Before I went to college, my dad gave me this piece of advice:
"There will always be someone somewhere doing something... and they'll want you to do it with them."
His point was that there will always be something fun to do, and it will seem like everyone is always doing something other than studying, but if I try to keep up with everyone and do everything, I'll flat out flunk out. People generally don't advertise when they are doing their real work.
I remember an episode of "The Cosby Show" when Vanessa was having trouble with her grades. She had been studying with her friend Janet at the Huxtable house, but after the friend would go home, Vanessa would consider her studying done. Little did she realize that Janet would then go home and do her real studying there. Her friend was keeping up her good grades and Vanessa couldn't understand how it was possible, given that they were studying the same amount. Wrong, Vanessa.
When it comes to blogging circles, I'm sort of like Vanessa. In college. With a lot of really fun people doing really interesting stuff all around me. And I never see anyone doing their real work, so I don't do mine.
This is where the trouble starts. For me, "blogging circles" are like your circle of friends. You have one core group, with which you hang out in each other's blogs, share ideas, tips, and comments. But each person in that group has other friends "outside" of the circle, too. Every once in a while, they talk about something cool they did with that "peripheral" friend. You decide to check it out and then you are screwed because you stumble into that person's blogging circle and realize it is just as cool as your blogging circle.
And then the clicking starts. And the reading. And the subscribing. And the insomnia.
Seriously, it just floors me how impossibly large and tangled the blogosphere is. I get comfortable in my little blogging circle, think I've got it down, but then I stumble into an entirely new circle of bloggers and think, "Woah. Where did these fabulous writers come from?"
cre8Buzz is like a crack pipe for quality bloggers. When it comes to losing all track of time, that place is Dante's Nine Circles of Hell. I think I'm breaking out of one circle of blogs to get to know, only to stumble into an even more fascinating group of bloggers. Since the site has gone live, it's just gotten more addictive. I have found the best blogs on there and the supply never ends. Not to mention all of the wonderful new readers I've picked up myself. (Hey, ya'll!)
To make matters worse, I introduced a chat widget into the communities. It spread like wildfire and now there is almost always someone on that you can chat with, right within the profiles. Well, the profiles of the cool people that loaded the widget. ;)
Consider me your cre8Buzz drug pusher of sorts. Just try it. Just once. Come on. You'll like it. It's no big deal. You'll be in and out like nothing. Just take a look. Here, take a look at my profile. Leave a comment. Actually, you'll have to register to leave a comment, but hey, then you can make your own profile, too, and start uploading stuff to have ranked and then... well, call me when you check out of cre8Buzz rehab.
Yeah, that gives "getting a buzz" a whole new meaning.
I need help. There are too many good bloggers out there. And now, well, now I'm getting ready to announce a new project that I'm taking on, for which I'll be actually hunting down even more solid bloggers. I'll have an actual goal in mind when looking through people's blogrolls. I'll be looking for talent. The thrill of the hunt. Talk about a rush.
God help me.
And, yeah, uh, I'm supposed to be doing a bunch of "work" for various blogs this weekend... but I'll probably be on cre8Buzz procrastinating, so come on over and chat with me! Feed my craving for blog talk!
*I absolutely have invitations for you to join cre8Buzz, if you'd like one. Either leave a comment or send me an email. Plenty to go around!