bloglovin – NOT loving it UPDATE
Hi all – Annie posted last night that she found her WP blog on Bloglovin’. I checked mine and it was there as well so I’ve emailed them and told them to remove it as I have not given them permission to publish my work. I haven’t heard back from them yet, but I suggest you check your own blogs to see if they are on there. If you have a blog on there you have to ‘claim it as your own’ – in this respect other people can claim your blog (yes – even if it’s in your name)
Dianne Gray author 
Here is a link to another bloggers site with some interesting information
http://offbeat-ya.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/how-bloglovin-ate-my-blog-and-yours-too.html
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Does this mean we/I should get off of blog loving’? Something smells odd about this.
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If you’ve signed in to use Bloglovin’ that’s okay. But what they’re doing is taking our blogs without our permission and reposting them with other followers. If you are on there without their permission (which I think most of us are) you need to ‘claim’ your blog. In this sense anyone could claim your blog ‘Nevadalife’ if they wanted it. So I guess that’s a bad thing.
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Yes, mine’s there too. I will be interested to hear what happens with your blog. Please let us know if you get a response. I looked at the link above but it’s so complicated. All I want to know is how to get my blog off their site. I’m assuming it has something to do with google+ so maybe I should close that account too.
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I have no idea if it’s got anything to do with Google+. Annie made her post and blog ‘private’ and they still had it on there which is very bad indeed. I don’t want to have to ‘claim’ Dianne Gray Author from their site, but I don’t want anyone else to ‘claim’ it was well! Grrrrrrr
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It’s not surprising though. The internet is so complex and some people have no integrity.
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I didn’t see any of mine on there. What are they doing?
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They’re taking blogs from other platforms (like WordPress). I didn’t see yours on there Ruth (YAY) 😀
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Thanks for this – and wow.
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It’s just a bit weird. I saw a Priorhouse blog on there, but I don’t think it’s yours.
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From what I read, other people are following your blogs by putting the URL on bloglovin and using that as a blog reader to keep up with blogs they follow. I suppose it makes sense if a person is following blogs on several different platforms. I’ll have to look at it again tomorrow to see if what I just wrote makes sense. 🙂
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Thanks, Ruth. Any info at all is good at this point! 😀
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Hmm, I wasn’t aware of this entity. I see my blog is on there, but if you click on one of the articles, it goes back to my blog, so I guess I don’t really understand what the harm is. The whole ‘claiming’ thing is certainly weird, though. Guess I’ll have to look into it. If you learn more, maybe you could let us know with another post? I appreciate you bringing this to our attention!
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No worries, Carrie. I like to choose where my blogs are (I know they go to Goodreads, twitter, FB and Linkedin) but I agreed to put them there. I don’t see the point of Bloglovin. I know someone has contacted WP about it, so I’ll wait to see what they say. In the meantime it’ll be interesting to see the ‘I don’t like Bloglovin’ taking my posts’ post on Bloglovin’ (lol) 😉
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Ha, yes, the ultimate revenge. 🙂
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Bloglovin appears to be a blog reading tool-app… I guess useful if you follow blogs from various platforms. I did a couple of searches and it seems it centralizes updates via RSS feeds (apparently similar to Google Reader). Members add blogs they want to follow “follow your favorite blogs and add new”and it seems blog owners can claim their blog and “change its information on Bloglovin”. Some people seem to feel there’s cachet to having their blogs profiled, and others not.
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Nice piece of info here – thank you 😀
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I was there. I’ve asked to be removed. This smacks of stealing to me. They don’t have my permission to post my stuff without permission. And yes, I do see it as distinctly different from reblogging done by other WP sites. Like you, Diane, I don’t want to “claim” something that was mine in the first place. ARGH. There’s always some new twist online, isn’t there? Gotta watch your interests like a hawk.
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UPDATE: I heard back from them within the hour; they removed my blog. Any site that makes you claim what is already yours can’t be totally on the up and up. I’ll be watching to see if it reappears.
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Well done, Theo! 😀
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So very true, Theo.
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I’ve seen referrals from bloglovin when I check my WordPress dashboard. I’m so naive, that I really didn’t know what this site was. I checked it out and found my blog there. I don’t know yet how I feel about it… will look at it more tomorrow after I’ve had a night’s sleep 🙂 Thanks for sharing this info, Dianne!
