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Dear #Bloggers, Do You Accept #Blog Awards?

By 19/01/2014September 15th, 2018blogging
How to make Blogging Friends
Bloggers accepting Blog Awards

Do Blog Awards Build Community?

Over the six years I’ve been blogging, I’ve received hundreds of Blog Awards, but after I tried accepting the first one, I knew it was not for me.

I’d rather have my sidebar link to sites that are useful for writers, or to folks that have interests like mine– I can’t stand the clutter of various blog awards.

My idea of appreciating a fellow blogger or being appreciated simply means commenting on each others’ blogs. I find that bloggers give me blog awards out of the blue– specially on posts which have a lot of comments or likes.

Call me suspicious, but it seems to me that they just want to leave more than one link back to their sites. The very rule that requires folks to go and leave a link to their post on someone else’s blog seems spammy to me. I may have done it for one blog award, if that, then I felt like a spammer and stopped. Couldn’t be bothered with more.

I’ve now changed my comment settings, anybody who comes in with a blog award will be sent to spam. I’ll then keep the comment, but remove the link to the blog award.

I can hear a 100 bloggers gasp in indignation at my summary rejection of blog awards.

So, in not accepting Blog Awards, what am I missing? What sort of awards have you received so far? Do you accept all the Blog Awards you get? Why or why not? Have you given out any?


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Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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292 Comments

  • Muralikrish says:

    I really like this post because I have same opinion what you have on awards. I also have accepted some awards but later at one stage, I thought my focus has shifted from writing articles to accepting awards.

  • Never accepted a blog award. I don’t actually understand what they are for and why I’d do it. I just ignore them.

  • ICT Graver says:

    Funny you should mention this as I was recently thinking the same thing about making my blog award free. I did come across one award where it wasn’t a requirement for the people nominated to make other bloggers share the award, but that was the exception.

    If you don’t mind, I will use a similar statement on my blog.

  • I might’ve received one a long time ago (cannot remember), but it was immediately not for me. I prefer to keep my online purpose intact despite it may make me feel really good.

  • thelongview says:

    Makes sense! If anyone ever tries to give me an award, I will refer them to this post.

  • Amit Misra says:

    Displaying awards on blogs dedicated to fashion and show-business might be OK to show credibility, but I feel them out-of-place on writing and literature blogs. I doubt if they serve any purpose other than distracting reader’s attention.

  • sridhar c says:

    Sorry, but you really deserve a blogger award, when I reward one, would you put it in you blog? 🙂 it is not just a blog award, you will add immense value to one of my blog posts.

  • doubtpuppet says:

    Super interesting. Never thought of it like that. Thank you for the warning.
    I find it a sad aspect of social media – all this you scratch my back I scratch yours marketing activity for the sake of it.
    I guess I’m just as bad though now I think of it because when someone comments on my blog or clicks like I feel rude if I don’t at least try to find a post of theirs I can rciprocate the gesture on, but I’m against it purely as a mechanism for marketing. It’s a paradox. Maybe I should stop doing that. In the absence of a clear etiquette of code of conduct I hedge my bets with reciprocation. Bloody humans!

  • I received my first blog award on my first month as a blogger and prior to that, I was actually wondering how other bloggers were getting awards as they had a special area where they posted all the awards they received/ accepted. However, before I even posted that award, I found someone who announced on her blog that it is an “Award Free Blog”. so since I already promised the person who presented me the award that I was going to do it I decided to make an announcement at the same time that my blog is an “Award Free Blog” and moving forward I can no longer accept any nominations to be able to focus on providing better quality content.

    <3 BP

  • aprilswopegreene says:

    This is a great point! I just accepted my first blog award (meaning I had to write a post about about the award and paste links to the post in other bloggers’ comments, etc) and it did feel a little icky to me, but I thought I was just being a squeamish newb 🙂 Thanks for making me feel un-alone in that sensation! (p.s. I’m not sure you’re missing out on much by not participating 🙂

  • chinumeenu says:

    So people give award to receive readers for there blog. That’s new to me.

  • never thought about the points you raised

  • Michael says:

    I love your integrity about receiving awards. When people came and wanted to make Jesus their king, He turned them away because he knew what was in the hearts of fickle mankind. One week they are crying out “Hosanna!” and the next week when He didn’t do what they wanted the same crowd was crying out, “Crucify Him!”
    Thanks, Damyanti, for stopping by my blog.

  • I understand exactly what you mean about blog awards from bloggers and feel the same way as commenting on a blog is the real compliment. Awards are most meaningful when from outside of a network and shows the achievement of breaking through boundaries rather than a circle of indulgent self congratulation. Good luck with your crazy writing spree…

  • skipmars says:

    I resemble this blog.

  • I have accepted a few awards but have also refused some because it takes time to participate in these awards. I think it’s a matter of choosing to do online what you want to do. 🙂

  • Reblogged this on Cardboard Towns | Città Di Cartone and commented:
    This is really near to what I think about this “blog awards” stuff, that I dont’accept either.

  • susurrus says:

    It’s a complex issue but safe to say that a good proportion of people are unsure about accepting and passing on awards. I don’t want to be churlish in not appearing grateful, as it is a kind thought, but I don’t want to place others in a similar quandary. And I prefer to decide what I write about rather than answer a series of random questions, so I can focus on what I want to share and what my regular readers seem to enjoy. I think your solution – to have a clear and thought-provoking explanation why you don’t take part – is by far the best way. I’m not sure about marking them as spam though!

  • Free Writer says:

    Personally, my site is not a blog. So, I do not like to answer the 5 questions given. Because non-wordpress users have no idea what awards are and how u get them. So, I appreciate them, but don’t accept them.

  • Great dialog here. I think the temptation for new bloggers is that the award will increase traffic. Also, it may feel like a kind of validation. I agree they’re a lot of work. There are a lot of tactful suggestions in this string on how to gracefully acknowledge but not accept. Thanks!

  • V o n n a says:

    I agree with this and your about section in regards to it. I’ve received at least two and although it seems like an honor it also felt like a burden and I never even went through the motions. Like you, I don’t find appealing having all those widgets/pictures/links on my blogs. It seems anti-social but, I don’t need to be a community of bloggers. I would prefer the comments or likes indicating the readers pleasure in what I have to say.

  • SaBiscuit says:

    I turned down an interview with a digital magazine when I just started my blog because it was far too soon. Blog Awards raised my suspicions when a friend of mine, who writes just about anything to distract herself, got a super blogger award. Three times in a month. I’m usually the only one who comments on her posts. She thought it was a bit much and I wondered if there was any substance to this. That is how I ended up here. It’s refreshing to read a balanced perspective.

  • I find the blog awards incredibly stressful. I’ve been nominated for a few and I wind up feeling guilty if I don’t pass them on, but they take up a lot of time. I liken them to chain letters.

  • Good article, and I’m glad to see someone else that won’t accept an award. To be honest, I’ve never received one, and never even been offered one, but I’ve read that they often require giving the same award out to others. I’m not really interested in getting caught up in all that, nor am I impressed by blog awards in general.

    • jane e says:

      Calling these nominations ‘awards’ is a bit of a stretch for a glorified ‘like’. Thank you for writing this!

      • Yeah, that’s pretty much the way I’ve felt about it for awhile now, Jane. If someone comments on my blog (for good or ill), it’s worth far more to me than anything else. At least I know they bothered to read it, and there’s nothing like knowing what you wrote has been read and sparked enough interest in someone else to reply. And thank YOU for replying!

  • eclecticalli says:

    I totally understand. I’ve given some thought on the blog awards matter myself — and for a large part I find them to be spammy (it’s like a chain-letter on a blog!)
    However, I’ve decided to go ahead and accept them myself (at least, ones that strike me as being actually meaningful and given with real intention) — and then use it as a chance to share some of the other blogs that I read, or help potentially direct more readers to some of the bloggers who have supported and interacted with me. I just received the “Inspiring Blogger Award” on my story-blog, and put you in the “nominations” list, because you’ve supported me in the blog (by following, I like to at least pretend that those following my blog are reading at least some of it!) and because I like what I see on your blog. So, I say “Thanks!” But, as per request, no link-backs 🙂 (The way I’ve decided to view these awards, that’s not what it’s about anyhow. Sure, I’d love the increased traffic and exposure, but I’d much rather (like you said) have that community building through comments and conversation, interaction is key!

