Recently I’ve been noticing how much the advertising on personal sites is continuing to increase. Of course I noticed it myself when I started doing banner advertising here and at Starshine, and how annoying it got waiting for pages to load etc., so I reduced it to Google text link ads, which are fast loading and can be helpful if you’re looking for something I don’t have (e.g. pre-made layouts or MySpace customising guides).

But no matter how much banner ads and pop ups take over the look and feel of webpages, nothing could affect the content. Or so I thought. At first, it was very subtle. The occasional whine/bitch/plea about signing up for things so the site owner could claim a ‘free’ ipod, tv, cash sum and so on. A certain few (whose names I won’t mention) went to the extent of signing up for as many free things as they could find and plastering the links all over their blog and menu. Yes, it’s nice to get something for free, and to pass it on so other people can also claim it. But whining about it every five minutes in your blog is not going to make people respect you any more. It’s not going to attract visitors. It’s not going to entertain them. It’s not going to do you any favours when you read your blog in three years’ time, expecting to find fond memories of friends/events/family/land marks in your life, and instead you find ‘PLEASE sign up for this, this, this and this! You’re doing me a favour!!!!111′

The next wave of annoyance, a spin off from this, was people complaining that they couldn’t get their free item(s), the company had shut down/moved on/had a massive backlog. Firstly, you were getting the item for free. Did you expect it to be gold plated and shipped the next day? Secondly, you cheated the companies. You signed up for things you had to pay for, then cancelled before you actually paid for them to get your free item. So in essence you’re complaining that they cheated you, when you actually cheated them first.

So all this was just about bearable. After all, the majority of the blog was still there, right? Sure – but not for long…

The current wave is that of full-scale advertising. I’ve seen blogs around where entire entries are composed of picture ads. Annoying enough you might think. But at least you know exactly what you were getting yourself into, unlike with the sneaky new money-making scheme. This is basically a company or website working on the behalf of various companies, which pays you to blog about certain things in return for money. At first glance, this might not seem like such a bad idea. If it means the site owner is caught up in this, rather than adding more banner adverts and trying to persuade you to sign up for free promotions, then it’s all good, right? Wrong. Bring on the blog entries with the same link repeated throughout, subtly persuading you to buy something you don’t want and tricking you into reading something you have absolutely no interest in. Not only that, but it destroys your confidence in the blogger. Is this background setting to the product or service really true, or is it all made up? It seems a bit of a coincidence that the story about you/other people happens to link in with the product or service you’re trying to sell, right? And would the person really be blogging about this subject if they weren’t getting paid to do it? This kind of advertising is destroying the blogging community more than any other form of advertising so far. It destroys the purpose of blogging and the feel-good atmosphere that ultimately surrounds the moaning, the venting, the complaining about everyday life and the people within it. It also masks the joys and achievements, the life milestones and what personal sites are really about. Consequently, I’ve been avoiding the blogs I know that adopt this kind of advertising like the plague. And this upsets me slightly, as reading other people’s blogs is probably my favourite Internet activity, and my reading list is beginning to dwindle. So no matter how much you think you need the money, or the free stuff, just remember the important things, and what a blog should actually be for…

The all-new Starshine has arrived! Click here. It’s free to join, and I’m currently adding new games to the arcade every day. So play some games, meet some new people and have some fun posting

So, my dad picked me up from Notts yesterday as the trains were a bit dodgy – they cancelled loads because there weren’t enough drivers or something. Kieran had arrived late on Saturday, and stayed over, so we took Andy to the train station. It turned out to be a good thing that we arrived so early, as the train he was planning to get had been cancelled, and the only other one he could get left five minutes after we got the ticket. So he just about made it! Then my dad came along with my sister and some of our family who are staying (they just emigrated here from Iran and don’t have anywhere to live yet). We went for Chinese and then drove the 2 hours home from Nottingham. I was so exhausted I fell asleep for a bit in the car, but then woke up when we got near home. It was great seeing Pom and Fuzz and my mum again – the last time I was home was 6 weeks ago.

I realised how much I missed the weird conversations that might possibly be unique to my family alone when I heard the following:
Dad: ‘Look at that cat! It’s like Fuzz, but square.
Lara: ‘You can’t get square cats!’
Dad: ‘Yeah..look at that one, that one looks square.’
Lara: ‘It’s not a square cat Dad. It’s a normal cat.’ etc.

Today Lara woke me up about 12, then we went shopping for books and stationery. Then we went to Subway, then Tesco, then came home. Since then I;ve been on the computer, trying to avoid as many scary people (relatives and my mum’s friends) as possible. Still, it’s good to be home. I’ll be relieved when I’ve caught up on everything Internet-wise and I can finally relax. I’ve spent several hours updating the family PC as it’s way behind with Windows Updates, adware, spyware and virus scans. So if you fancy a chat, I’ll be on MSN and Starshine for a good few hours (on and off today) I think. I still need to sort out the damn comment plugger, but I’ll be returning comments as usual

I was clearly asking for trouble typing that I’d return comments later. The whole house lost connection (possibly from a surge through the phone line) until sometime yesterday Of course, both BT and Tiscali claimed it wasn’t anything to do with them…and this has just been a problem of several major ones here. I’ll be blogging about that in the next few days (*hopefully*).

Went into town today and got 4 t-shirts, underwear and 2 pairs of jeans for less than £40. Not bad…

Ok well this would be longer, but I’m working on the new Starshine with Andy tonight and we’ll probably be up for hours doing it, so I must stop procrastinating! I have a long list of things to do as usual, and the comment plugger seems to have a mind of its own so once we’ve got the new Starshine under control I’ll be able to concentrate on Blossom again. At the moment I’m replying to emails and questions though, so keep them coming!

And to finish up, the plug list as promised (please visit a site or two if you’re reading this )

Misleading Signals
Imagine
Simply Precious
Forsaken-Desire
Rae Diance
Glamour Splash
Reverie
Sally Stephenson
Sunshinii
Grab A Duck
Luces
Sugar Hiigh
Dirty Little Secrets
Oh Trashy

(If I didn’t include your link, it’s because it didn’t work! Sorry!)