A humble response from MyBlogLog!

Yesterday I blogged about MyBlogLog's recently announced Problogger contest which is limited to US based bloggers.I argued that by limiting the eligibility zone, MyBlogLog had made a serious mistake. I submitted my post to Sphinn and fortunately enough it was read by Todd Sampson, the co-founder of MyBlogLog. I am impressed with his humble response. Here it goes:

Thanks for the feedback Clement. We tried hard to make the contest at MyBlogLog international. But, at the end of the day, could not do so for legal reasons. We will keep trying to do our best to be open to everyone. Please continue to call us out when we don't get it right.

Cheers,
Todd

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Todd Sampson
Co-founder MyBlogLog

Todd, this is great! I now understand you. I hope that other MyBlogLog international members will also understand this explanation. I am of the view the legal hassles that prevented the internationalization of the contest should have been pointed out clearly in the Problogger contest announcement on the MyBlogLog blog.

Finally let me ask MBL to come up with an international competition before this year ends!

MyBlogLog goofs! Confines Problogger Contest to US bloggers!

As I woke this morning, I read an interesting blog post from MyBlogLog in which they have announced that they are running a Problogger contest. Part of the announcement reads

A few weeks ago we sat in our office and brainstormed on ways we could give our members a hand in their blogging efforts. We knocked all sorts of ideas around, the new blog-themed email signature being one of the ones that we chose, but our favorite idea was holding a contest that would 1-benefit everyone who participated and 2-give out a barrel-full of problogger-themed goodness.

::Robyn climbs up on her soapbox:: So, without further ado, I give you THE MYBLOGLOG PROBLOGGER CONTEST!

As expected, I was very excited with this news.But my excitement was short lived because a look at the rules of the contest indicates that

THE FOLLOWING CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR PLAY IN THE FIFTY UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (COLLECTIVELY, THE "ELIGIBILITY ZONE") ONLY AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED IN, AND A LEGAL RESIDENT OF, THE ELIGIBILITY ZONE.

Did they really knock all sorts of ideas around? I do not think so! By limiting the eligibility zone to the US like this, MyBlogLog (MBL) has made a very serious mistake. They should have realized that the blogosphere is a zone in which we have folks from all over the world. Confining this Problogger Contest to US residents will not go down well with residents of other countries. MyBlogLog is, in essence, sending out a message that MBL rates US based bloggers more highly compared to bloggers based in other countries. Other blog social networking sites will capitalize on these segregative tactics from MBL. MBL should have borrowed a leaf from BlogCatalog who run their own all inclusive blogger competition a few months ago. Ironically, that competition was won by an India based blogger, Narendra.

My League of Five for July 2007

My League of Five is a new feature that I am introducing on this blog today. This feature will carry a short review of five blogs or blog postings that have impressed me in particular month. The inaugural My League of Five posting includes the following:

1. Malawi Politics: This is a place where you can get the latest political news on Malawi. Somebody posted a link to this blog on Nyasanet, a discussion forum for Malawians. Upon clicking the link, I discovered that the blog has lots of information on Malawian politics. The author of Malawi Politics also serves as an editor for Africa Global Village.
2. Manchild:Roderick O. Solomon is the man behind this inspirational blog. I came to know this blog through Mybloglog. This blog really provides inspiration to brighten dark days and lonely nights when all seems lost. It is also interesting to see that this blog is not monetized.
3. Digital Dreams: This is a tech blog written by Sureshkumar Jeyakumar (I like the rhyme in his name). I visited this blog for the first time a few weeks ago.It offers great tech tips. I would enjoy it very much if Suresh can be updating it more frequently.
4. Rocky John Tayaban's blog: I came to know this blog through the BlogCatalog discussion forum, where Rocky John's discussion threads attract widespread participation. On the other hand, his blog is also full of information on blogs and blogging. It offers great tips for both the new and the experienced blogger.
5. The United Fakes of America: Authored by Charles Rey, a sociopolitical critic and public speaker, this blog is a place where global news is explained as simply as possible but not simpler. I like Charles' way of thinking and writing skills. I hope to brush up my writing skills based on what I learn from him.