Should I Have Sold Out?
It’s no secret that I have ads up here at SyncSpeed. While I certainly enjoy blogging (no comments about the lack of activity lately) the extra income sure is nice and helps subsidize my hobby. One of the services we use is Text-Link-Ads.com and it does fairly well. With TLA, people pay a fee to have their links displayed on other sites. Most do it to help with Google ratings and rankings, and I have no problem with that. A while pack, I decided that it better that I approve each link instead of it displaying them automatically…you know…just in case. A few weeks ago a new add popped up for Russian Brides. I immediately rejected the link. But…Did I do the right thing? I mean, should I have sold out for another $10 a month? I wonder who actually pays attention to those links anyways…
I already know what Shayne thinks.
Responses and Conversations
Sold out? My take on this is if you’d left a known “rip-off” link on your site, simply to get revenue, then, yes, you would have “sold-out”.
The term “sold-out” is also quite often used by those who have nothing and no desire to work to obtain it, as a means of putting down those who work to get ahead.
As for “Russian Brides”, if one chooses to click on this link, and gets an ugly bride or someone who only marries them to gain immigration-rights, well then it’s a matter of the “clicker’s” personal responsibility, something more and more people are not willing to stand up for.
Comment by Jim on June 10th, 2007 at 8:49 am
SELL!!! SELL!!!
There’s selling out and then there’s selling something you don’t believe in. Selling usually is similar to what Jim said, but the difference being that the community the person (the one selling out) belonged to usually feels burned because they gave quite a bit - for free - to help the person get where they are. That’s what I think of when I think of selling out.
Then there’s selling something that goes against your standards, ethics, morals or personal beliefs. If you think that the whole Russian Bride industry hurts people and creates a legalized form of indentured servitude, then having those ads on your site might seem inconsistent with your beliefs. But if you don’t care - then it’s not a big deal.
Comment by Christopher Frazier on June 11th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Good points, Chris. Selling-out on your friends or Indentured-servitude would not be worthy of monetary-gain.
Comment by JimmyD on June 11th, 2007 at 8:37 am
SELL!!!!!!!!
I was soo looking into a russian bride… but then I met Steph. Boy am I glad I waited!
For arguements sake, is a marriage of convenience (assuming both parties are willing) really that bad? If they are both adults and go into it wililngly, then what is the harm?
The problem arises when one takes advantage of the other. If this happens, are you “selling out” because the propencity to do so (take advantage of another) is high and you in a way enabled one to do so? If the answer is yes, then its a slippery slope that ultimately ends in taking responsibilty for anothers actions.
Thus, I say SELL!!!
Comment by Shayne on June 13th, 2007 at 9:06 am