THE ALLIANCE OF FREE BLOGS: LINK-WHORE OR COMMUNITY SERVANT?

In his post on the evils of link-whoring, the editor of Sobriquet Magazine had several colorful descriptions of the Alliance:

"The most blatant display of wanton link doping is The Alliance of Free Blogs"

"a nerdy joke"

"The Alliance of Free Blogs essentially amounts to the flogging of the vestigial detritus left long after the desiccated horse of a joke had begun stinking up the internet."

All of which are true. The Alliance is based on a joke that, in and of itself, stopped being funny a long time ago. After nearly two years, it's descended past the point of self-parody and into the realm of "pop-culture reference" - rather like the humor value of quoting Monty Python.

However, he also made an observation that I have to take some exception to:

"[an] idiotically haphazard [collection] of people who merely want to rank higher on The Truth Laid Bear's ecosystem"

To the untrained eye, this may appear so, but the fact is that the Alliance IS a community, and it DOES have a common trait:

Every member of the Alliance thinks it's fun - and sometimes even funny - to poke good-natured fun at Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.

I'd like to point out here that - although he's not a member - this includes Glenn Reynolds himself, who recently made a self-deprecating reference to his status as "puppy-blender" during an interview on national television (at about the 5:22 mark in the video).

Now, I will grant that - from time to time - people will attempt to join the Alliance strictly for its link-whoring value. They'll post their quote, link and banner, get on the blogroll, then take them down. But we do check up on people now and then, and people who don't fulfill membership requirements DO get purged. Charming Alliance HQ Hostess Susie of Practical Penumbra is merciless on that issue, and rightly so. We don't ask much, and if you aren't willing to do those few simple things, get lost.

There's another point that he did NOT criticize us for (so don't go flaming him on this), but which needs addressing.

The Alliance DOES do good works in the blogging community.

First the assignments and round-ups. Comedy writing is hard, and even if you think you're funny, it can be intimidating to just up and start cracking wise. The two assignments posted at Alliance HQ each week give folks with a sense of humor an excuse to come out of their shell and try something new. Our "will be linked regardless of quality" policy takes some of the pressure off, and bloggers can feel free to experiment with different techniques, not worrying whether any given piece of material is "good enough". It's like a twice-weekly open-mike night, except without the booing.

Second, the Linky Stuff posts - Blog Carnivals are good ways for bloggers to get attention, but sometimes it's hard to find out beforehand where to submit your entries. That's why we actively track some of the larger ones, and place great emphasis on Ferdy's All-Purpose Carnival Submission Form, which makes it insanely easy to submit entries to them, as well as dozens more that Alliance HQ doesn't track.

The last thing I'd like to say about the Alliance is that, although it's currently the wantonest link-whore in the blogosphere, it didn't start out that way, and it took a HELL of a lot of work to get it there.

Alliance HQ has at least 7 new posts every week, and has for nearly 2 years. This sort of consistency is hard to find on blogs whose authors write nowhere else. At HQ, it borders on the miraculous, since GEBIV, Susie & I each have at least one "day job" blog, too.

However, the regularly-updated content is only half the story. The REAL power behind the throne is Charming Alliance HQ Hostess Susie. She's the one who maintains the template, updates the blogroll, processes the new applications, and purges non-compliant members. All the while maintaining her own blog, getting her Masters degree and - something she never mentions, so *I* will - paying for hosting the Alliance HQ site OUT OF HER OWN POCKET.

Which reminds me... I need to go buy her an Amazon virtual beer to thank her... 'scuse me a second...

... there... that's better.

Anyway, the Alliance of Free Blogs is here to serve you, the blogging community, and we're proud to help in any way we can. If nothing else, we hope that'll you'll at least be entertained by the silliness of it all.

So, as I say in the Alliance Backstory post:

"Enjoy the spectacle"

INSTAPUNDO DELENDA EST!