Doctor, Doctor – Do We Really Need this?
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 by Jonathan Dalton
Glenn Roberts over on the Inman Blog has noted the startup of Property Doctors, another in the growing line of real-estate related social networking sites.
Says Glenn,
The Web site encourages professionals to build up their reputation by earning “Applaud Points” that are based on reputation ratings by other community members and are also awarded for blog posts and comments received.
This sounds remarkably like Active Rain, though without the pretext of adding some sort of value to the members out of a grab for leads through SEO. Personally, I’d like to think I can build up my own reputation quite nicely here (and in extremely limited cameos over on Active Rain), but I also didn’t start doing this when the ultra-secret mass e-mail went out to tell all real estate agents they had to have a blog.
That ultra-secret mass e-mail is the worst thing that could have happened to Active Rain. At one point in time, it was a place where real estate professionals would go to share ideas and an occasional laugh. Points were awarded for posts and comments, true, but it truly seemed the points were ancillary to the cause for the majority of members.
Now, however, the points are the thing. And the site has become choked with so much drivel that it’s become almost impossible to find information of use. Once upon a time, an announcement like Redfin’s would have been on the top of the Featured Posts as a way of letting the greater real estate blogging community (at least those not using RSS Readers) of what was happening. But now? Three posts. All buried in the avalanche of SEO-driven posts.
All of us are looking for an SEO advantage of some sort. With the exception of an elite few, we blog for business. Education and enlightenment are wonderful things and ought to be the secondary goal, but if there’s no business from the blog, then there likely are more productive activities to be done.
What gets lost in the points grab is that the public (presumably) is seeing these posts as well. They don’t care about points. They care about knowledge and message (or at least I hope so.) And if a blog sounds like little more than “Use me! I’m great!” the vast majority will be as turned off as many of us in the real estate blogging world will be.
Lack of true blog vision is one of the ills that plagues point-awarding social networking sites such as Active Rain. Will PropertyDoctors have a prescription to cure that ill?
Technorati tags: property doctors, active rain, blogging, phoenix arizona real estate
Honestly I just get the feeling that the majority of the Active Rain “core talent” also have their own blogs anyway.
Yes and no, SPAK. (Hey, I like that acronym!) I’ve seen a lot who only have AR blogs. Depends on the person.
I’ve become a bit bitter about AR only because I know how interesting it was and can’t stand the current mish-mash of inane posts that are piling on there daily.
I noticed the bitterness but you are still blogging on Active Rain. You confuse me.
You can still find information easily with the search on Active Rain. It’s just boring to read cover to cover…not that I would even try that. There’s good stuff there, it’s just harder to find.
I think one Active Rain is more than enough. I never liked the points.
The bitterness isn’t hard to find. And I’m there in very, very limited doses. Primarily for the very SEO reasons I decry. So I’m a little hypcritical.
Also, I write there to drive traffic here. That’s why there are almost no stand-alone posts going up to AR; all are snippets with links back here.
It was much, much simpler once upon a time to find good information there. Now I can find as many posts that are pure advertisements than anything else.
AR always struck me as a nicer version of RT. But now there’s less of use on AR than RT. And that really says something.
I have not been reading RT much. I usually just delete it when I get the archive email.
Today I scanned the RT email to see whether there is a discussion of Zillow and I could not find a conversation there of the latest.
I see a discussion of “Redfin’s So-Called Bill of Rights” on RT but not Zillow… Jonathan Washburn started a great discussion of Zillow’s latest on Active Rain.
Hi Jonathan. Thanks for the post. I wouldn’t say that PropertyDoctors.com is a direct competitor to Active Rain. In fact, we have a much different business plan and direction in mind. Blogs are a part of our site, but hardly the main attraction. The benefit that users have found within the network is referral based and comfort in locating service professionals based upon testimonials and reputations. A reputation that is not built entirely on blogs. A reputation that is built on referrals regarding principles such as integrity, honesty, and professionalism. Members like the vibe of the network and that each member is held accountable for their actions.
sorry, I got cut off from my last post for some reason
I like your insights a lot! The direction that we want to go is that we want our blog section to be a fun and relaxing place to be. We want service professionals to be able to come together, supportively, and “applaud” each other in a fun and encouraging way. Professionals can use the site to increase exposure and build their businesses in other ways besides just blogging and our members have enjoyed that. The point system is pretty much just for fun and encourages the desire to take pride in one’s reputation. Thanks Jonathan and I hope to hear from you!