Posted on July 12, 2007 - by Justin Hartman
What I’ve learnt not to do on Muti
I’m a huge fan of Muti which is a superb African Social Bookmark site where users can post links to content on the web. The site, based largely off Reddit, has proven to be a great source of leading content within the African continent and generally what appears on Muti is worth the read.
The problem I’m seeing more and more, as the site grows larger and the readership increases, is that many people aren’t aware of the unspoken guidelines that exist amongst users of Muti so I’ve decided to highlight some of them below.
I must also add that I myself have broken most of these guidelines simply because I was ignorant at the time and didn’t know any better. I’m hoping that this post will help the other ignorant people like myself.
Guideline 1: Avoid Submission Spam
Submission Spamming is different to conventional spamming simply because it may be quality content that is being posted to the site however when you submit every story from your own blog or website it is still considered spam.
Rafiq has posted a good article on his blog about why you shouldn’t submit your own content and he provides some assistance on how to get your readers to do this for you.
Guideline 2: Don’t submit content under a different username
This is similar to the above mentioned guideline however it’s much more dirty as people submitting their own content under a different username are blatantly acting in submission spam. Muti is really about relevance and quality and submission spam, on whatever level, is just going against all of the principals of the site.
At some point regular users will figure out who’s submitting relevant items and who’s just spamming the site and it has an effect on your site as people simply won’t visit it. We have various aggregators that will drive traffic to your site and Muti shouldn’t be used in the same way.
Guideline 3: Don’t vote against a story to get a higher ranking
One of the big features of Muti is the voting for or against a content item which in turn ranks the content against other votes on the site. A tactic with some is to give a negative vote on all articles that appear directly above your post in an attempt to make the Hot list on Muti. Users of Muti vote for an article because of its merit and this helps maintain relevance for the users of the site so don’t blatantly ruin it for people.
I know that Neville has done some good work on trying to eliminate this completely and as a result you can only vote on an item once which has certainly helped. To combat this even further though I’d like to suggest making it possible to see who’s voting for or against which stories. Once people realise they could be caught I think you’ll see the end of this completely.
I am a seasoned entrepreneur and currently the CEO of 
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July 12, 2007
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[...] post by Justin Hartman and software by Social Bookmark Submission [...]
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July 12, 2007
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Dude you so beat me to this post. I was just sitting down to write the EXACT same topic. As most of us know I am close to this subject and have blogged about it before. I think that you are right, we dealt with the issue a few months ago but now the site is growing and it seems like users are becoming complacent about their role on muti.
Users need to get sticky and get involved. Don’t let people muti thier own content, vote them down and make a point. Don’t vote down others to get yourself ahead and don’t use fake usernames. Simple. 3 rules.
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July 12, 2007
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Spot on Justin! I also use Muti as a way to collect information which I would liketo come back to at some later stage. Voting articles up, and tagging stuff relevantly helps me organise the information for myself better. Acting with a different username would undo this process. Thus the “invisible hand” of economics (i.e. self-interest) will ensure the site remains a rock solid resource for its top users.
Rock on Neville!
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July 12, 2007
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Nic well I must admit I’m pleased I beat you too it
It certainly has increased but y suspicion is that it happens mostly because people don’t realise that submitting you content is not so lekker. This was true for me until I read Rafiq’s post in December so I understand it completely.
Dave you are 100% correct. Muti can and should be used for exactly this purpose and I find myself doing this all the time. It’s weird but it works well. Multiple usernames simply defeat your own end goal!!!
The problem I guess with Muti is that people(bloggers) have egos and everyone would like to have the most “Kudus” or posts ranking in the “Top 25″ and as long as this exists people will try cheat. It’s just the way life works.
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July 12, 2007
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I dunno maybe I slightly disagree with certain aspects. I’m guilty of posting my own content
I agree on:
1. Creating false user names to promote your own site. Seems pretty feeble
2. Voting your own stuff up.
I disagree that people shouldnt be able to post their own content for 2 reason:
A) The whole point of something like Muti, Reddit etc is for the community to decide what they think of a particular post. Its like submitting an artwork for a competition. You’ve put it out there so people need to vote on it.
B) 90% of those sites on Muti don’t have a real readership of more than a handful of readers (call it under 50 real readers). Realistically a big % of them are going to fall away over time. Those that survive and develop a following wont need Muti to promote and develop their community. But without something like Muti to kickstart it they will never get going…
Dunno those are just my thoughts.
