A year ago, almost to the day§, I wibbled about crowdsourcing blog maintenance. Here’s the rationale behind the concept:
I bet your blog is like mine in that it has lots of new posts going on the top which get all the attention, and very little action for all those leading up to it, no matter how deserving they might be. Some content doesn’t age well, it’s true, and perhaps some of that deserves to be culled: but then again, some content does stand the test of time. With an ever-increasing repository of blog posts, it becomes more and more difficult to do effective housekeeping.
The idea — getting together to help each other maintain old content — appeared to be well received at the time… but I haven’t followed through, and I apologise for that. I also realise now that my Cunning Plan may have been perceived as an attempt to encourage you, Dear Reader, to visit more pages on my site; I assure you that this was not my intent. In the revised Plan, I’m turning this on its head: if you choose to participate, I will visit a random page on your site, and then leave it up to you whether you want to reciprocate.
The Enhanced Cunning Plan:
I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine
(if you feel so inclined)
- If you want to take part, please use the form below to indicate your interest.
- I will then use the ‘?random’ thingy to visit a page on your site.
- If the page I visit is OK, all is well (and maybe I’ll have enjoyed the trip).
- However, if there’s something wrong with the page (link rot, broken images or missing embedded videos, typos, out-of-date content, that kind of thing) I’ll leave a comment on that page (or try to get in touch with you some other way) to alert you to the need to investigate…
- … and then — if you choose to — you visit a ?random page on Wibble to return the favour. If you do that and let me know you have, I’ll go back to (2) above for another trip on the merry-go-round!
Update 08Aug2021:
Check out the ?RandomRaiders! site :)
It’s snowballing time…
What say you? Are you in? Of course you are!
Fill in the form below to join ?Random Raiders!
§ It can’t be exactly to the day, because last year was a leap year, and that post was published on 29Feb2020. The next true anniversary of my original post on this concept will be on 29Feb2024. I’ve put a note in my diary to remind me… three years should be long enough to determine whether this idea has any legs, I think?
Wibble 
When I first read about it, I thought it was a way for you to get more views. However, that was quickly replaced by curiosity. We have SO many posts and there is no way we can continuously monitor the links. I was eager to check yours (yes, in hopes you’d check mine, too) and I have. It’s a great game. You’ve helped me discover some inactive links, for which I am grateful.
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Oh, good. I’m glad I’ve allayed your fears that it was just a ‘look at me exercise’… and doubly glad that you consider it a ‘great game’! :)
I’ve actually suggested to WordPress that they ought to provide a spider that we can use to check links in our sites. I think the suggestion fell on deaf ears.
But that’s only half the story. I’ve actually done some groundwork investigating the idea of developing something myself. It’s certainly feasible, but I fear that the task is beyond the capabilities of a lone coder. It’s not just link-checking, which in itself is pretty straightforward. There are other aspects to it, too, including spelling and grammar checking, looking for broken images and missing embedded videos… and, most importantly of all, assessing content for whether it’s still relevant — which is not something that any machine can (currently) do; it’s a task that’s best done by real folks. And, who knows, those folks might encounter things they enjoy, and might otherwise miss, in the process. Win-win, I feel?
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People/companies don’t like things that make sense.
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Ah, I’ve had this feeling for a long time that there was something inherently wrong; perhaps that’s what it is….
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I’m in.
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Awesome! :D
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Every day In every way I’m getting better and better. But maybe not my site. I look forward to your perusal
Laugh Til your jaw hurts
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Welcome to ?Random Raiders!, Mr. Ohh! I’ve just visited a couple of ?random links on your site. Excellent stuff, keep up the good work! :)
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Cool idea! I’m in! :)
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Excellent! Welcome aboard. I’ve added you in to the members list on the ?Random Raiders! site; please visit, at your convenience, and click the links to the other members’ sites, and let them know if you find any problems (or, comment on the post you land on… or just say ‘hi!’).
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Chuffed as all get out to find myself participating in medias res. Martin Gardner wrote many engaging articles in Scientific American about this very thing in his monthly column: “Mathematical Games”, so I find myself engaged in just such a statistical process — and in real time. Small world once again.
As a thorough-going researcher, I should be taking more time to better vet my words. Giving proper credit to authors is not an ephemeral act; I appreciate your pointing to two broken links in one of my articles. Now connecting properly.
Wishing you great success and a very Marley Christmas (The working title for my holiday posting :-) , Kind Sir!
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