Blogtipping Inventor : Easton Ellsworth

September 28, 2006
Filed Under Branding/Buzz/Viral |

Since I started blogging, Easton Ellsworth has been very helfpul to me. Easton is the creator of blogtipping. Due to blogtipping’s naturally networking and helpful nature, I decided to interview Easton about it in more detail.

- Why did you start blogtipping and what exactly is blog tipping?

I started blogtipping (or blog tipping) in April 2006 as a fun, simple way to remind myself and other bloggers to help each other. You just surprise three other bloggers by publishing a post in which you give each blogger three compliments and one suggestion.

- What positive experiences have you seen with it?

The best part has been getting to know other bloggers and encouraging them. I’ve watched as others connect with people they never knew before via the blogtipping meme.

- How and why do you spread it and how do you monitor that?

I blogtip a different trio of bloggers on the first day of each month. I subscribe to several keyword search feeds ( e.g. a Google Blog Search feed for “blog tipping”) that notify me when someone mentions the meme. I leave appreciative comments at as many blogtipping posts as possible. Finally, I do a monthly “round-up” post highlighting some blogs that I’ve discovered through blogtipping. It’s all very simple and takes little time or effort. But as they say, a little goes a long way. The biggest reason blogtipping spreads, though, is the “pay it forward” mentality it inspires in its participants.

- What suggestions would you have for others wanting to start a viral meme?

Keep it simple. Give it a unique name. Maybe fashion a few buttons or widgets to promote it (like my silly blogtipping icons). Make it recur regularly if possible, to encourage repeat participation. Set the example by doing it yourself. Don’t push it on others - just set it out where they can see it and remind them of its benefits from time to time. The key to it all is to create something self-replicating that helps people improve themselves.

- What plans do you have for blogtipping in the future?

I’ll keep doing it each month and continue recognizing the blogging tips I learn and the fine bloggers I discover as a result of others’ blogtipping posts. Perhaps someone will come along who wants to take blogtipping in a new direction, and that’s fine by me. I wasn’t the first to advocate regularly praising and critiquing others’ work in a public forum. Someday “blogtipping” might die, but the principles it espouses, like selflessness and friendship, will remain immortal.

- How can we help you spread blogtipping?

You just did :). Talk about it, try your hand at it. Even bashing blogtipping (which no one has done to this point) would ironically tend to spread it. The two best ways to kill a meme are to ignore (not attack!) it from without or to corrupt it from within. Were I value my meme above my friends or blog readers, it would reek of narcissism and quickly lose support. Let meme-makers remember that memes, like real viruses, hold no life of their own and must rely on living hosts for their carrying power. The power to spread ideas stays rooted not within the subsoil of technology, but much deeper: in the bedrock of human minds and hearts.

I’d like to thank Easton for his time, if you got something out of this, please link to, err tip it, to others!

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Comments

3 Responses to “Blogtipping Inventor : Easton Ellsworth”

Easton Ellsworth on September 28th, 2006 1:05 pm

Thanks David. Fun stuff!
David Dalka on September 28th, 2006 3:45 pm

It was fun to learn about the evolution of blogtipping, I really enjoyed the conversation! Talk to you soon.
ModernMagellans on July 3rd, 2007 8:17 pm

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