  • Thanks for the like! I’ve never heard of blog awards either, yet. Now I know how to handle them, if they should arrive. I’ve only been blogging my novel since May, so don’t have a large following yet. Thanks for the info!

  • This is very informative, thank you for posting it! I think the idea of showing appreciation via awards is great, but the MO feels too much like chain letters to me — I gave you an award, now you have to thank me and pass it on to 15 others! I like the thought, but I don’t think awards are for me.

  • I read this at such a perfect time. I was thinking making my blog an award free zone, because frankly it’s too much work. I rather invest my energy and write a nice blog post, rather than abide by the rules of the post.

    Also, it all seems a little fake to me at times. I got blog nominations from bloggers who were not even following me ten minutes prior to notifying me that they nominated me because they “love my blog.”

  • The rules and stuff became too much work. Almost 65 now, I don’t have time for my favorite movie, pizza, pet whatever. I removed them all from widgets now. But one thing I think important is to always be courteous and appreciative of the giver’s good intentions. I will thank the awarder on their blog and display it as a post pingback to them and leave it at that. I would prefer receiving gold coins.

  • I accepted the first ‘award’ I received a couple of months after I started blogging, not because I wanted to accept it, but because I thought I had no choice! Last week, a few bloggers who read my A-Z posts have flooded me with many ‘awards’. I’ve been wondering how to react. Now, I know!
    Thank you, Damyanti, for helping me resolve this issue.

  • Leonor says:

    Oh dear, I know I’m going to sound daft, but… awards? What awards? One can get an award for blogging? I feel like I’ve just stepped into an alternative universe o.O

    Instead of awards (which I’m guessing are only for the internets) can we ask for something useful, like chocolate, for example?

  • I very much enjoyed reading this. I’m new to the whole award thing (and also to the blog world), just receive a nomination of the first time and I thought it was a nice and sincere sign of appreciation, but i’m probably just being naive! 😉

  • I’m with you – I’ve received a bunch and have never accepted a one. My subscribers want food and not that Liebster junk. I used to have guilt about not responding, but you’re right – their goal is a linkback to their blog. So, I’m over it. I’m so glad you posted this! Now I know it’s not just me!

  • Kerri says:

    I had some guilt about not responding to awards. Thanks for dispelling that! I now feel comfortable not acting on these requests or displaying awards. Your post certainly drew a lot of responses!

  • Thank you for liking “The Things We Do for Love: Odd Love Rituals.” I have not received any of these blog awards myself, but I have come across a number of blogs where bloggers clearly state that they do not accept awards. Your post helped me understand why they do this. Like you, I do not write for my blog in hopes of getting a blog award, but I do appreciate likes and comments.

  • jimmie g says:

    I haven’r received any awards and thanks to this blog post and the many, many, (holly cow but you get a lot of comments) I will think twice before blindly accepting. Although, being picked is awesome.

  • Sammy D. says:

    Gosh, I think you deserve an award for freeing us from “the award thing”!! Just kidding. I was feeling cheeky after reading Coastalmom’s new comment this morning. I commented earlier how much I appreciate your post and the many thoughtful comments: it’s about writing and community first and foremost.

  • coastalmom says:

    I LOVE that you posted this!!!! I have secretly thought this myself. At first, as a newbie, I perked up as I noticed the AWARD thingie and I have to admit the very first one I got, I was thrilled to get… I can’t even remember the title… but it seemed prestigious enough. But I am far from techie and there was a lot of cutting and pasting and 3 hours later I think I’d caught on that this was really a marketing/chain letter type thingie.
    However, I do think that some “GIVERS” of the awards actually are heartfelt. But some are just tacking you on because they have to gather up their total number… lol.
    I have learned to just say thank you … I am honored and move on…
    Recently I have added an AWARD FREE little addition to my blog which obviously goes un-noticed (that goes to show how admired I truly am! Since the totally missed it) that says something like: No Awards necesarry here, your reading and comments are enough. That seems to have lessened the receiving of them… but a few still trickle in!
    Isn’t it funny how this subject has generated sooo much attention here!!!! I mean you are heading to almost 250 comments and almost 300 LIKES for this post alone! Goes to show that a few of us have gotten caught up spending a half a day on one of those AWARD thingies! LOL!
    Thanks for saying so well what most of us have been dying to say!!!
    Love your blog!!!
    xoxo

  • Wow, I love the discourse here. Learned so much just from reading these comments. And I agree with most that it’s the comments that mean the most to me as a blogger. I really do appreciate when someone has taken the time out of their day, to read what I actually wrote and express a thought on it.

  • Sammy D. says:

    Thank you for visiting my site. This is a thought-provoking discussion for me. As a new blogger, I appreciate your insights and those of your commentors. I had already begun a draft post on writing for me vs. building an audience vs. designing a creative site. Never realized awards ( not that I expect any) can be one more part of blogging that steals time away from the core craft. It gives me much to think about.

  • Barbara Ann says:

    I enjoyed getting your perspective about accepting blogging awards. I have to admit, prior to your post, I really hadn’t thought about it but, then again, I’m a fairly new blogger- a little less than one year now, and I’ve been nominated for one award. At the time I was very excited and I accepted and posted about it because it was a way for me to acknowledge those who have helped me in the blogging world. I’ve only been nominated for that one award and I’m happy to stay off the award nominations’ radar. I just want to blog about my interests and I would rather have meaningful discussions than an award any day.

  • Pierre Lagacé says:

    Thanks for visiting my blog. I can see you don’t press the like button just to get traffic on your blog.

    I agree with you about those blog awards. I could not care less.
    I don’t write to get recognition.

    I write to pay homage to those unsung heroes. If people should remember me by, I would like to be remembered as the WYSIWYG blogger.

    About liking my blog about the BCATP, you will find I have more than one, than two, than three…

    I will let you discover the iceberg.

    I just got a notice you have found Lest We Forget.
    You get the picture.

  • MI says:

    Hello! First of all thank you for following me! It means a lot to me.

    I have just started my blogging ‘career’ and I have to say that at first, all these awards seemed like something to aim at, if you can put it like that. But then I looked at them more carefully and I got bit puzzled. On one blogging award site where everything was in English, the best blog was non-English blog. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with blogging in other languages than English. But how can the independent board that posts everything else in English choose a non-English blog as the best of the best? How can the whole globe think that my blog is the best if I write in Finnish?

    I guess what I’m trying to say is that I agree with you. Most likely, if I was given an award, the votes would come from my friends. I think the value of the blog is, indeed, in the posts and in the interaction, not in how many awards can be seen on the sidebar. But, if someone wants to earn these awards, I’m fine with that as well; its just not my cup of tea.

  • Hi – First, thanks for visiting my blog and liking my quote. As for blog awards, I’m such a newbie to the world of blogging I think I would just be shocked to be selected for, much less win any award. Congrats on your many awards. I do appreciate your blog.

  • Lisa says:

    Interesting topic! I was excited to receive my first award… then read more carefully and realized that it did amount to basically a chain-letter. I was nominated, so I’ll nominate you and 10 other people, and you nominate 10, on and on. I’ve put something on my About page saying, basically, thanks for thinking of me, but I don’t accept awards. I always send a nice note to people who nominate me, but I don’t participate. And I absolutely agree with what you’ve said: The only recognition I really want is to know that someone read one of my blog posts and was interested enough or engaged enough to leave a comment!

  • Die Trying says:

    This is such an individual decision and for different reasons. I love and appreciate my awards therefore have created an Award Category, for me its common courtesy and respect to say thank for visiting/reading my blog, as I would in person. Spam is a whole other issue and respect you for not wanting to display yours as explained. “We don’t all paint using the same brush. Find what works for you – Die Trying

  • curvyroads says:

    This is a great discussion, with valid points on all sides. I am fairly new to blogging, and have received one award, which was given by someone with whom I felt I had a great connection, so I did appreciate and respond to the award. The interesting thing was that it was the post that generated the most comments since I have been blogging. Anyway, personal choice. I think if I were awarded multiple awards per DAY, it might become cumbersome. 🙂 Cheers, Lynne

  • leahlindeman says:

    Your post incited some great discussions on blog awards. It was quite informative since I haven’t encountered them yet. And thank you for the follow.

