The Arte y Pico Awards have really gotten around in my blogging circles. In my almost two years of blogging, never have I seen one virtual award sweep the internet the way this one has.
In one way, it's really, really nice-- it's a thoughtful nod of appreciation to one's fellow bloggers for a job well done. For bringing the art of the craft to an audience. It's a way of saying, "Hey, friend-- good job!" I would like to thank my online friend Alice, my pal the Crotchety Old Man and the lovely and very funny ChatBlanc for kindly bestowing these on me recently. Your good-eggishness has not gone unrecognized!
Yet in another way, when you just pop across the virtual street to see your beloved neighbors, and you're suddenly tripping over Arte y Pico awards-- well, it's a bit like a plague of locusts. I think I've stepped on, like, hundreds of these things as I make my journey from blog to blog.
They make a neat tinkly-crunchy noise.
So, in summary, really nice, but better wear thick-soled shoes when you make your way around the blogosphere. It's a plague of locusts with each locust delivering a teeny-tiny Pulitzer.
Now what makes me think the "Arte y Pico" blog owner himself is an Evil Super Genius?
Well, it's because this SEO mastermind wrote right into the rules how anyone who receives the award should link back to the original Arte y Pico page. And we all, for some mysterious reason (or because the rules say so, and made-up rules must always be followed), we go ahead and do it. Oh, and I include myself in this. I did it as well.
Which means that every blogger who distributes this award to their five recipients puts a link to Arte y Pico. And those five bloggers distribute to five bloggers who put a link to Arte y Pico...
And so on...
And so on...
DeadRooster touched on this a couple of weeks back, but I felt it merited further emphasis. The blogger behind Arte y Pico has managed to develop a pyramid scheme of linkbacks all because everyone enjoys sharing the fun of awards. It's brilliant!
Of course, when it comes to what I now like to call the "Arte y Pico Link Enticement Snare" (also known as the "Arte y Pico Paradigm", the "Arte y Pico SEO Strategy", and "Phyllis"), other clever brains have figured this out and have launched similar awards initiatives, also requesting links back to them. Will these have the staying power of the Arte y Pico awards? Time will tell.
The Arte y Pico blogger does have the advantage because he:
- Did this first and
- Wrote his whole awards page in Spanish so it's harder for us non-Spanish speakers to see the underlying Evil Geniusness of it all
- Made a really elaborate, frilly artistic award with winged ladies and other geegaws so we're concentrating on how much we'll have to dust the thing on the virtual mantle... And are paying less attention to the fact he's snuck a link to himself into the darned thing
So Arte y Pico-- created by a simple patron of the arts, or Blogging Evil Supergenius? You decide.
-------------------------------------------------
Vote for this post at Humor-blogs. Or, you know, just hand me some Endust for my Arte y Pico awards. Thanks!
