I have decided not to use MyBlogLog anymore due to a number of issues with it. Firstly, I just ran across a post by Shoemoney that the tracking by MyBlogLog is wide open to interpretation and may be against Adsense TOS. Then again, Google has never come out and said anything against MyBlogLog. So, as usual, things like this become a gray issue, and I think to be on the safe side, it’s best to ditch MyBlogLog.
That brings me to my second point. Ever since MyBlogLog was sold to Yahoo, I’ve noticed things are not the same anymore. Many people don’t put up their avatars in MBL anymore. Compared with Blog Catalog, I see a major difference now, in that more and more people are jumping ship to Blog Catalog or elsewhere. By the way, I haven’t noticed any blank avatars in Blog Catalog compared to MyBlogLog. So, that just means people aren’t bothering with MyBlogLog anymore to even bother putting up avatars (even if they are Yahoo avatars).
It seems that the requirement to log in with a Yahoo account was a major turnoff for many people (though I myself don’t quite understand that), because most regular Web users should have had a Yahoo account (and Yahoo email) by now. Signing up is as easy as 1-2-3; heck it’s even easier than MSN. I’d choose Yahoo mail over MSN Hotmail anytime.
But that brings me to the third point – Yahoo customer service. Now that Eric is gone, there seems to be no one around in MyBlogLog to keep the whole community together. There is Kent Brewster, but unless I’m wrong, he is not the community liaison that Eric was. Eric was one of the founders, and he had almost everyone on his contact list. Now, MyBlogLog just seems a colder, less buzzing place. We don’t know who answers the mail at MyBlogLog. If it’s Yahoo customer service reps, no thanks! Yahoo is legendary for having next to no customer service.
MyBlogLog was the biggest online community for bloggers, until it was bought by Yahoo last year. Now, there isn’t any comparable service (yet). Unless Blog Catalog gets taken over by another big company, I don’t see why it can’t get as big as MyBlogLog. I just hope it (or other similar Web 2.0 services) doesn’t end up like MyBlogLog.