Why I Quit Triberr Rather Than Follow Tribal Rules

Not long ago, I blogged about how I tend to be a social networking lunatic, meaning that (among other things) I tend to try every social network I hear about. That doesn't mean I stay with all of them. But sometimes you have to throw spaghetti at the wall to see if it will stick.

The latest strand of pasta to fall off the wall is triberr. After hearing glowing recommendations from an author group, I dashed over to sign up. For the uninitiated, triberr is a blog sharing site where you join groups (called tribes) of like-minded bloggers. Tribe members promote each other's posts by sharing them with their own social media followers, increasing everyone's exposure. Sounded like a whiz bang idea, and I couldn't wait to get started.

My account on triberr lasted less than five days before I deleted it.

I could blame the numerous technical difficulties I experienced in that brief time, but the truth is, that wasn't the deal breaker. The reason I quit triberr is because of rules imposed by the leaders of every tribe I was interested in. Actually, it was one rule in particular that sent me running for the door.  

"You must approve and share all member posts without exception."

Whoa, hang on a minute. So, I had to promote all posts to everyone in my Twitter feed, whether or not I felt they were well-written or appropriate? Absolutely, positively, no way in heck can I support that sheepherder mentality, and I don't advise others on social nets do so, either.

If you read my recent post about why authors shouldn't promote books on social media, you know that I am a firm proponent of giving value rather than hype to followers. Promoting someone else's post because it's a rule rather than a worthy bit of content doesn't sit well with me, and it likely won't sit well with followers. Just because someone signs up for the same tribe doesn't mean their posts will truly be unique, relevant, and interesting. At worst, this kind of blind sharing smacks of spam, which could cost followers--especially when we're talking a volume of post approvals daily (100+ for the mere three tribes I joined).

In a perfect world, joining a tribe of similar bloggers would mean every post is relevant and worth sharing, but I simply did not find this to be the case. Well over half of the posts I was expected to shout from the rooftops were either too spammy, too naughty (yes, even erotic authors have limits), or too meh for me to feel good about promoting.

I get that tribe leaders feel the "must approve all" rule is necessary to ensure fairness, but is it really true? Why should I spend time drafting thoughtful posts and engaging on social media only to to turn around and push posts I don't feel offer equal value? It's a disservice to blog quality when everyone is required to promote equally "just because". And pumping out dozens of links to posts of little relevance may soon have followers tuning out all our updates or unfollowing us altogether.

Why not allow members to approve only worthwhile posts? What better way to challenge members to put out quality content than the discovery that dull, spambot-style posts don't get shared? When the day comes that triberr members decide to go for quality rather than quantity, maybe I'll give that pasta another trial toss at the wall. Until then, I'll keep on promoting other people's blogs individually the way I always have--based on the quality of worthwhile content.

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On Mondays I gab about, well, pretty much whatever I want!

I'm J. Rose Allister, wife, working mom, and the author of over twenty-five books. Somewhere in between one and the next, I love hanging out here on my blog and over on Twitter. Give me a comment or follow-I love chatting with people! And if you enjoyed this post, consider sharing with friends and subscribing for updates.