I am sure by now you have heard about the Entrecard and SezWho tie-up. If not you can read up on it here. My thoughts on this partnership? Total sell out by Entrecard. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe this association will help Entrecard more in the long run than SezWho. I can say this with the assurance that has come from trying out SezWho for my blog and finding it just does not cut it. SezWho would not even update my thumbnail picture to insert in the comments posts and there was no help with answers in sight too. Now if the same comes to Disqus, which is what I am presently using on my blog, all you have to do is post your query on the forum and presto you will get immediate replies with the solution. That’s how efficient Disqus is. I have not tried Intense Debate so I cannot really vouch for them.
Coming back to this tie-up, I don’t mind networking and that sort of thing. As a blogger even I have to network from time to time be it even in the simplest act of commenting on other blogs and replying to the comments on my blog. As such there is nothing wrong with Entrecard and SezWho coming together to mutually benefit each other. The thing I do find wrong is Entrecard giving out rewards to those to who install SezWho on their blog and also for posting comments on a blog that has SezWho installed on it. In other words SezWho + comments = Entrecard rewards. From when did Entrecard go from being an online calling card, ads banner and link exchange program to doling out rewards to SezWho users? What I find even more appalling is Entrecard asking its users to uninstall JS-Kit, Disqus or Intense Debate from their blogs. On the Entrecard blog you will read “If you are currently using JS-Kit, Disqus or Intense Debate, you will have to uninstall them and install SezWho in order to participate in our new commenting system. Trust us though, you’ll be glad you did.” This really ticks me off. Entrecard deciding on the commenting system I am going to use on my blog. Why not decide on the blogs and everything else too?
The entire idea sucks from the word go. By doling out rewards to those who start using SezWho and also commenting on blogs with SezWho installed, Entrecard is only going to increase spamming and “good post” comments all around. A genuine commenter will leave his comments anyway and that too because he was something worthwhile to say to the blog/article writer or wants to point out something, certainly not because he is going to get Entrecard rewards. The same goes for a commenter who is doing it for the Entrecard rewards, he is not going to have anything worthwhile to say since he is only looking and doing it for the Entrecard points. Yeah, the increase in comments will certainly help SezWho and Entrecard because of their association, but no way is it going to help blogs who are only going to find an increase in their spam comments. I am not even sure how good SezWho is with regards to spam. Disqus I can vouch for is excellent. I very rarely get spammed these days since moving to Disqus. Just another good reason for me to stay on with Disqus. End of Disqussion!
Enter card has never been great to me, i never got too much from them. Ans i never used sezWho.
Will see if Entercard improves a bit or not.
Asif,
Entrecard on its own is quite good and a good idea implemented. Just don't like them deciding the comments sections and other things on my blog. Entrecard should improve even more with time and with more users.
I tried SezWho because of the Entrecard deal. I ended up deactivating SezWho because it crippled my blog, made it load like I was on dial-up. My understanding is this can happen pretty regular with blogs that have SezWho. Like you, I also couldn’t get my thumbnail picture to update. The idea is great, unfortunately the execution of the whole deal isn’t as smooth as the idea.
I tried Disqus on my blog a while back and had issues. I may have to try again. The only think I don't like about Disqus is it feels like I don't really own my comments. Like if I uninstall Disqus then all those Disqus comments are gone. Also, when you mouse over someones name in a comment, the link is to their Disqus profile, not their website, which I don't like. Both reasons it feels like someone else owns the comments on my blog.
Jim,
You should give Disqus another go. It works without any problems whatsoever. While I agree with you about the ownership of the comments issue, comments can be ported from Disqus though I have not tried it out myself. Another great addition to Disqus has been video blogging with Seesmic, which runs very well and efficiently too. All in all Disqus is a well rounded product with none of the problems associated with SezWho.
Jim, I can totally understand the frustration of trying out SezWho since I did try it out a while back and then too a couple of days were spent trying to fix it to get it to work but it was a non-starter. From what I have heard and read on the net the problems have not really been addressed and people still have the same kind of issues with SezWho which makes it a total waste of time for me.
I came in this morning to have a peek on your blog and by evening, you have got yourself a new theme. In fact, this is the same theme I'm using on my blogging contest.
Do you mind if I ask what;s the color code you use for the adsense background?
Yan
Thanks for stopping by Yan. Yan I use a software called ColorPic to select and pick the colors and then simply use the Hex Color Code in AdSense and other Ad Networks to match the color scheme of the theme on my blog. You can read up on ColorPic at http://www.nela.in/colorpic-review-a-great-piec…. BTW the Hex Color Codes I came up with for the current theme on my blog are FEF1D6, 513414 and 465919. You can use these Hex Color Codes, but ColorPic is a better option to download and try out since you can play with it more. Hope this helps. Take care!
Thanks, Rajiv. Appreciate it. This theme is nice, huh? It's the same developer of the current theme I'm using on thoushallblog.com.
Yan
Hi Yan,
Yeah the theme is good. I really like it for its speed in loading. A couple of issues though like no RSS feeds, no search box. Also, 3 column would have been better, but I guess that would make page loading take a longer time. The theme at http://thoushallblog.com/ is also good and pretty fast at loading too.
SezWho seriously sucks. It adds clutter to existing sites and the interface is second rate…
Totally agree with you Contamination and thanks for stopping by. Its too bad that people who have not tried alternates like Disqus or Intense Debate will be signing up for SezWho since Entrecard is promoting them so much, it's a shame.