  • Alyssa says:

    Thanks for the great discussion! I just did the award thing for the first time. It was fun to write the post and go around and visit some new blogs, however, when I started to comment on all the blogs it did start to feel a little spammy. I really did enjoy all the blogs and started following them all! I don’t think I will do it again though. After reading all the comments here, I will begin to comment more to show appreciation and stop being a silent reader! Getting a new comment is a wonderful feeling! Learning something new about blogging and the blogging community everyday! Thanks again!

  • Punkcook says:

    Ok what does one get with awards and .How can you spam . I haven’t gotten any because I am new and wondering .Does it mean that person who gives you a award with talk to you a lot or send you junk mail. Can someone explain this a little to me? I am a little confuse..PS thank for liking my post:)

  • Adrie says:

    I agree with the “chain letter” feeling about them… Many are well meant, I think (but I do like to think the best of people!). Comments are better and/or a “resource” sidebar or page are even better – I always check out a page that some has labeled resources!

  • mrsgillies says:

    I pass on the blogging awards because to be honest, i feel guilty if i don’t. That’s a terrible reason, i know, however i feel like the person will get upset/be offended/not like me anymore/tell everyone I’m mean etc. I know i shouldn’t care what people think of me but i do.

  • Victoria says:

    I’ve only been blogging a little over a month now. I’ve received 6 awards and I do not accept them. I haven’t blogged long enough in my opinion to be awarded one. Most came from people I barely know but do appreciate it. I’ve noticed that many simply go around to blogs handy them out like candy, I don’t eat candy -:) Love your blog!

  • Receiving a blog award is the ultimate flattery for new bloggers, not so much about flattery but recognition for more long-standing bloggers. At times, there does seem to be an influx of blog awards ‘doing the rounds’. That said, if it gives a new blogger the encouragement to carry on or an ‘old’ blogger the high five to continue the momentum, I’m all for it…

  • Dain Binder says:

    Reblogged this on Technology and Startups and commented:
    I do not accept awards or anything similar that asks for, requires, or suggests that a button/link be added to my website. There are very few programs that are

  • Dain Binder says:

    I do not accept awards or anything similar that asks for, requires, or suggests that a button/link be added to my website. There are very few programs that are not in for their own gain.

  • Amanda says:

    I think that it should be up to you. If you feel like it’s someone who is trying to just build backlinks to their blog and get more view from people who visit your blog, then it’s totally okay to edit that out. On the other hand, it might be a good idea to accept and promote an award that was given to you by a well-founded blog that doesn’t hand out that particular award to every john and sue on the web, you know? I think it’s entirely situational 🙂

  • epsnider says:

    Although i have experienced life in this world for many more years than i care to accept, when it comes to the world of blogging I am a relative novice.I think I would accept an award. I do not know very much about blogging awards or the process one goes through to be nominated or to nominate a fellow blogger. I think if I received an award or a nomination, I would be honoured. However after reading your comments and those of some of your followers, i can see that the blogging world scenario can become tiresome and a bit of a farce.

  • NM says:

    I can’t really comment much because both my blogs are relatively unexplored and don’t garner traffic. I did have an award conferred on me I think it was the Leibester or something for promising blog but I didn’t have fellow bloggers to pass it on to.

    I’ve learnt to take traffic, followers and comments with a pinch of salt. It’s hard to make sure whether the cyber person is genuine. So I stick to writing what I feel strongly about or books that I read. I do hope to find some loyal followers soon!

  • Don Ostertag says:

    At first I thought it was an honor;but after reading what I would have to do to ‘gain’ this award, I realize that it is nothing but a chain letter. My awards are two-fold: I love to write, and secondly, I like it when my writings are enjoyed by others.

  • I used to on my old blog. I’m not going to on my current blog. It always felt like a pyramid scheme or another version of the “cool” group in high school.

  • Sarah says:

    I’m so glad you wrote this! I was nominated 4 times for the same award and really couldn’t bring myself to answer 40 questions and find 40 (!!) people to nominate. Now I feel slightly more justified not accepting them.

  • JW Najarian says:

    I was sent a few when I first started my blog and there was little if nothing going on, but I did not respond because it looked like a ploy to get linkbacks….

    Now that my blog has grown and has been written up in the Washington Times, I do not get any??

    I would love to get nominated for a true award, but the finest thing that has happens to me is when I get a call from someone telling me how my story helped them in some wonderful way.

    I rarely get comments?? I see you get many here, not sure what I have to do differently, but I do get a lot of traffic and people do read my posts as I get private messages all the time about my posts?

    It is all confusing to me, but as long as someone is reading my stuff, I am elated.

    JW Najarian
    http://www.OnPurposeMagazine.com

  • Pandionna says:

    Years ago, when online journal-keeping was new, before the days of doocing, I was nominated for two Diarist Awards, one for Best Rant and one for Most Dramatic Entry. This was in 2004 or so. Back then, awards had a little more meaning, or at least those did, because you had to be nominated by your peers and, if I recall correctly, a committee selected finalists and those who were subscribed to the now defunct diarist.net site voted.

    Now, though, I don’t understand awards. It seems like they are given by individuals. Where’s the consensus or community in that? So, I would have to say I’m not sure if I would accept. It would have to be something done in a democratic way, and not some kind of “critic’s choice” where one person decides he or she knows what’s funny, touching, eloquent, etc.

  • “Anybody who comes in with an award will be sent to spam.”

    —I hereby honor this sentence with the Hilarious Blogger Decree award.

  • beingzora says:

    Love your posts — no awards, though! I think the appreciation and comments by readers are the most sincere for of awards, too!

  • Sherri says:

    Very interesting post Damyanti. I participate in awards and I have met many new blogging friends through them as a result. Most have been from bloggers who I know follow my blog and so I know they are genuine awards of appreciation, as are mine when I hand them out. I break lots of rules though but I don’t think that matters too much, it is the spirit behind them that counts I think! I hope!! The only problem with them is that they are very time consumiing to write posts for and I don’t like the idea of leaving people out. Still, I do think that awards are a fun thing to do for bloggers like me especially who don’t have huge blogs. I do like some of the pretty pictures! I really do see your point though and again, thanks for a great post on a very interesting subject – Sherri 🙂

  • Hello Damyanti,
    Thanks for your visit to my writing site, blog, whatever it is supposed to be.

    The question you pose about ‘awards’ arose when my page was in its embryonic phase. Like another commenter wrote when they were given by people we did not know and the writing standard of their work was accomplished we should feel ‘impressed’. But I, like you, am aware that these awards have a tendency to clutter a person’s site and, unfortunately, when they are handed out like sweeties as a means of making contacting with people I feel they have become trivialised. As a result, I do not accept them but thank the nominator for their generosity of spirit.

    I read your ‘about’ section and say ‘well done for making a small profit on your publications’ I have yet to figure out how to format my work for Kindle and am concentrating on Competitions for the time being.

    Nice to meet you. Regards Talia.

  • M.L. Swift says:

    Whew! I would say I was in the nosebleed section of the comments, but since I had to scroll down, it must be the gout area. This short post stirred up quite a response.

    Although I appreciate the peer recognition, awards are not why I write/blog (or do anything else). I write to write. I do to do. I live to live. If one of my actions is noteworthy and someone wishes to convey their admiration or feelings with an award, so be it, but I don’t play all the reindeer games associated with them.

    One time a few of them piled up on me before I could get around to thanking anyone, and if I would have followed the guidelines for each award, I would’ve had to give 52 awards in kind. Needless to say, I had to write a post about it (I’ll spare you the link) and formed my own guidelines when accepting or giving awards. I’ll accept the award, say thanks (and maybe, if I’m in a playful mood and have time, answer a personal question or two). And when giving, give with no strings attached to ONE person only, just to say, “Good job!”

    I’ve never liked all that clutter on my sidebar…there’s more important stuff I’d rather advertise. And essentially, that’s what my sidebar is to me…advertisement or information. I used to have new awards on the sidebar for a week, then remove them. Now I have an awards page with a slideshow.