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July 12, 2007
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Sorry just to correct on my previous post.
It should read that I agree that Voting False User Names to promote your site is pretty feeble and should be frowned upon.
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July 12, 2007
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Marc I hear what you are saying and agree to a point. I’m all for submitting “some” of your own content but I think it becomes a problem if you submit “all” of your content to muti. A site like Reddit also largely accepts self-posting but discourages spamming and I think there is a difference.
Users of Muti aren’t going to hate it/you/or your blog if you submit your own stuff but the continual submission is something that affects everyone.
90% of Muti is good articles and interesting to most users of Muti. If we opened it up and allowed everyone to submit their own content it would turn Muti into another blog aggregator and Muti simply isn’t that. It’s not why it exists and other services like Afrigator or Amatomu exist to give new blogs the kick-start they deserve in a hope to give bloggers a chance to be heard.
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July 12, 2007
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Also remember that the guidelines are just that and are not hard and fast rules. There is no right or wrong thing to do but users of Muti do determine the social aspect of it and I’m almost positive than any new blog would hate it if the community frowned upon it and stopped visiting the blog. Surely this would kill any new blogs hope of ever succeeding?
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July 12, 2007
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Agreed.
But I think the beauty of Muti is in its simplicity.
We wrote an article on it a while back and how it actually still has some potential to be used as a business tool. A lot comes down to how the end user ultimately uses it.
As part of that media experiment we are currently running we are operating 10 blogs in totally different spheres. In all the time we’ve had those blogs I have not once visited either of the aggregators beyond signing up with them. I dont get them I’ll be honest – its too many clicks for me to enjoy.
Muti on the other hand – Submit my content. Poor stuff gets voted off the island and the top stuff you enjoy clicking through to because its 2 clicks and its whatever is topical at the moment.
This Post is a case in point. Now imagine you didn’t have a following and nobody knew who Justin Hartman was. Why would they check your blog? I checked it because it was a hot topic on Muti. Nice and easy and simple.
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July 12, 2007
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And I agree with you as well – Muti’s beauty is in its simplicity.
You said that in all the time you’ve never visited the blog aggregators apart from signing up but muti on the other hand works for you. Do you not think because Muti is kept spam free (to an extent) that this is the reason why you keep coming back because you always get good stuff?
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July 12, 2007
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Hahahahahah good answer – touche.
Don’t like the interfaces of the aggregators – cant tell you why I just don’t.
I’m narrow minded in my Internet reading. Need a few people to find the find the good things before I follow on…
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
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Look I run one of the aggregators and I can tell you we’ve got a lot of crap on there. It’s the nature of aggregating content and for me thats why I still come back to Muti. I love the aggregators but it’s more a main-stream function dealing with masses of content while a site like muti is simply picking the best of the best.
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July 12, 2007
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And to top it all off you get a site like this which offers a paid for service in submitting your content to social bookmarking sites. I see muti isn’t there yet but can you imagine the junk that will arrive if this service is extended to muti?
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July 12, 2007
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Thats part of what we’ve been trying to achieve with this media experiment is to find out:
How to develop a self sustaining on-line community and how to monetise it.
Some interesting things have come out of it in the last few months but its part of helping us to understand whats happening with the Internet and hopefully be able to advise people around it as we go…
This is a good debate tho!
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July 12, 2007
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Well there is no doubt I’ll start watching your blogs more closely. I’m interested to find out what you guys are up to and what you discover!
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Dude you so beat me to this post. I was just sitting down to write the EXACT same topic. As most of us know I am close to this subject and have blogged about it before. I think that you are right, we dealt with the issue a few months ago but now the site is growing and it seems like users are becoming complacent about their role on muti.
Users need to get sticky and get involved. Don't let people muti thier own content, vote them down and make a point. Don't vote down others to get yourself ahead and don't use fake usernames. Simple. 3 rules.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Spot on Justin! I also use Muti as a way to collect information which I would liketo come back to at some later stage. Voting articles up, and tagging stuff relevantly helps me organise the information for myself better. Acting with a different username would undo this process. Thus the “invisible hand” of economics (i.e. self-interest) will ensure the site remains a rock solid resource for its top users.
