PostRanger.com

Wesley Crusher and the Creature

While sending out invites to guest author on PostRanger.com the last few weeks, I got a chance to indulge my inner geek.

Invites went out to some famous people still on the net too.

Most notably to:

• Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and
• Ben Chapman, who played the original Creature from the Black Lagoon and maintains a great website where you can read about his personal appearances and buy autographed pictures.

I thought both would be great to guest post on our Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV & Movies stream.

I haven’t heard back. I don’t know what I expected. But reading Wheaton’s story recently about how he launched his website and re-launched his career made me reflect on how the inexpensive technology that makes sites like this one possible has equaled the playing field.

Maybe, as one potential contributor told me, there isn’t yet enough traffic and prominence here to make guest posting worthwhile.

But, of course, that will change. The wonderful and agonizing thing about social technology is that it takes time to find its audience. MySpace and Facebook had their very first posters too.

The beauty is that PostRanger.com is open to all free of charge from the famous to the infamous the ordinary man/woman on the street to come, make a statement and “make meaning” to borrow phrase from Guy Kawasaki.

I hope to hear from Wesley Crusher and the Creature. I’d love for PostRanger.com to be a place where the famous and the not-so-famous can exchange ideas and have some fun. But it doesn’t really matter.

PostRanger.com will become a place of great exchange for thoughts and ideas with or without their help. All it takes is you!

Photo Credit: Linda Badner, MorgueFile

Five steps to a better comment

Whether engaged in here at PostRanger.com or elsewhere, commenting has become an integral part of on line networking.

Done well it can tell people who you are, more about your business or expertise and even something about your values, an evermore important issue even in business circles today.

Done badly it can make you a pariah of the digital world locked out of websites and on line communities for your inability to master the basics of commenting etiquette.

Here are some tips to get you started on the right road:

1. Always contribute to the conversation. You may have read complaints from bloggers and others on line about commenting off topic, but what does this mean? Well, simply put, on line conversation is just like conversation in the real world. You wouldn’t walk up to two people talking and start speaking abruptly about something totally unrelated, so don’t do it when commenting on someone else’s post. Make your comments relevant and helpful to readers and others who have commented before you. Otherwise, just like in the real world, you may find your comments unwanted in the future.

2. Spam: it’s not just processed meat. Here’s a specific definition of blog spam, the most common form of this unwanted activity to effect blog communities like PostRanger.com. Of course, here at PostRanger we welcome relevant comments and guest posts (check this link to see how you can become one of our guest posters) that provide link back to the contributor’s blog or website. Just see that your comment or post is relevant to the topic where you placed it and avoid being labeled a spammer.

3. Trolls and other mythical beasts. Here’s a definition of the term as it pertains to on line activities. So why do I say mythical? Here at PostRanger, I don’t like the idea of limiting speech. Therefore efforts will be made to include various points of view. In return, I’m hoping that contributors and commenters will be respectful of others, even those with whom they disagree. Expressing an opposing opinion, even a controversial one, is fine. Doing so only to anger other members will not be tolerated.

4. Being a good commenter comes with rewards. Of course, good commenters become respected members of any community, often even among those with whom they disagree. Those with their own websites can generate organic back links, increase their page ranking in search engines and share what they are about and what they are doing with members in many different communities.

5. Become a part of the neterati. Eventually the reputation of being a good and thoughtful commenter will open doors you might not have realized possible, help you develop relationships you might not have otherwise had and draw helpful suggestions and, yes, even criticism from others in the larger web community. The possibilities are endless.

Photo Credit: Dave, MorgueFile