    My belief is an award should be just that—an award…a treat…something special. When they’re given like m&m’s, it takes the thrill out of it. I don’t feel special, just another one of the seven or eleven or fifteen people to whom someone had to pass the award.

    Now, I’d feel totally different if the award were…let’s say, the Caldecott or Pulitzer. Talk to me then. 😉

  • JunkChuck says:

    I’ve never given nor received an award–but I haven’t been here a year yet, don’t have many followers, and…well, I don’t really understand the whole concept. I write–if it weren’t for sites like this I wouldn’t blog because I don’t know, nor care to know, what to so with all the scripts and add-ons. If someone sent me a line of code that translated into an award, I couldn’t begin to figure out what to do with it.

  • I graciously accept blog awards from most people, and if it’s from someone I know well, I will typically acknowledge it with a post and follow through. But I can hear you loud and clear…

  • philsblog01 says:

    What is a blog award? Phil

  • Aadi says:

    Omg… I’m scrolling and scrolling and the comments are not getting over…
    Anyways, I’m relatively new to blogging… And I have recieved one award… I didnt feel anything “suspicious” though 😉 …. well.. it is ur choice… And u said comments were better, so, this little piece of comment from my side is for that… 😀

  • Gene'O says:

    I accept them, and I like them. But I understand your point of view. I always include a statement that communicates I will not be offended if a nomination is not acknowledged. I try to only nominate blogs that appreciate them. I do not attach any status to them, they’re just a fun way to meet people and an excuse to give blogs I like links on my awards page.No big deal either way, really. Not accepting blog awards is like not liking baseball, as far as I’m concerned. Sorry you don’t appreciate something I do, but, not anything I would use to decide whether or not to read your blog. (Nice job tweeting this link, btw. The headline grabbed me, and I had to come and read).

    • Damyanti says:

      Thanks for stepping across from twitter 🙂

      I understand it is all fun. It is when it becomes too much fun, and my comment boards get cluttered with links that I feel like doing something about it.

      I wouldn’t stop reading someone just because they gave me an award either. I read folks based on whether their content interests me, and I’m going across to your blog to give it a look-see. 😀

  • I hadn’t thought of awards that way, but you’re right. Someone had a genius idea for that first one and now, they’ve gone viral. I don’t participate because they’re usually far from the theme of my blog–meaning they always want personal information. That’s fine, but I don’t think my readers come to my blog for the inside scoop on me. So, I just skip them.

    Great idea for a post. Lots of fascinating comments.

    • Damyanti says:

      Wow I wrote a long reply and just lost it :(.

      I hate sharing personal info too, reason I hate tags and memes– and Blog awards are a bit of those, aren’t they?

      I don’t find me interesting, I doubt anyone else will, so…

      I wasn’t too bothered by awards till I started getting flooded by them. Now I have a policy in place, thanks to the examples I got in this post.

      I’m humbled by the length and number of comments I’ve received on this post. Thanks for popping by. 🙂

  • Damyanti says:

    I took all mine down from my sidebar and put up a small notice saying “Award Free Blog” and wrote a blog post explaining why. I think if you really like someone’s blog post, comment on their blog. If it’s really good, and you think others would benefit from it, reblog it.

    I think I might follow your example. Quite a few others seem to have done the same thing.

  • Lyn says:

    I used to accept awards, and I greatly appreciated them, because they came from people I really appreciated, but then it became too time consuming answering the questions, thinking up more questions and nominating and passing it on to 10, 15 or even 20 other bloggers. If you want to give someone an award, and they are happy to accept it, just give them an award with no strings attached. I took all mine down from my sidebar and put up a small notice saying “Award Free Blog” and wrote a blog post explaining why. I think if you really like someone’s blog post, comment on their blog. If it’s really good, and you think others would benefit from it, reblog it.

  • dweezer19 says:

    Thank you for this post. I love to write. About things that inspire me. If I’m not taking photos. Or painting. Or making jewelry. Or pottery. i sort of go with the flow. Don’t get me wrong. If someone offered me a job writing for a newsworthy paper or magazine, complete with deadlines and expectations, I could and would do it-with bells on! And who doesn’t appreciate being recognized? BUT….after the first award, which was a a lot of work to write, answer questions, find the correct number of recipients to “pay it forward” and meet the criteria, well, it sort of lost its luster for me. I agree that what I like to do to honor someone is to faithfully visit their blog and try to read something of what they have to share-or view photos or art, etc. And to comment. I have to say the biggest disappointment for me is that I can’t get comments. Many people will hit the like button but I don’t get much communication. I invite interaction. If anyone happens by my blog and can give me a suggestion, I would certainly appreciate it. Right now I have an award that’s just sort of collecting dust because I can’t face the task. I did pop over the thank the person who gave it to me, but that is as far as I got. I’m just glad to know I am not alone out here in my mild ambivalence.

    • Damyanti says:

      “what I like to do to honor someone is to faithfully visit their blog and try to read something of what they have to share-or view photos or art, etc. And to comment.”

      Now that’s a sentiment I can agree with.

  • Yes the acceptance process is a nightmare and I’ve cleared my sidebar of all awards. If I get one I make it a post expressing thanks and that is it. I would never spam the person though. That is very unkind to the person who took the time to offer their respect.

    • Damyanti says:

      I know I’m being unkind. I’m just exhausted with all the awards though. Maybe I’ll do that notice of No awards policy instead and see if that works.

  • Amy says:

    The first time I received a blog award I felt honored; after all, I was fairly new to the blogging world at that time and I was just happy to have someone’s interest. But it did feel a little bit spammy. I haven’t received enough to really feel strongly either way about them, though.

  • The Real Cie says:

    Reblogged this on The Netherworld and commented:
    Apologies for cussing, but hay-ull to the no! I even have signs in the sidebars of my blogs stating that it is an award-free blog.
    I got one of those “Liebster” awards once, and it was a nightmarish experience. I had to find something like 10 people to pass the thing on to. I had people getting angry with me for presenting it to them. It was not at all a positive experience, hence the “no awards” policy.

  • Nawfal says:

    I have neither been pressured by receiving AWARDS for my blog, nor have I received unexpected reviews about my blog. Wow…do I feel totally unappreciated or what?!? Oh well…I don’t care too much about it – I’ve had my photographic art blog since 2005, and I will continue exhibiting my photographic artwork happily without awards and review 🙂

  • cyberbonn says:

    To NOT accept an award seems rude so I have been accepting them thus far.

    • Damyanti says:

      I’ve been rude, is all I can say, and I’m about to get ruder by spamming them and removing the link. I’m evil!

      • cyberbonn says:

        Your post seems to implicate a certain segment of the population who are out for their own gain.

        I have received awards from bloggers who are NOT spammers and wish nothing more than to reach out to others. They have taken the time, so I in turn take the time.

        There will come a time when I will have to decline….because — like you and many others who I respect — do NOT accept awards.

        I will NEVER be rude about it.

  • Alison Juste says:

    Never got one, and probably never will. It’s fine though, as long as I get comments from time to time? 🙂

  • Skye says:

    I do not accept them anymore because I would rather spend time reading the wonderful posts of those I follow instead of taking time to talk about myself anymore than I may do in my actual blog posts. There can be so many rules and requirements. I have a hard time keeping up with all the posts–awards, though sweet, were just causing more guilt than joy. Hope this helps. 🙂 Great post.

    • Damyanti says:

      Thansk Skye. They don’t cause me any guilt, but I’d rather spend my online time doing meaningful things like writing, reading and sharing– and awards don’t do much of this for me.

  • Peter Nena says:

    Awards are excellent. They create competition, and competition creates the best. But awards, they take away freedom, and variety. Soon one finds oneself driven to write about the same subject, or strive for the skills, that won the award for so and so, etc. We wish, and fight, for a society of free-thinkers; yet once the awards are launched many minds are caged. And our slavery goes on and on and on . . .

    • Damyanti says:

      And that’s for real awards in real life.

      Blog awards aren’t even real awards, just mostly folks sending out chain letters under the mistaken impression that they are doing a favor to those whom they give an award.

  • Krishna says:

    Keep writing as long as you have something to share with others and learn from others as well. Awards and recognition’s are purely marketing. In today’s world blogging has become a tool for personal brand building. So these awards are just for the sake of that brand building. Just imagine Amitabh Bacchan has been awarded the best actor at national level. If he receive it or not, that doesn’t make him a bad actor. He is still one of the best and finest actors that India has seen!

