For a long time, the natural way for finding multiple, random blogs was "Next Blog" surfing.
After a while, spammers found out about this, and "Next\\\\Porn Blog" surfing became the norm. A couple months ago, Blogger developed a new "Next Blog" link which has turned out to be safer - and boring.
Fortunately, "Next Blog" surfing isn't the only way to see what's out there in the Blogosphere.
We have a number of alternative strategies, which give you various choices to focus or randomise your surfing.
Blogger Profile Surfing
This is easy to focus, and it's symmetrical. While you are finding out about other folks, they are also finding out about you.
You fill out your Blogger profile with key words describing your interests. Your key words, separated by commas, become links to search for other profiles with identical key words.
You link from your profile, to SERP lists of other profiles, and to other blogs. The options, which focus your surfing here, are based on the keywords which you add to your profile, then which profile you examine from the SERP list, and finally which blog you select from a given profile.
Following Surfing
Following Surfing, like Blogger Profile Surfing, involves your profile. The Following profile, though, links blogs and profiles asymmetrically, and provides focused and random surfing alike.
You link from anyone's blog, to random and miscellaneous personal icons of the Followers, to profiles of the Followers, and to other blogs. The options, which focus your surfing here, start with which Follower icon to select, then what blog linked to the profile of the Follower selected.
Google Blog Search
Like Blogger Profile Surfing, this is easy to focus. While the latter is symmetrical (as you are able to surf other profiles, others are able to surf yours), this option allows you some anonymity.
This gives you the ability to specify a number of interesting criteria to narrow down your interests, then randomly accesses multiple blogs in a search based upon your criteria. One frequently requested "Next Blog" feature has long been language selection, and that is one key selection for Google Blog Search.
You link from the blog search options "command line" interface, to a Google SERP list - and to the blogs of interest.
Google+
Google+ is an interactive search process, where you contribute as you benefit. With Google+, you get recommendations of blogs and web sites, based upon what you recommend to other people.
When you share what interests you - and as your universe of friends expands - your friends will share, with you, what interests them. If your friends are interested by what you share, then some of what they share will interest you.
As your universe of friends expands, you'll have more friends who are interested in what interests you. As your friends are interested in what you share, they will share what you share, with their friends - and their friends will become your friends.
As your universe of friends expands further, you'll have more friends with other interests. As you explore your friends interests, some of what interests them (now) may interest you (later).
Google+ is much more dynamic than any literal "search engine", because it is constantly expanding. Google+ lets you surf, based on your friends recommendations - and as your universe of friends expands, so will your universe of interests.
Next Blog Surfing
No longer accessing blogs that are recently published, and supposedly engineered now to access only other blogs of similar subject to the current blog displayed, the "Next Blog" link will still access random blogs. It just uses additional filters, with language and subject identified so far.
You link from any blog, to other blogs, one at a time. There are no options here - you take what you are offered, or continue surfing.
Each strategy has its advantages, so try them all and decide for yourself which one suits your needs.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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