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No worries, Janna. I was concerned because Annie’s post was marked ‘private’ yet it came up as public in Bloglovin. Have a lovely sleep! 😀
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I don’t think I’m on it, cheeky buggers though. I assume we put in our blog name? See my brain not working again. Thank you for letting us know. xxx
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I could’nt see you there, Jen 😀
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Thanks for checkin hun xxx
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Apparently, if your RSS is public (and no one would be able to get your updates if it weren’t…duh), BL has access to it. In that respect, it is like any other reader (e.g.: Feedly). It only takes someone to add your URL to their favourite blogs (or import it in a list from another reader, like the long-gone Google Reader), and voilà, you’re on BL. The real difference is, the site automatically creates a sort of profile page for you, and the BL clique tries to talk you into “claiming” your blog on BL, by putting a piece of code on your page. Like I said in the post someone linked to above, this “basically sounds like someone kidnapped your blog and now you have to ransom it”. As for what the site does, it inserts your post URLs in a frame (see this pic: ) – that is, they get hits on BL (though the site states the original posts get hits too).
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the real piece of wonder…a BL co-founder and CPO contacted me a few days ago with regard to my post about his site, trying to persuade me that BL was blog-friendly. I was like, huh? and after more than a dozen emails between us, I’m still waiting for him to delete (or at least hide) my blog from BL – he said he did, but I still can see it fine…
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Sorry, the pic I linked to can’t be seen…I guess WP doesn’t allow direct links…I’ll try like this (sorry again if you can’t see anything):
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Thanks for commenting, Roberta. The other problem is that posts and blogs marked as ‘private’ are showing up there as well for everyone to see. Hell – if I post as ‘private’ I expect it to stay that way.
Best of luck with getting yours removed – I’ll keep an eye out to see how you go.
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I see that I’m also there, and I have one follower who also follows me on WordPress. I really don’t see the point of my being on this site at all. I went to see what Bloglovin is all about http://www.bloglovin.com/what-is-bloglovin
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Thanks, Sylvia. The problem we had was that Annie’s post was marked as ‘private’ and it appeared on Bloglovin as public for all to see. It also means that our ‘hits’ will drop because Bloglovin gets the hits – that doesn’t really concern me that much, but other people like to keep up to date with things and will be wondering why there stats are dropping.
I’m still learning what this is all about 😉
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How odd. Life in cyberspace is confusing.
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It does my head in sometimes. I need you to do a post at some stage ‘how to breathe in cyberspace’ (lol) 😉
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Great idea, Dianne! In the meantime, let’s enjoy the Moody Blues:
“Breathe deep . . . the gathering gloom . . . watch light fade from every room.”
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Oh yeah – that’s what I’m talkin’ about! 😀
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Oh heck! I haven’t checked but I’ll have to, I guess. Thanks for the tip off, Dianne. I don’t want to go to Poland and come back to find I’m somebody else!
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That wouldn’t be good at all! lol 😀
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It looks like they aren’t stealing content (my first worry). It seems to be a feed with privileges. I didn’t want to sign up… My blog name is copyrighted as well as content, but I don’t think this even infringes. It says you can add any blog you want to your Bloglovin feed. Interesting business plan.
It is disconcerting to have followers in a different location.
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I can see you there, Jacqui, but your address is a WP address
https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3637765
The others are BL addresses.
The problem started when Annie posted as ‘private’ and it came up as ‘pubic’ on BL. Not sure how that happened but it’s a bit of a worry. Others are also concerned about the ‘hits’ they’re not getting because I guess they need them for business plans etc. I really don’t understand much about this cyber world of ours.
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Good point about the ‘private’ and ‘public’. Hits are all messed up with readers anyway–so many people don’t even click through to the blog, just stay in the readers.This, seems to give the entire content through Bloglovin. There are a lot of sites that do that–I’m blanking on their names at the moment. But, all very legal.
That’s one reason that fee-based content is becoming more popular–bloggers are getting so little for so much effort.
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Thanks for this information, Dianne. I looked on their site, and my blog is there.
I don’t understand what it means exactly, but I will follow your suit and email them to request they remove me from their site.
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Thanks, Denise. As a blogger it’s confusing to have two sites. Also, if you mark as private on WP it comes up public on BL – which I’m sure will cause angst for some people.
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I’m not sure about the private setting. How do I check that? Thanks, Dianne!
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I don’t know how to check the private setting. I think Annie just stumbled across it through her site stats page (not much help. am I!) LOL – I’ll ask her 😉
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It seems be be an aggregator site so someone who follows blogs on several different platforms can see them all in one place. It’s the follower who adds the blog to BL and not the site itself. It sounds like a good idea, but making private posts public is not okay. Claiming your blog on their site just establishes you are the owner so you can make changes to your blog on BL.
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Thanks for looking into this, Ruth. I heard back from them and they made my blog ‘private’ on BL and I’m not quite sure what this means because there is still ‘Dianne Gray Author on Bloglovin’ in all the search engines but it may take a few days (weeks) for that to go away 😉
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I’m guessing they didn’t think about the ramifications of making private blogs public. But I’m glad you’re getting it resolved. 🙂
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Thanks for posting this, Dianne. I checked and my blog was on there as well. I’m sure you’ll keep us updated on what you find out. I guess I’ve always known that anything I put out onto the internet can really end up anywhere…it is kind of scary.