  • just4why says:

    I have never had an award either. Oh, one time for a checkers competition. I don’t see any award if you have to pass it along to 10 others. I will just keep writing and maybe some day when I’m gone my kids will find my words. That is an award for me.

  • I’ve accepted a few but on the last couple, I just told the blogger thanks and left it at that. I didn’t follow the “chain letter” rules of passing it around. It’s just too much to answer twenty questions and then pass it around to twenty other people.

  • vp says:

    Wonderful post,that has already ignited a chain reaction!

  • I have not read the comments here but I always say thank you if someone offers an award. Is that not enough to accept? Is there a quid pro quo?

  • TC Conner says:

    You should get an award for responding to every one of these comments. No wait…award denied, you made no such effort.

  • wingedprisms says:

    I stopped accepting them simply because it seemed an all day job to do all the hoops to get the award and pass it on. Too much tech overload for me. I blog because I want to write not spend hours with awards. Although I am honored to be thought of but it’s not for me.

  • J.R.Barker says:

    When someone nominates me for something I feel obligated to post about it, but I think in future I’ll write back saying that I’m very grateful but I don’t participate.
    Perhaps I’ll bottle out, only time will tell.

  • cardamone5 says:

    I have never received an award, but I have been nominated for one (can’t remember which one.) I don’t mind if bloggers leave their blog site info or reblog my blog on their site as I am still a newbe at this, and appreciate all the traffic I can get. That said, it did cross my mind that reblogging may be a way for them to drive more traffic their way without putting in the work required in posting a new blog.

    I appreciate your thoughts, though. Always good to be thinking about such things.

    Best regards,
    Elizabeth

    • Damyanti says:

      Reblogging is not so bad, because it is only done once, and the post does link to your blog. Yes, it is good to be thinking about such things 🙂

  • I agree with you 100 percent. The first time I was nominated, I was thrilled. But, after I read about the award it did seem like, among a way to get link backs, a lot of effort.

    Now I just comment on what other people are doing and reblog and/or reccomend as I see fit.

    I’m not in this for game or racognition and only get around 500 hits a day so I’m not exactly award winning blogger material anyway.

    As one commenter here put it, awards are likely sincere but seem awful “chain letterish”.

    • Damyanti says:

      500 hits a day is no mean shit, you should be proud of yourself :D.

      Thanks for agreeing— I feel a lot better after getting this post off my chest.

      • Correct! I’m lucky to even get at least 5 a day (sad, eh? LOL!!!), although on some days, I do get just a tad luckier. Congratulations for the 500 hits, defythenarrative 🙂

        • NM says:

          Yeah I can’t even dream of 500 hits a day!! Congratulations! I barely scrape through with 5, the maximum going to 40 on any particular day!

          • On some luckier days, I’ve gotten 70+ and there are posts that people visit no matter how old the posts. (some of them do it to spam, unfortunately) But I’ve never gotten anywhere near 500 hits yet. Maybe that’ll be the day for me, he he. What I’ve also realized is that not a lot of people like to read, even friends and families. So they can support your writing, encourage you, but they’re too lazy or busy to check, HA HA HAAA!!!!! So you can have 500 friends but you can bet you’ll be very lucky to have at least 1/5 of 500 hits.

  • jeanryan1 says:

    I am an author, and though I work very hard on my posts (they of course represent my writing ability), I have never received a blogging award. These comments have given me a better understanding of the rather dubious award process. Thank you for posing this question and for keeping the blogging bar high with your excellent content.

    • Damyanti says:

      Thank you for stopping by. I think your writing will stand not to receive any award, they’re not an indication of your writing abilities.

      • jeanryan1 says:

        Evidently not. But even if most of these awards have little significance, they do demonstrate an ability to attract readers, and distinguishing oneself in an ocean of bloggers is an impressive feat. Brava.

  • bck1402 says:

    Yeh, I have been acknowledged for a few awards now, and my response was also to write a post about what I feel about these awards. Not quite the same perspective as yours tho. If anyone else sends me an award, I’ll graciously acknowledge and the direct them to the post.
    It’s fair, right?

    • Damyanti says:

      Yep, you’re far more gracious than I am. I guess I’ll do that for folks I interact with but not a random first timer who walks in to my blog, award in hand.

  • Reblogged this on Angela Goff and commented:
    Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this…anyone else?

  • tasullvan says:

    noone HAS to do anything! That’s the beautiful freedom of Blogging. I am a newb here and was given a few awards. After figuring it out, which took some time, I decided that I will accept awards on my own terms and placed them in their own page. If people want to go to that page and click on those links, so be it. Otherwise the content of my blog is not overshadowed by awards on my page. I appreciate the awards and the peer acceptance but yes, comments are much better!

    • Damyanti says:

      “I decided that I will accept awards on my own terms and placed them in their own page. If people want to go to that page and click on those links, so be it.” That sounds fair.

  • I sort of accept them. Meaning, I try to *eventually* get around to thanking the person who nominated me publicly (on my blog) (usually after accumulating more than one award). I never proceed with the suggested nominations, although I have taken the opportunity to highlight some of my favourite blogs in the same post, sort of “while we’re all hugging each other” style. I don’t put the pictures on my sidebar, though.

    I guess my feeling is that it’s a nice gesture to be at least thought of (even if it is someone desperately trying to think of ten people they read – at least I’m one of the ten they thought of!) and I want to acknowledge that and I want to highlight blogs I like as well, but I also think there’s better ways to acknowledge other members of the community – like commenting or linking back to them when they post something relevant to the topic at hand.

    • Damyanti says:

      “like commenting or linking back to them when they post something relevant to the topic at hand.” — that’s what I’m talking about. An award feels less like a hug, and more like a shove.

  • Dan Antion says:

    I do not accept awards. The first time I was offered one, I looked into it, but as others have mentioned, the fact that I then had to nominate others for the award turned me off. Awards should be less frequent and should stand on their own, without a condition to nominate others. I refused to accept because I know that some of the bloggers whom I follow don’t accept them. I don;t want to promote awkward moments.

  • Lala Rukh says:

    I can totally understand what you felt and what you’re doing. Every person thinks differently, Some give awards to increase their readers and views and some give them just because they love you and want to appreciate you. I accept all awards with a thanks but I don’t showcase them on my blog and pass them to others.

    • Damyanti says:

      Not passing them to others is a good thing, and I think I’m being too harsh by spamming the awards, but there’s no other way of stopping them that I can see.

  • I don’t want awards. I want money, cash money, no BitCoins, no discounts if I buy something, gimme that fat stack of DeadPrez.

  • Anita says:

    I love Awards, but not the time & effort it takes to accept them! I have accepted only the first 2 I won from Fellow-Bloggers. The rest of the Awards on my Blog are the badges won from Blogging Contests. I love Badges 🙂
    Feeling guilty about not having accepted and also lost count of how many Awards I have been nominated. Plan to accept to honor the Awards! God knows when I’ll do so 🙂

  • Jack Scott says:

    I accepted a few at the beginning of my blogging career but then I started getting so many I decided to ignore them. Doesn’t seem to have had a negative impact.

  • I don’t have those problems. I’ve never received any award. But I think that the problem is that there are too many awards. When awards are so common they lose prestige. If anyone can win an award who cares about them.

  • Ankur Mithal says:

    I did not see awards as a way of spamming. Perhaps it is. I started politely declining awards because they all seemed almost identical. If you have one on the sidebar, having another does not really add much by way of being a comment on your writing.
    Also, on another point you mentioned, I also think a comment is the best way of connecting on a blog. Many people click “Like”. Maybe they mean to appreciate. But in some cases a “Like” is also a way of providing a link to their own blog.
    So, between Comments and Likes, Comments preferred any day.

    • Damyanti says:

      Yep, I love comments too. I’ll take likes, because I give likes when I like what a blogger says but have nothing more meaningful to say on the topic other than ‘good post.’

