Made For Dropping

A nice thing about dropping entrecards on Entrecard member websites is that you get to discover new things. Like for instance, I discovered this cool Warcraft flash game called Mini Tower of Defense. I think I spent like 2 or 3 hours playing that game. LOL!

I also discovered what seems to be websites or pages specially “made for dropping“. These pages are almost empty. All they have are a few lines of text and the Entrecard Widget, because of that, these pages load extremely fast. It’s also quite obvious that they were “made for dropping” entrecards on them.

Okay, I admit that they’re not that many. In fact, I think I only saw 2 or 3 pages that are like these. What I’m really concern about is that new and old members might start doing something like this and it might even become a new trend in Entrecard which I feel will not benefit the community and might degrade the system’s integrity. Yes, it will speed up the dropping process but it feels unnatural to drop on a page or blog that is empty. I maybe one of those speed droppers but when I find something worth reading or interesting, I stop, read and even comment on it. I wouldn’t have noticed these pages if I was not paying any attention to the sites I drop my entrecard on.

Anyway, what I did next is I sent a message to PhiRatE asking him his opinion about these “made for dropping” pages. I did receive a reply from him and he said that he’ll talk with the other policy guys about it.

I’m not against speed dropping but I feel that creating pages specifically “made for dropping” is almost like creating pages “made for adsense”. It games the system and like many of you, I don’t like landing on them. With “made for dropping” pages, you don’t see anything of value. Just a few lines of text and the Entrecard Widget on an almost empty page.

Just imagine, having a list of links to 300 or even more “made for dropping” pages. Wow! 300 drops in 10 minutes would be a thing of the past. Now, imagine yourself dropping your entrecard on all of those 300 “made for dropping” page. Doesn’t it feel like you’re gaming the system. Wow! 300 pages with nothing on it except the widget (and a few lines of text).

I’m sure that this practice is not yet widespread but when it does it will have an adverse effect on all of us. Finding ways to game the process of earning credits through dropping will not benefit us. Graham, not so long ago, even suggested that card droppers don’t get anything from dropping cards anymore.

What if members were to get 2 credits when they RECEIVE a drop, and NO credits for actually dropping? - EntrecardForum

Now, would you like that to happen? I know I won’t!  Although, they didn’t go through with it but still let’s not give them any ideas or reasons to change it. Okay?

Update: Here are 2 new “Made For Dropping” pages.