There is possibly a goat in the Himalayas that doesn’t know that 9rules recently posted a list of 111 sites that got in for their round 4. Even that goat has possibly had me jumping down at it about getting in. With every round there seems to come a wave of analysis and claims this time seem to be pointing so much to 9rules either selling out or looseing it’s exclusivity through accepting so many. I am taking the fact that as one of those on list to one side slightly on this matter. I have seen so many posts over the last few days proclaiming the same story over loss of exclusive nature, it has even prompted Scrivs to post on the 9rules blog about being exclusive:

"It would be nice to admit that there is a plan on how much more we would like to grow, but to be honest we are starting to reach new territories now. We are starting to see submissions every round where the quality gets better and better and that was the "problem" with Round 4. There were just too many damn good sites to say no to. When asked what number we are going to take every round, we always respond by saying we never want to put a cap on quality….."

There is a school of thought that would point a big you’ve got sour grapes over this considering a lot of the comments come from people who did not get into the network. I am not going to join in on that though because for me there is a much more important side to this all than slinging mud. The one thing that niggles me about this proclaiming 9rules has either sold out or has lost it’s secret handshake exclusive club with an entrance hidden down a drain guarded by madonna… or something similar - is that by doing so they are effectively labelling some at least of those sites that did get in as either not good enough or as having gotten in through means other than just being damn good examples. It is taking away the fact that the majority if not all of those that got in did so through their own hard work. As Scrivs stated along with so many of the 9rules crew, the quality was high this time. How about we look at this as a good thing and sign of the impact of networks such as 9rules on the quality.

For many (including me) not getting into 9rules means looking at your blog and focusing on weak areas and building it up. Submission and if you get it admission to 9rules is a carrot you dangle for yourself to push more in your blogging. As a result it is raising the standard which I can only see as a good thing. I remember a few years ago when you could count on your hand the number of worthwhile blogs - now most RSS readers are filled to the brim and you can often feel like a kid in a sweet shop with the array of quality.

Along with this one futher point has to be noted of the exact nature of a community. The definition of a community is:

"In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs and a multitude of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the degree of adhesion within the mixture, but the definitive driver of community is that all individual subjects in the mix have something in common."

Now, it might be me but I see nowhere in there that say a limit or number. The 9rules team have been very clear about their intentions:

"It’s no secret that we want all of our communities to become the go to places on the web for that topic."

So, if this is the aim then why band that they are loosing sight of their objective and that they are selling out. Surely, the last round and amount of sites that applied is a clear sign of the success of 9rules?

I know I am at risk of having it claimed that these opinions are just because I got in. The thing is I had these same feelings last time and probably will every submission. Spare a thought for those that got in and how labelling them as the poor quality mass influx to 9rules is not exaclty playing fair. Think about what exactly a community means and exactly what 9rules wants to do. How about reading the 9rules for a start? If the site is good enough it gets in, if not take it as a sign to do better. When you do get in don’t sit on your laurels and proclaim you are better than sliced breaded products, take a moment to reflect and push on with renewed enthusiasm. 9rules has raised the bar in blogging across the world and should be congratulated on the success. Blogging is common along with the increase in quality, I don’t think this is the only mass input into 9rules that will be seen as the bar is increasingly being raised. For me, this is not a bad thing and I have a feeling this is not a bad thing for any of the 9rules team - well it might be for their brains when the submissions top over 1000.