  • I have been offered a couple of awards, but like you have made my blogs award-free. However I have entered the UK Blog Awards. The public vote for this closes at midnight on Sunday 26 January shortlisting the blogs. It is the first time this event has been run and it is a way of increasing one’s readership. There are lots of categories and one vote is allowed in each. I have not yet decided whether it was a good idea to enter or not! Sue

  • I was notified of an award once, but there was a laundry list if demands that followed like: send this to eight people who like the color yellow while eating crab cakes and singing the alphabet backwards between chews…since I cant multitask anymore, OR fix the appearance of my own blog (“annie”issues)….I’d rather have a dialogue…

    Thanks for the post!!!

  • Well, i don’t care nor do i accept any award unless it is in cash. If you know a blogsphere which gives my kindda award plz let me know, i will then won’t mind spamming you and other bloggers, until then i would like to write what i know and what i love to share.

    • Damyanti says:

      Lol, I don’t see why we shall tolerate spam to make you money, but I like that you don’t spam others with awards right now.

  • Thank you so much for pointing this out – I soon came to regard awards as WP’s version of chain letters. Like you I prefer to have my blog uncluttered and only list the blogs that mean something to me and that I truly wish to recommend to others.

  • Desperado316 says:

    I received 4 Liebster Awards last week. Now I don’t like rejecting them considering someone has bothered to nominate my blog out of all others available but… This is getting ridiculous.

    • Damyanti says:

      I dunno if they nominate me cos they genuinely like me, cos most of them are first timers on my blog. They must really lurk a while to develop that liking!

  • Adi says:

    Geek Talk (ignore if you don’t want to get into details) – The first thing that came to my mind is Search Engine Optimization. I give a blog award, post that link so when Google Search Engine sees your page with my link, even if mine is a spam site, it will start registering it as a genuine one. This disallows Google to ban such sites.

    Bottomline – If you want to accept it or not, moderating your comments would make sense. Delete comments you find suspicious! Now, I’m thinking, I might as well write a blog about this. 🙂

    • Adi says:

      Okay, on second thoughts, I might be wrong. I don’t know what a blog award is! Such a bummer!

    • Damyanti says:

      That thought came to me too. Read more on blog awards– I think you’re on to something.

    • Hi. Well, from what I know, Google Panda and Penguin are SUPPOSED to be on the look-out for bogus or bad sites, but I wouldn’t discount what you just said. Even so, if sites aren’t any good anyway, they can get as many visitors as they want, but it’s the conversion that’s going to count.

      If one is just after clicks for his/her ego, then who is s/he fooling? If one is after a business boost, well, visitors will just click on the “back” or the “exit”/”close” button and leave. All still depends on the quality of the site’s contents.

      Anyhoo, yes, the best thing to do is to moderate the comments. So far, WP has not let me down and caught every spammy comment. 🙂

  • sougat818 says:

    I haven’t received any awards yet but if I do I’ll mostly ignore it. I totally agree with you on this

  • 🙂 great post

  • Andrew says:

    I tend to ignore them; maybe, that’s why I haven’t received one in forever.

  • I have a page on my blog where I place the awards as my sidebars are critical marketing space: and too long already! I appreciate them, but if I can’t reciprocate, then I am up front in explaining to the giver why. If the blogger has given out 30 awards at once (yes, I have seen it happen) and I am a long way down the list, I don’t bother! It is not sincere, but an obligation. If I re-give an award I bend the rules and give it to two people at the most to keep sincerity.

  • You read my mind. This has been exactly my thought whenever I visit a multi-awarded blog–people just give out awards to popular blogs even when it doesn’t seem like they’ve read anything from the blog, and I’m thinking, hmnn, spammy. Of course, may of them are sincere, but it’s the spammy ones that give them a bad name, so to speak.

    Well, I’ve never had any award for two reasons: (a) even I wouldn’t give my blog an award (LOL!!!), and (b) my blog’s not popular (they attract the spammers). I won’t really mind awards and I’ll appreciate any, because it’s a way for people to show their appreciation for what you do. But I guess they’ll have to come from trustworthy people I’ve met in the blogging world and started even little relationships with already.

    • Damyanti says:

      Hey, don’t say that, I like your blog. Just because I don’t pass you awards doesn’t mean I don’t like it 😉

      • Why, thank you 🙂 But really, even I can’t think of any award for my blog, unless it’s given some weird and/or vague name that doesn’t explain anything or doesn’t seem to be true if you look at the blog. I’ve seen lots of those. I’m sure mine has its merits but not enough for an award. Now, if I stopped working and simply concentrated on my writing and improved on the whole blog, maybe there’s a chance. IMHO 😉

  • Louis Hart says:

    Well, I’ve never gotten an award and never really wanted one. If someone likes what I write, that’s award enough for me.

  • Yes, I agree. Most “awards” do seem to be chain letter-like. I accepted one and was pleased to follow most of its guidelines, though I didn’t nominate the number of people it specified. The people I nominated didn’t seem that impressed, and I wondered why. Then I realised, these awards are indeed just a way to facilitate links and take a whole lot of work to do. That said, I would still accept an award that was interesting or innovative, rather than a chain. Freshly Pressed would be one of these, as it would be sure to bring a lot of new traffic.

    • Damyanti says:

      I’ve felt spammy about nominating folks. If I like bloggers, I’ll say so in a post, link to them etc, reblog them or share their posts on social media.

  • Alison says:

    I have received one and I participated. It was fun at the time. I think if I’m ever offered one again though, I will simply thank the commenter and decline the award.

  • bmj2k says:

    I stopped accepting blog awards fairly early on. (I’ve been blogging for 3 or 4 years now on wordpress.) They only exist to spread links and have no real meaning behind them. They do not even build communities or go to like minded bloggers. I’ve received religious blog awards and food blog awards, and neither is a topic I spend any time on. They are not quite spam, but they are not honest either.

  • Beloo Mehra says:

    Good post! I have been blogging for only 10 months now, but have received a few requests already with these awards. I have had to politely decline these requests and explain why all this business of writing and submitting award-related posts, nominating other blogs and cross-linking to others’ blogs doesn’t fit in with my purpose and motivation for blogging. At first, I felt a little awkward in refusing such polite requests but now I know I have done the right thing by staying true to my deeper motivation for blogging.

    Thanks for bringing out this issue.

    • Damyanti says:

      Thank you, for stopping by. I’ve waited many years in silence on this topic, but it had to come out. By the number of comments this seems to have received while I was offline, it seems to have struck a chord.

  • Millie Ho says:

    Rewards are great for link building, but aside from that, I agree with a poster’s comment about them being similar to a chain letter.

  • Ana Jain says:

    I agree. Comments and interactions are way better than chain like awards that seem more like spam.

  • I’m blogging for only five and a half months and already bloggers have nominated me several times for those I-can’t-understand-what-actually-they-are awards. I thanked them but never accepted them . Not my cup of tea.

  • Mahesh Nair says:

    I haven’t been offered one yet, and I’d like to get one for sure. I am very new to blogging, and may new bloggers be spared. 😉

  • I’ve not been offered any awards, but I agree with your view that the best way if supporting each other is to visit and comment! I’m back online after a hacking induced name change… I took advantage of this & also changed my direction, my outlook. Forwards and positive!

  • Cimmorene says:

    I’ve only ever been offered one award (which I got because I happened to mention that I’d never had one) and I’ve never been featured by WordPress, so I don’t really know how to answer this.

  • wscottling says:

    I’ve accepted on reward, and followed the rules, but I kind of agree with other you and other commenters that they do seem rather like chain letters. I probably won’t be accepting them in the future for that reason.

  • drew delaney says:

    I agree with most of you. I got nominated for an award today and spent the entire day until about 7 this evening attempting to fill the mandate. I will never do that again. It appears as a nice gesture, but I think it is an imposition on my time and efforts.

  • BTCarter says:

    While I appreciate being picked by a fellow blogger for one of these awards trying to respond with all the “requirements” that come with them just takes up so much time. After trying to do the reciprocal thing after 2 or 3 of these awards I just decided to just say, “Thank you for thinking of me but I’m going to have to decline.”

    • Damyanti says:

      I’m usually silent, never respond to award, but last week I received a bunch, and I’ve decided I’m done with folks leaving links, period.