Rock on Neville!
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Hi Justin
Thank you for writing down these points. You have really captured the “rules” very well, a lot better than I possibly could have!
Regards
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Nic well I must admit I'm pleased I beat you too it
It certainly has increased but y suspicion is that it happens mostly because people don't realise that submitting you content is not so lekker. This was true for me until I read Rafiq's post in December so I understand it completely.
Dave you are 100% correct. Muti can and should be used for exactly this purpose and I find myself doing this all the time. It's weird but it works well. Multiple usernames simply defeat your own end goal!!!
The problem I guess with Muti is that people(bloggers) have egos and everyone would like to have the most “Kudus” or posts ranking in the “Top 25″ and as long as this exists people will try cheat. It's just the way life works.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
I dunno maybe I slightly disagree with certain aspects. I'm guilty of posting my own content
I agree on:
1. Creating false user names to promote your own site. Seems pretty feeble
2. Voting your own stuff up.
I disagree that people shouldnt be able to post their own content for 2 reason:
A) The whole point of something like Muti, Reddit etc is for the community to decide what they think of a particular post. Its like submitting an artwork for a competition. You've put it out there so people need to vote on it.
B) 90% of those sites on Muti don't have a real readership of more than a handful of readers (call it under 50 real readers). Realistically a big % of them are going to fall away over time. Those that survive and develop a following wont need Muti to promote and develop their community. But without something like Muti to kickstart it they will never get going…
Dunno those are just my thoughts.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Sorry just to correct on my previous post.
It should read that I agree that Voting False User Names to promote your site is pretty feeble and should be frowned upon.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Marc I hear what you are saying and agree to a point. I'm all for submitting “some” of your own content but I think it becomes a problem if you submit “all” of your content to muti. A site like Reddit also largely accepts self-posting but discourages spamming and I think there is a difference.
Users of Muti aren't going to hate it/you/or your blog if you submit your own stuff but the continual submission is something that affects everyone.
90% of Muti is good articles and interesting to most users of Muti. If we opened it up and allowed everyone to submit their own content it would turn Muti into another blog aggregator and Muti simply isn't that. It's not why it exists and other services like Afrigator or Amatomu exist to give new blogs the kick-start they deserve in a hope to give bloggers a chance to be heard.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Also remember that the guidelines are just that and are not hard and fast rules. There is no right or wrong thing to do but users of Muti do determine the social aspect of it and I'm almost positive than any new blog would hate it if the community frowned upon it and stopped visiting the blog. Surely this would kill any new blogs hope of ever succeeding?
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Agreed.
But I think the beauty of Muti is in its simplicity.
We wrote an article on it a while back and how it actually still has some potential to be used as a business tool. A lot comes down to how the end user ultimately uses it.
As part of that media experiment we are currently running we are operating 10 blogs in totally different spheres. In all the time we've had those blogs I have not once visited either of the aggregators beyond signing up with them. I dont get them I'll be honest – its too many clicks for me to enjoy.
Muti on the other hand – Submit my content. Poor stuff gets voted off the island and the top stuff you enjoy clicking through to because its 2 clicks and its whatever is topical at the moment.
This Post is a case in point. Now imagine you didn't have a following and nobody knew who Justin Hartman was. Why would they check your blog? I checked it because it was a hot topic on Muti. Nice and easy and simple.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
And I agree with you as well – Muti's beauty is in its simplicity.
You said that in all the time you've never visited the blog aggregators apart from signing up but muti on the other hand works for you. Do you not think because Muti is kept spam free (to an extent) that this is the reason why you keep coming back because you always get good stuff?
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Hahahahahah good answer – touche.
Don't like the interfaces of the aggregators – cant tell you why I just don't.
I'm narrow minded in my Internet reading. Need a few people to find the find the good things before I follow on…
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Look I run one of the aggregators and I can tell you we've got a lot of crap on there. It's the nature of aggregating content and for me thats why I still come back to Muti. I love the aggregators but it's more a main-stream function dealing with masses of content while a site like muti is simply picking the best of the best.
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
And to top it all off you get a site like this which offers a paid for service in submitting your content to social bookmarking sites. I see muti isn't there yet but can you imagine the junk that will arrive if this service is extended to muti?
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Thats part of what we've been trying to achieve with this media experiment is to find out:
How to develop a self sustaining on-line community and how to monetise it.
