Comments on: Active Rain: It Never Ceases to Amaze

By: Sue

Sue — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:19:08 +0000

Collecting points as a motivation for posting is indeed a bad incentive and definitely encourages useless comments. I have to admit I didn’t even realize that Trulia awarded points, never noticed…only noticed their thumbs up and down options.

By: Kathy McGraw

Kathy McGraw — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:09:47 +0000

This is the first time I have seen this platform, although I recognize many of the people; and that is thanks to AR. I personally like AR, and since I had no pre-conceived notions of what Blogging was to do for me….well I met my goal I have made friends, gotten referrals, given referrals, found Hoime Inspectors, Marketing people, etc. I have used it to research, and just to be entertained. Yes, I have heard many times about getting an outside Blog, and will have one by next week….but will still participate in AR because it fits my needs.

By: TeriE

TeriE — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:16:27 +0000

Hi Jay: Interesting, very interesting. As some have already mentioned, AR has been a tremendous “jump off” place to learn about blogging and to get to communicate – sometimes effectively – with others in the same profession. I joined at the beginning, but did not really begin to post until about a year ago. Lately I’ve pretty much run out of profound things to say on AR, but do read and reap what benefits I can. I like to “stay in touch” with my AR friends, and will occasionally post if I so feel the need. Meanwhile, I have two other blogs I post on – my own – and will be stopping by here as well. As Jim said, it is really time consuming……I stopped RT for the same reason…..too many adversarial arguments and not enough substance. AR still has tons of substance, and great people.

As for Truilia, didn’t realize there were points to be gained, but do – on occasion – jump in with my two cents’ worth………

By: Jay Thompson

Jay Thompson — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:14:51 +0000

Just to reiterate, I am not “anti-AR”. There ARE many good things about it — it’s a good place to “network”, and it’s a good place to learn. For those that have gotten real business from it, more power to them!

No, I am not anti-AR. I am anti “points”, and have been since Day 1 of my joining AR. It’s been a constant issue, and — in my opinion only — leads to much dilution of quality.

That’s all I’m trying to say…

By: Jim Duncan

Jim Duncan — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:49:00 +0000

Bo –

Thanks for the inference; I hadn’t made it but I appreciate the sentiment. I agree there is room for all sorts of blogging models, just as there are all sorts of commission structures. Some agents prefer autonomy and others would rather have structure.

As far as quoting – as long as the quoted material fits the Fair Use doctrine, you should be fine.

I think Rudy may have said it best about commenting on the recent Trulia thread –

“Overall, many of you have been in the online real estate space much longer than others. You know how to participate and how not to. I remember when I first started commenting and contributing many, many years ago – I too had to learn the ropes…..But I did. Some people are at that earlier learning stage now. Rather than shooting them down, I think it’s much better to lead by example – as many of you do. Remember AR when it first started? Many didn’t know what they were doing, but everyone learned from each other. And today, they are doing great and teaching others. ”
Maybe I’m old (school) – but we didn’t need points as motivation.

By: Rich Jacobson

Rich Jacobson — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:56:05 +0000

Bo – when quoted in a ‘snippet’ format and adding your own comment, as Jay does here, it’s totally appropriate, and a very common practice. Copying and pasting someone’s entire article? Get out your checkbook….

By: Bo Buchanan

Bo Buchanan — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:07:16 +0000

Jay – as a relative newbie on AR I can say that I didn’t really get the whole blogging thing until I got involved at Active Rain. Maybe that’s one of the draws AR has. Participating is fairly simple and it’s easy to get started. The whole “points” thing may give people some feeling of accomplishment as they start out. As with anything on the internet – someone is always going to find a way to game the system. Whether it be points or SEO. Everyone is trying to carve out a niche. Maybe Agent Genius does this by appealing to the agents ego – implying that the smart agents are here at AG not AR. I don’t know if that’s true – but it’s an inference one could make. I just discovered Agent Genius about a week ago – and it was through multiple references at AR. Truth be told – I think there is room and reason for the different real estate blogging systems to exist. Maybe I will change my mind in 6 months or a year – but for now, I am enjoying the Rain. Thanks for the quality thread. I’m also curious – is it appropriate to be posting content from AR here on AG without the permission of those who wrote it?

By: Melina Tomson

Melina Tomson — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:45:09 +0000

Joining AR is totally worth it to read Linda Davis (as Carnac), Andrew Lenza (check him out if you haven’t read him), John McArthur, and if you need a good dose of smart a$$, Jason Sardi or Paul Slaybaugh. I am sure there are many others that I haven’t found, but it does take a while to sort through it all.

I’m part of AR and get many feeds as well. There is good and bad quality all over the internet.

By: Sparky

Sparky — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:34:26 +0000

Jeremy: You can have some of mine. They took them all away when I was hired!

By: Jeremy Hart

Jeremy Hart — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:44:02 +0000

I never used AR until, oh, last week. Well, I had an account but I hadn’t looked at it in a year, and then last week signed back in based upon the recommendation of Brian Block (http://activerain.com/bablock). With 184000 points I suspect Brian finds the points a bit amusing at this point, but maybe I’m wrong. He told me that he finds it to be a really great place to network not only with clients but with colleagues, as well, which is what drove me back.

Active Rain seems to be a fairly generic, common meeting ground for people in the real estate industry, and so I’ve set up a group for agents in my area to subscribe to. I envision a place where local agents can meet online and discuss what’s happening in our market – things we’re seeing, problems we’re running into, situations (good and bad) we’ve come across. I know not everyone’s going to participate, but even if we could get 100 members that’s good for all of us. There’s a real value to collaboration among agents, despite the fact that we’re competing. My perception is that it’s a lot easier to convince agents to sign up for something that’s real estate focused, then it would be to try and explain a Ning.com site, for example.

I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong but it seems like there’s a place for Active Rain. If people want to worry about points instead of focusing on growing their business, that’s fine by me. I don’t know how many points you get for doing anything there – wait, that’s not true, I got 250 points today for referring someone. Crap! I’ve been sucked in now, as well! But honestly, I still think sites that can promote a discussion have value in this business, which is often a “one man or woman show”. The points system, the fluff? I could take it or leave it. Although, if Brian wants to pass some of those points over this way …