  • swraynes says:

    When I first starting blogging I always accepted and then followed the rules, but after a while I didn’t see the point. Its nice yes, but I think it would mean more if you picked one person to hand the award off to next. 10-15 blogs is extensive and I always felt bad nominating people that I hadn’t read that much. I think leaving a comment is the way to really show someone that you’re reading their content.

  • Capt Jill says:

    I guess maybe it’s a newbie kind of thing but I am accepting any. I really appreciate the fact that someone thinks enough of me and my efforts on my blog to nominate me for an award of any kind. So far I think the people who have given them to me have done it because they liked what I’ve been doing (at least I’m hoping that’s why).
    I do think it’s helped my sense of community here.
    Maybe I’m still too new here and not cynical enough?
    I never thought of it as them looking for a link back, especially since I’m new and have very few followers and they’ve got a LOT more than I do.
    I never thought of it before, but I guess they really are like chain letters. They also DO take a huge amount of work to respond to. I totally understand that reason for not accepting or even not liking them.
    Would the bloggers who don’t like/accept them for that reason (lots of work) like/accept them if they didn’t have the stipulation of nominating/linking to 10 others, etc?
    Just curious.

    • Damyanti says:

      I won’t accept them simply because they come from folks I don’t know from Adam. They just waltz in, tell me how much they love my blog and they are giving me an award, and leave a link back to their blog. Not happening any more, no way.

  • Vefday says:

    I value comments above all else. In fact I recently lost a couple of prized comments due to an accidentally deleted post. So I’m in the process of finding a way to restore those much loved comments for public display. If someone makes the effort to comment, then that is reward enough for me and my blog. Yep! I love comments too.

    • Damyanti says:

      Awww, you’re sweet. And I love commenting and getting comments too. That makes blogging feel less virtual and cold, somehow.

  • Vidya Sury says:

    Damyanti, I am guilty of just thanking them on their blogs and that’s it. No lengthy posts gushing over them or answering those questions and breaking my head over nominating another 11 or 21 or whatever it mandates. All my blogger friends are equally important…and yes, I’d rather have something that visitors can enjoy or benefit from, in my sidebar than flaunt awards. 😀

    I love your post and stand on this!

    • Damyanti says:

      Vidya you’re sweet to go and thank them. They just make me hopping mad. Why can’t they simply leave a comment that’s relevant and leave it at that?

  • Topaz says:

    Nope. Those “awards” are a dime a dozen. Even that Freshly WordPressed one doesn’t concern me. As long as people see my content, I am achieving my purpose.

  • I accept new ones, but haven’t seen any new one in a while.

    • Damyanti says:

      Alex, folks create avatars and models just for you– you’re the Nina cap’n of bloggers and I think you have an army of clones commenting for you or 48 hours in your day! 🙂

      I want to be a blogger like you when I grow up, but sadly I think I’m too lazy.

  • I’ve had a couple and haven’t accepted any yet… I feel like it would break the flow of my blog posts.

  • LorB says:

    No… I actually dislike the blog awards… Glad someone mentioned it…

  • S.P.A. says:

    I once got an email from another blogger about being nominated for an award, but I had to nominate 10 other bloggers and post the original this and that. I thought it was just a chain letter sort of thing. I don’t get awards or freshly pressed or anything of that sort.

    • Damyanti says:

      I know, I never got Freshly Pressed either. And now, I’m putting a stop to all the awards raining on me.

  • Phil Taylor says:

    I agree with you. I’ve never accepted an “award.” It doesn’t feel much like an award if conditions are attached to it.

  • randee says:

    Blog awards drive me crazy! It’s nice to be recognized and to pass the love on, but, my God, talk about time consuming! First, you have to search out 15 really good blogs you haven’t yet come across and then you have you answer all those questions. I only did it once and I’ll never do it again because the whole time I was working on it (hours and hours and hours), I really wanted to be writing something else. I am looking forward to trying your A to Z Challenge this year!

    • Damyanti says:

      With you there. And look forward to having you on the AZ Challenge, the sign ups begin end Jan. Watch this space!

      • randee says:

        Okay, I’m already thinking themes. I’ve got three in mind. It will be hard to decide.

        • Damyanti says:

          If you reject any, send it my way. I’m grasping for themes myself!

          • randee says:

            What are your hobbies? Besides writing?

            • Damyanti says:

              Reading, blogging, gardening, my aquariums. Writing isn’t a hobby, it’s more like an obsession.

              • randee says:

                Oh, dear, I supposed I’m getting to that point, too.

                Aquariums? Alphabet aquarium stuff? Or have you done that?

                Reading – do you have a long list of what you want to read? I have a list of 74 books right now. It’s a little stressful thinking about it. Maybe put a title up a day and people could comment on whether they’re read it or not and what they thought and you could re-prioritize your list.

  • I agree. It’s a sweet jester but it consume time that could be use writing and reading. As I’m commenting here I was given an award in the previous email. I will be kindly declining.

    • Damyanti says:

      See, that’s how prolific awarders have become, there’s a plague of them, in some cases. Thank you for stopping by to comment.

  • misfit120 says:

    Other than from “Tumbler” no awards ever. But to me, just getting a “like” or a comment is award enough for me. I’ve written my daily humor blog going on 5 years now and have only 250 followers, so that is my award. The people who faithfully follow me.

  • Brenda says:

    Well, I’m swimming against the tide, I suppose, but I like getting awards, makes me feel appreciated by my peers. Many times, the giving of them is accompanied by truly kind things said by people who have actually read what I’ve written, which is special to me. I don’t like rules too much, so I follow them the first time I get the award (mostly), and then after that, I generally post thanks, nominating if I have time. I prefer to give them to people who like getting them, and I try to avoid nominating award-free blogs. Maybe it was a quicker way to pop higher in the search engines, although that is questionable, since searches don’t always turn up what I expect. Since the posts have real links to real bloggers with real written content (in my case I often make videos or share photographs to share my appreciation) I don’t see that as some sort of spam scam, but everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I agree that spending your time on your own writing is probably more profitable in the long run. I take time over it because I know the person awarding it has. I see it as sharing the love, the love of writing, blogging and sharing. But that’s me.

    • Damyanti says:

      If it is genuine, I’m all for it. In most cases it is a blogger who started blogging this month, and has never been seen on my blog before, either with likes or comments.

      I appreciate the kind of effort you put into giving the award, and would accept something genuine if it didn’t say I *must* award 15 others! And most awards link back to themselves– I don’t see why I should reward an absolute stranger whose content I don’t like, simply because they left a link back to their blog with a bunch of demands.

      I do maintain blog friendships and the appreciation from me is always in the form of comments, offering of guest spots, or sharing others’ posts on various social media.

      • Brenda says:

        Yes, I don’t disagree about comments and blog friendships, which I find a very rewarding part of blogging. I like to participate in prompts sometimes, and I reblog fairy tale, kid-friendly things, in an attempt to build a fairy-tale-liking community. I find that many of my friends give me awards, and only rarely do I get one from someone I don’t know. Some people are silent readers, though, and don’t leave comments. They don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said, or aren’t part of wordpress.

        As for the rules, I prefer to view them as optional. I agree that following them should be voluntary. Anyway, no one should have to accept an award at all, much less follow the rules.

        I think the big distinction with chain letters, to which I’ve heard blog awards compared, is that chain letter come with superstitious threats, if you don’t send this out to your 10 closest friends… some bad thing will result. That would definitely have been a deal breaker for me. I don’t like threats. Another big distinction is that it’s not a ponzi scheme, send a dollar to every one above your name on the list, and eventually you will get money… that would have been a scary thing, too.

        Interesting post, lots of different reactions to awards, all of them valid. It’s nice to get to chat about it. Cheers, Brenda

        • Damyanti says:

          I take your point about the difference of awards from chain letters, and I’m willing to take your point on people lurking as well.

          But I think this whole thing of leaving a comment with a link on my blog is what bugs me the most.

          If they want to give me an award, why link back to themselves on my blog?

          It’s great chatting to you too, btw, and I hope to read more of your posts soon.