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It is a little scary, Jill, particularly as Annie marked her post as ‘private’ and it was fully viewable on BL – just weird…
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My blog doesn’t seem to be on there, Dianne. This is the first I’ve heard of this, and I’m not really sure what to make of it. I understand the concept of blog aggregator services (I use one called Feedly sometimes), but the whole issue of “claiming” you blog and of BL having perpetual world rights to your content doesn’t seem right at all. Please keep us posted on your progress, and on anything else you find out about it.
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I head back from them this morning and they haven’t removed my blog, they’ve just made it ‘private’ whatever that means. Annie was concerned because she marked a a post as private and it was fully viewable on BL. This is a concern to a few people how have private blogs.
I checked yours to see you weren’t on there 🙂
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Found mine there… is this a problem?? How can someone claim your blog and gain from it? But stupid when it comes to things like this…
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I really don’t know, Rob (I’m not great when it comes to things like this either). I guess if you don’t mind it being there then there’s no problem. What happened to Annie was that she posted a private post on WP and it appeared public on BL. Apparently there is a code you can use to make it your own blog, but I really don’t see the point in having to take back you’re own stuff. I joined WP because I like WP and don’t like the idea of my name being associated with sites I know nothing about. I think the WP people should be commenting on this soon if enough WP bloggers ask enough questions – waiting, waiting…
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I’m pretty sure you don’t have to claim the blog or be active on Bloglovin if you do not wish to be. It is not correct that anyone can claim the blog, only you can. That is the point of having to publish a certain code on the blog I’d guess.
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Thanks JJ. I’m not sure where the code comes from and if you have any ideas, that would be helpful. The issue started when Annie posted a ‘private’ post on WP and it appeared as a public post and fully viewable on BL. I have contacted them and my BL page is now private, but I really don’t know how helpful that is. Thanks for coming by to comment.
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Wow I never realized that about BL. I am glad I never made a blog over there! I hope everything gets resolved for you!
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Hopefully it will – I know there are a few people who are pretty annoyed (especially Annie as she marked her post private and it came up on BL as public)
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Yep, I’m on there too! Crazy stuff. I guess I’m just gonna sit tight for now, since it is an avenue for people to manage the blogs they handle and seems harmless enough. That’s insane that a private post was showing up…and not cool.
I was going to do the claim thing, but that seems way too complicated. JJ mentioned a good point above that nobody would be able to claim our blogs since they can’t verify by publishing a post through our sites.
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That is a valid point, Britt. They marked mine as ‘private’ when I asked them to remove it – but I’m not quite sure what that means…
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Mine is on there too….I’d never even heard of the site until now. I’ve sent an email as well. Are there any other steps we need to take?
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Not that I know of. They’ve made mine ‘private’. It’s just odd that we have to ‘claim’ what is already ours…
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I wonder what would happen if we brought it to WP attention?
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I thought it already had been. Not sure – but they’re bound to notice the ‘complaint posts’ sooner or later 😉
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Thanks for letting us know about this! The internet can be so invasive and that’s pretty bad that it’s publishing things marked as private. Unfortunately, everything I do is public these days. 🙂
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So true, Sheila. But we need to have some control (I hope) 😉
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Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I’m on there. I’m not sure what to do or how I feel about it. It’s definitely something to consider. Not cool to set up my profile without my consent. Blog feeders don’t do what this sight is doing.
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That’s right, Kourtney. I asked them to remove mine, but they just marked it as ‘private’ so I’m not sure why they left it up there. It’s odd that we have to ‘claim’ what is already rightfully ours…
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I finally succeeded in having my blog deleted (or hidden…I’m not sure), but it tooks 14 emails back and forth with the BL guy to get what I wanted. And let me tell you, our exchange was priceless. He didn’t even understand a word I said – or pretented not to. Of course, that will make for great post material in the near future…
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I’d love to see it, Roberta! They emailed me and told me mine had become ‘private’ when I asked them to remove it, so I can see there’ll be more more emails from me before I get what I want…
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I saw mine as there, and also saw I had people following through them.
To claim a blog, they give you a bit of code and you have to publish it in a post.
They then scan and see the code, and give you ownership.
I don’t know what rights that gives, but it also prevents someone from claiming your blog without doing some clever back-end conniving.
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Well done, Guap. This only started because Annie posted a private post and it went public on BL – not sure why. But that made a few people very nervous indeed.
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Did it show the whole post?
I wonder if there’s a way to ask wp to disable it for a blog…
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Yes – it showed the whole post. I’m not sure what WP think, but I know Annie contacted BL and asked to be removed from their site, and she was.
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I checked the link you gave me, Dianne and it appears there’s only a site with a name similar to mine but with totally different content. I’ll certainly keep my eyes peeled, though. Thanks for the heads up.
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Excellent! I’m so glad it’s not yours 😀
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