Q: If every person you send a link to is a "spank", doesn't that encourage spam?
A: A good Spank 101 question. The answer is No, because your points depend a lot on your quality rating, which depends on whether people open your mail and click on the link or embedded video. The quality rating strongly DIScourages spam.
In fact, since the quality rating was established, spankers who have sent fewer links with higher quality ratings have usually been victorious. (On surprising victories, see also "Point Spikage" below.)
2. Why you should spank your enemies... and send their spanks onward
Q: "I spanked something to about a dozen people. X saw it and for the sake of argument, he spanked it on to another dozen people. Do I get any credit for having originally spanked it? All other things being even (e.g. number of our friends who open it) which of us comes out ahead, or do we both make out evenly?"
A: the exact recipe for points is secret, but the basic idea is that it's good for both of you when you spank someone and he spanks it onward. you do get points when he passes it onward. he gets points too.
if you think he will send it onward, you might as well spank him so you get a piece of the action. otherwise he'll probably see it (if he's playing for keeps) and spank it but then you get no action.
from his point of view, a good link is always worth spanking even if it originated with someone else. the reason is that he gets more points from the spank than you do.
so, oddly, even if you're directly competing, it makes sense for you to spank him, and for him to spank it on (if it's a good link and the recipients like it).
if you spank him, it's illegal for him to try sneakily to start it fresh as a new spank. that's not allowed and you can report it (to your gain and his detriment, though it's an informal process at the moment).
so, spank your enemies. but see the next point.
3. Spanking Strangers
Q: "Can I spank strangers?"
A: No. You can only spank your friends on the site, and email addresses that you have. We played around with this idea and that way turned out best.
It may be a win-win to be friends with your competitors - particularly if you read and like the same types of links.
4. Point Spikage
Q: "How did X's points skyrocket with just a couple posts?"
A: there is a major reason, and a minor reason. the major reason is that X probably invited some friends to the site. friends can win you some major points!!! second, X may have a very high quality rating. the quality rating is very powerful. someone who brings lots of friends to the site and sends some high-quality links can amass muchospuntos.
That's right: the Earn your iPhone contest is beginning on Monday. Check the contest page for the contest status, who wins, prizes, and current standings.
+ In test is a new homepage. If you click on "home" you may see it. As always, your feedback is welcome...
+ Minor feature: you can now unfriend someone discreetly by visiting that person's profile.
+ Very minor feature: if you would like to change your primary email account, you may now do this.... by going to "My Profile" > "Email". You must add an email address, then confirm it, and then you can make it your primary one.
+ If you're a blogger, don't forget to add your blog to your profile.
+ A contest is coming soon. Both iPhone and non-iPhone enthusiasts are likely to be excited.
Browse by source. If you look to the right, you may see a "Sources" link under the usual categories link. This is a little experiment -- just another way to browse links. Let us know what you think.
Spanker level. Second, you may have noticed that you have a "spanker level". This is a supplemental new measure to aid in esteeming yourself, comparing yourself to others, and spanking.
Spanker levels also serve another purpose. As you attain higher levels, you acquire special powers. No one has a high enough level for special powers yet, but some of you will discover them as you advance.
Tirso made a fabulous performance and dislodged vin at the last minute from a lead held throughout the contest. But as Tirso placed second in the last contest, once might say that he was due, and by the same rationale vin will be due next time.
Tirso is going with the Black Bose SoundDock.
Gee, don't you want one of those, or another sweet prize? Then you ought tune in to a future contest. Every contest is different and they happen often.
2. The Semi-Random Grand Prize The winner of the Weighted Lottery / Semi-Random Grand Prize is MrZach.
Coming in 7th in the contest, it is no surprise that MrZach won the semi-random prize.. There was roughly a 2/3 chance that one of the top ten scores would win the Semi-Random Prize.
MrZach, lucky-ass random winner. This could be YOU.
MrZach is going with the Apple TV:
.
Final Standings:
Points can shift a bit shoftly after the contest ends (the "dust has to settle" a bit to determine everyone's quality rating). For both Tirso and MrZach, a high quality rating helped them win. Soon we will publish more guidance on the quality rating for those of you who are interested.
3. Random Winners As always, we had TWO RANDOM WINNERS of gift certificates: they were SkinnyMuscles and Chad.
4. Quality Appreciation
We are working on developing new ways of identifying and recognizing sweet contributions by linkspankers. This time around, we would like to honor the most-clicked links during the contest:
First, "One of those days in a hotel...", brought to us by Jeremy.
Second, "Paul Potts sings opera", brought to us by vin.
Thanks to both of you - these links were enjoyed by MANY people.
Thank you EVERYONE for participating! Whether you were on the giving or receiving end of a spank, you have enriched others' life and increased the general enlightenment of the planet by 110% percent.
The next contest is coming soon.... and we have a prize coming up that will blow you away. (No, it's not Microsoft Table.) Until then, beef up your quality rating and your lifetime points.
You may wonder why I update on the minutiae of the point system -- unless you have your eye on the contest board and lifetime points, in which case you demand all the minutiae you can get!
The point system has been updated a little. Two changes:
(1) The quality rating is weighted more than before in determining your contest points and your lifetime points.
(2) Bringing new friends to linkspank is weighted more than before.
These changes do NOT affect the third contest in any way. There are never changes to the point system during the contest. Someday, far in the future, the point system won't even change much at all.
that's it.
/sd.
ps. you may have wondered if having a high lifetime score is worth anything. the answer is yes... but it's a secret for now :-).
Linkspank is all about sharing links... and opinions. And many spankers share what they are finding and thinking on the web by writing blogs.
If you have a blog, check out a bleeding edge new feature: put your blog by your wall on your linkspank profile.
Just click My Profile >> Blog, post your rss or atom feed, and boom.
There are more features in the works that will integrate blogs, spanks, and friends. Objective: a new little way to help friends and acquaintances stay in touch with your blog -- especially the vast, vast majority of people who don't do feeds, readers or anything of the kind.
So get on board now to help test and refine this feature!
bloggily, S Droid.
ps. later on I will furnish a public link to linkspank for your blog so you can get friend points, if you are interested.