          • Brenda says:

            I only leave a link as a courtesy for the nominated to find the post quickly, sometimes they get buried, and I never call my award posts something easy like, get your award here… It takes forever for my browser to load pages, and otherwise it might be frustrating to find the applicable post. If someone wants to delete the link, go for it. I’m too lazy to that myself, I only delete annoying things. Anyway, I’m laissez-faire, you should do what you want, and no hard feelings. I just thought I would weigh in as I had decided opposite of the others, and had thought about it as carefully. At least I think I had. 🙂 Peace and Joy, Brenda

            • Damyanti says:

              Of course, your comments are as well thought-out, if not more, as the others here, and I appreciate your point of view.

              I can understand your intent in putting in the link, but in a lot of cases, all I see is a struggling newbie who only writes tag posts and rants, who suddenly comes up with an award for me with no other visible motive than an involuntary link exchange.

              Each of us has our own ideas on what we want from blogging and your viewpoint is exactly as valid as mine– we each have our own blogs and may choose what we want to do with it. 🙂

              Thank you for being part of the conversation, and I can honestly say it is one of the many enjoyable and kind exchange of views I have had so far on this blog. I look forward to following your blog, and reading more.

              • Brenda says:

                I thought you were articulate and thoughtful, and not just interested in agreement, so I plunged in, as I so often do. Thanks for your gracious response. I have not gotten that many awards from newbies, but I haven’t even been blogging a year yet (next month is a year). It is a struggle to get all my own writing done, and keep up with the demands of blogging, but so far, I’m enjoying it. I’m learning new forms of poetry, taking tons of photographs, having great chats with others, it’s fun. 🙂 I look forward to reading more of your posts. Cheers, Brenda

                • Damyanti says:

                  As long as you’re having fun, we, your readers, are having fun too! All the best on your blogging journey– I can already see you’re meant for success 😀

                  Cheers,
                  Damyanti

                • Brenda says:

                  Oh, you are lovely. My children will be thrilled you think so. My husband will be thrilled at the idea I may eventually make some money again. One day. If hard work can get me there… 🙂 Cheers, Brenda

  • Miriam says:

    I’ve only been offered two, and I appreciated the gesture (it was very sincere in both cases); but they’re a little too much like chain letters for my taste…

  • trentpmcd says:

    How timely! I was just writing responses to 2 “awards” I received. To me they are just peer recognition but since you have to pass them on to 10 others it is a blogging equivalent top a chain letter. i think the bloggers who “nominated” me were heartfelt so I want to respond to their recognition, but I don’t really want to “accept” the awards….

  • Good blog. To me it is the comments made by my readers that appreciates me to write more. Awards really does not matter for me.

  • I like the intent of mutual promotion, but I don’t want to participate in anything that insists I go and do the same for ten other bloggers. There are plenty of other ways to scratch the backs of bloggers I enjoy, like mentioning them in posts and linking to what they’ve written.

    • Damyanti says:

      “There are plenty of other ways to scratch the backs of bloggers I enjoy, like mentioning them in posts and linking to what they’ve written.”

      Word.

  • daveallen says:

    I’ve just started this, so I’ve only received one award, which I hadn’t yet decided to accept. After your post, I think I’ll just let it be.

  • shoreacres says:

    No, I don’t accept any blogging “awards”. In the first place, most of them aren’t truly awards. They’re simply link-exchange facilitators. Beyond that, to take them seriously means taking away time from what I want to do. I don’t see any reason to do that.

    Building a following by commenting and creating quality content is a very slow way to go, but it’s been immensely satisfying for me. I’m sticking with it.

    • Damyanti says:

      You do spend so much time on your posts, and it is a pleasure to read them. No, your kind of blogging would only get cheapened by these ‘awards’.

  • I think the awards are kindly and sincerely meant, but there is something chain-letterish about them. I agree, comments are better … and so here is one!

  • I like blogging, but I don’t want to spend all day in the blogging app – the WP GUI is less than intuitive and the iOS for my iPad leaves the app wanting a little bit. Regardless, the process of accepting an award seems quite onerous for me, and I just don’t have the time. I agree: it feels spammy.

  • I have noticed many bloggers now putting in a brief blurb, saying thanks, but no thanks, to awards. I have done the same on my Blogger sites…I must add something to my WP ones.

    The process of doing whatever is required, and picking other bloggers to link to, is tedious and has done nothing to improve my feeling of community. Comments do it for me.

    • Damyanti says:

      I suppose I could do that– write a small blurb somewhere, saying I don’t want awards, but I don’t think it’s gonna deter them.

  • disperser says:

    If you visited my site, and read to the bottom of each post, you would come across my standard note that I will refuse all awards (there’s a link as to why), and a link as to why I don’t want to be Freshly Pressed (or what used to be Freshly Pressed).

    Mostly like your reasons.

    • Damyanti says:

      I guess I’m mostly going to be a cow and not accept awards and not talk about it. Earlier they stayed in my comments, now they will go to spam, and get rescued sans the links.

  • Ranting Crow says:

    You are not missing anything it is up to individual. And each to their own. You can have your own rules when it comes to awards. Some are as appreciation .
    well I accept with my on set of rules. and do not put them in a sidebar. But that is me..

    • Damyanti says:

      That sounds fair.

    • violafury says:

      Hi Damyanti,
      I think it depends on the blogger. I have won 3 Liebster Awards, a supposedly prestigious award given to me by bloggers I respect, and the Very Inspirational Blogger Award. In two of the instances, they were from bloggers I did not know and I read their blogs and was impressed. So, I followed the instructions and passed them on to deserving bloggers.

      There are always rules; Liebster is supposedly for 200 or fewer followers and I have broken that. It is also for 10 bloggers, I have broken that rule as well. I answer the questions, link back to the original post and forward the award to the deserving people. Do I check up on them? No. Have the Blog Award Nazis come after me for breaking rules? No. So, I’m in the clear.
      I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think it’s up to each blogger.

      I understand what you mean about the “chain-letter” aspect of the linking back to the original post and all of that. I do so and write a nice little thank-you paragraph in my post to the person who bestowed me with my shiny new award. I won awards for rhetorical writing in college when I went back to major in Computer Science, after my violist husband was upset that I was playing with the Moody Blues and he wasn’t. These awards are now drooled over by my 3rd ex-husband, who can’t play, music, but would like to, and can’t write; he lurks on my blog. So, now he has something else to be pissed at me about. Just kidding.

      If I were earning money with my blog I would not have these awards on it. I probably wouldn’t earn money with a blog called “Homeless Chronicles in Tampa,” as it does not exactly scream success, either. As I am a disabled woman who is basically housebound and I have no family, but I have a very, very loving and supportive group of friends who are writers I will tell you what I think. I think you are doing just exactly what you should do. It’s up to the recipient of the Award; once I’ve picked my 11 or 12 people and passed my Award along, I don’t bother with it, or check up on it. I do look for people who are deserving; who are not just my blogging “pals” but then, that’s it.

      So, I think in the blogging community, it’s perfectly fine. It’s just another one of those things, like “Blogging Idol,” which was interesting. One of my friends made the top 10 in 2012 and promptly stopped speaking to any of us. Oh well. So, do what you’re doing; it’s great, as are you! Thank you. Mary aka Viola Fury

      • Damyanti says:

        Mary,
        First of all, thank you for such a detailed and well-balanced comment, I really appreciate it.

        I agree that it is up to the blogger, what they want to do with an award, and I respect folks who want to put them up on their blog– because it is their blog, after all. Just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean it isn’t for others.

        The good thing that has come of this post is that I have now added a No Blog Awards request to my About the Writer page– which is where most people seem to give me awards!

        Thank you for stopping by and I appreciate the support, both on my blog, and twitter.

        Cheers,
        Damyanti

        • violafury says:

          Thanks Damyanti for the quick response! You will probably start a new revolution! “No Blog Awards Please!” Or, in a lighter vein, “Only Accepting Blog Awards I Have Not Received In The Last Three Months…” although that would sound rather awkward…

          All kidding aside; our blogs are our “space” and what we choose to display or not display is entirely our own choice! Thanks again!

    • I’ve never received a blog award, so I really can’t say. However, I wouldn’t need an award because I love writing and blogging regardless of being rewarded for it or not. But it does make me feel good when I am recognized for what I do, such as yesterday when I received an award for being an awesome writer/author. You can’t help but to let your readers and fans share in your joy and happiness. So yes, I would accept a blog award and show it off.