, dude!
Hi Ralph,
Don’t know why it did it other than Triberr recognized it as being 3x as important as other posts. 😉 Beats me, I am just your every day writer.
So true. Those hash tags are a blight on blog titles. You can always add hash tags to the tweet later.
Hi Carolyn,
Yep, blight is a good way to describe them.
“Spicy Food Hairy Nuts”
Hey, I just got a new blog post idea – haha!
Peeps better stop monkeying around 😮
Happy Monday, Josh : )
Happy Monday to you too Mark. Can’t wait to read your post.
All you really had to do was post a picture of that clown. Eek!
Hi Kate,
But I love the clown. 😉
While I agree that it looks bad, I don’t agree that they are killing blogging. I wonder, are they editing these titles just for Triberr, since the primary share there is through Twitter? It’s a smart idea, whether you think so or not, it can attract a lot of attention. My issue is not with how it looks for them, but how it looks in my Twitter stream. I usually just avoid sharing those titles, then it doe not effect me either way. BTW, if their content is crap, don’t syndicate them. It’s your Twitter stream they will be infecting.
Hi Mark,
Nah, not killing blogging at all- I went for linkbait and it worked quite well. Haven’t had a ton of comments but the traffic has been steady and heavy.
In concept I agree that it is a smart idea but I am not sure if it works out the way they want it to. It doesn’t make me want to read the posts, if anything it is off putting and that is not a good thing.
I don’t share everything that comes through because I don’t want my stream to look like hell. It is not as clean as I would like it now, but there are compromises we make to generate the additional promotion of our own material.
Ugh…That clown! That clown! I’m going to have nightmares.
Don’t mess with the monkey for face the wrath of the clown. 😉