Thinking Blogger Award Effect
I'm not even going to try to pretend I didn't want this. Relish the Velveteen, indeed.
MoodSwingingMommy nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award last Tuesday (I know, almost a full week ago- I told you I drop the ball once I finally get my hands on something I covet) and I am flattered and excited. She said some lovely things about my blog and I just have to say ditto for her site, as well. I love reading Am I Going Mad... or am I just a Mommy? and enjoy thinking that she gets a kick out of my site, too.
Of course, as with all things here at the Velveteen Mind, I had to overthink this a little bit. I've wanted one of these suckers ever since I first noticed them a few weeks ago and immediately tracked them back to their origin through www.thethinkingblog.com . Unfortunately, the original post only confirmed what I was beginning to suspect: memes are trouble. The Thinking Blogger Award is, after all, just a meme in disguise. The key being that you are supposed to pass it on to five additional blogs "of merit."
I'm all for passing on the linky love, but you have to wonder about the watering-down effect after a while. The first five nominations were, no doubt, stellar-- but what of the nth generation of nominations? So often, I'll see a new nominee write "all of the blogs I would nominate already have one of these..." and then proceed to nominate five-- five what? also rans?
Just as when I was first tagged for a meme (which sounds too much like "taken for a fool," dontcha think?), I wanted to be tagged. But then I hesitated. Memes spread like a virus. Exponentially. I was all for showing off my list-making skills in the Three Things Meme I did, but what if I tagged someone that didn't want to be tagged? Would I look naive when they ignored it? Does ignoring it make you look like an ass? Could I just drop the baton and not tag anyone?
So here we are, several generations of nominations out from my fellow nominees from last Tuesday, and I'm just thinking...
All of the blogs I would immediately nominate already have one of these.
In the spirit of maintaining some amount of credibility, I'm going to withhold my nominations for the Thinking Blogger award for now. There are a few brand-spanking-new blogs I'm reading that I have a suspicion should probably have more than three or four posts before this award will mean anything. When I do nominate someone, I'll post ilker's participation rules for guidance... the key one being that you are immediately supposed to pass on the nomination to five more blogs.
You can't expect me to take everything so seriously, right?
In the meantime, here are some linking activities for you:
- I will continue reading new blogs, keeping these nominations in mind, but would love for you to share any "blogs of merit" with me that you think are great Thinking Blogs-- just post them in my little-used comments section
Disregarding rules aside, you better believe I'll be posting this bit of "side bar bling" immediately, because I am proud of it, watering-down effect or not.
And so the evolution of the Thinking Blogger Awards continues. Or is it the devolution? Don't overthink it, right?
edited on April 24, 2007 to add: 2amsomewhere (found him within ilker's comments) has posted some calculations regarding how many generations of nominations it would take for the entire blogosphere to receive this award. Check it out at 2am Accepts Thinking Blogger Award and Passes on Others.