Some interesting things have come out of it in the last few months but its part of helping us to understand whats happening with the Internet and hopefully be able to advise people around it as we go…
This is a good debate tho!
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Well there is no doubt I'll start watching your blogs more closely. I'm interested to find out what you guys are up to and what you discover!
Visit My Website
July 12, 2007
Permalink
Hi Justin
Thank you for writing down these points. You have really captured the “rules” very well, a lot better than I possibly could have!
Regards
Visit My Website
July 13, 2007
Permalink
Thanks for the pointers, I have submitted my own content in past and I see the the relative lack of worth in it, however I’m not convinced about the absolute lack of worth. The”invisible hand” (Dave) would want me to release news on behalf of a client, and kickstart it through self-submission. It needs a better peer review?
Secondly, I’m for different personas. Many people have 3 basic personas: professional, social, family. To carry one persona online is therefore not being true to self. I dont want my client who is a CEO or company secretary to read my thoughts on politics or what I did on the weekend. I know many people in this community who have at least 2 blogs, and allowing personas allows whistleblowing and anonimity which is one of the pillars of the web
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July 13, 2007
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Thanks for the pointers, I have submitted my own content in past and I see the the relative lack of worth in it, however I'm not convinced about the absolute lack of worth. The”invisible hand” (Dave) would want me to release news on behalf of a client, and kickstart it through self-submission. It needs a better peer review?
Secondly, I'm for different personas. Many people have 3 basic personas: professional, social, family. To carry one persona online is therefore not being true to self. I dont want my client who is a CEO or company secretary to read my thoughts on politics or what I did on the weekend. I know many people in this community who have at least 2 blogs, and allowing personas allows whistleblowing and anonimity which is one of the pillars of the web
Visit My Website
July 18, 2007
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Justin,
I agree although I have broken the rules mainly through ignorance of them. Maybe a prominent FAG would help.
There is only one thing about Afrigator that bugs me and makes my teeth itch.
It is: There is no FORGOT PASSWORD? on the login page. Why on earth not?
I forget it and because there is no easy identifiable way to apply for a LOST PASSWORD, I navigate to other sites and simply do not return to Afrigator. Today is a case in point. I thought Ihad remembered it, but……..
So I am going to go read Dave Duarte’s site thn Champers, then Misty in Sweden then Blogebrity.com……!!! No way. The last is a joke.
Robert@iscatterlings.com
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July 18, 2007
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Oh, I remembered so will stick it out at Afrigator. It was a fluke but longshots do pay off.
Anyway – the problem Istated above still applies.
Robert@iscatterling.com
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July 18, 2007
Permalink
Justin,
I agree although I have broken the rules mainly through ignorance of them. Maybe a prominent FAG would help.
There is only one thing about Afrigator that bugs me and makes my teeth itch.
It is: There is no FORGOT PASSWORD? on the login page. Why on earth not?
I forget it and because there is no easy identifiable way to apply for a LOST PASSWORD, I navigate to other sites and simply do not return to Afrigator. Today is a case in point. I thought Ihad remembered it, but……..
So I am going to go read Dave Duarte's site thn Champers, then Misty in Sweden then Blogebrity.com……!!! No way. The last is a joke.
Robert@iscatterlings.com
Visit My Website
July 18, 2007
Permalink
Oh, I remembered so will stick it out at Afrigator. It was a fluke but longshots do pay off.
Anyway – the problem Istated above still applies.
Robert@iscatterling.com
Visit My Website
November 12, 2007
Permalink
I use one fat pipe to read all my feeds, and whenever that blog i updated, i get it in my outlook 2007 inbox.
Come drop by for “my” personal take on aggregating.
I dont care much for the rest but recently decidec that less is on fact less, so i decided to join more networks to increase my feeds database.
http://megafeed.blogspot.com
I am seriously going to be removing all the SEO and AD sites that are on my list!
Visit My Website
November 12, 2007
Permalink
I use one fat pipe to read all my feeds, and whenever that blog i updated, i get it in my outlook 2007 inbox.
Come drop by for “my” personal take on aggregating.
I dont care much for the rest but recently decidec that less is on fact less, so i decided to join more networks to increase my feeds database.
http://megafeed.blogspot.com
I am seriously going to be removing all the SEO and AD sites that are on my list!