2012 community awards suggestions

Next Saturday I am going to open voting for this years community awards.

Last year the awards weren’t democratic. I had the idea a bit too late in the year to be able to open up a democratic system, therefore I choose what awards there were, who was nominated for them, and who won them. A fix, I know. That said I didn’t win a single one! How did that work?

Technology Bloggers logo (2.0)Before I open up voting I wanted to get your opinion as to what we should do this year.

Here is how I hope it will role:

  • This article will get comments and feedback from people (you!) suggesting awards we should have
  • The admin team (me at the moment) will select the awards we are going to run with and then suggest nominations
  • Next Saturday, voting shall commence and the community shall decide upon who wins the awards

Like last year, there is no physical or financial prize. If you win you get recognition and a lovely paragraph written about you, linking to your site (if you have one).

Last year, the awards were:

  1. Top Commenter – Someone who posts valuable and interesting comments which you like to read
  2. Top Writer (Contributor) – The contributor who has made the most valuable contribution to the blog – in terms of articles published in the last year
  3. Top Writer (Author +) – The author (editor or admin) who has been your favourite writer this year
  4. Rising Star – Someone with real potential who is becoming an ever greater asset to the community
  5. Most Friendly Member of the Community – The person who has been the most pleasant and kind person on the blog this year
  6. Top All Rounder – The big one! Technology Bloggers ultimate award, who is the best example of a good all round community member?

So, what awards do you think we should have this year?

If you have anyone in mind for a particular award, please let us all know!

Are there any awards above that we don’t need? Do you want to see any return this year? Would you like to see any new ones?

Let me know below ↓

Which social buttons do you want on the blog?

Technology Bloggers is a community blog, therefore it is only right that the community are consulted on the decisions made.

My question to you is which social networks do you use, and which would you like to be able to connect with on the blog?

There are four main places you can get social on our Technology Bloggers at the moment: the first is the social icons in the header; the second is our social buttons on the sidebar; the third is the social buttons at the top of articles; and the forth is the social icons at the bottom of articles. Check out the image below to see them all.

Social Icons

Technology Bloggers social icons and buttons

My worry is, that we are not providing the buttons/icons you want. I just assume that everyone wants Facebook and Twitter, but do you use them?

In the image above you can see all of the buttons we provide you with. I never really thought we had that many, but putting them all together, there are a lot!

If I know what everyone uses, I can get rid of any unnecessary buttons, and potentially add some more useful ones in.

Which social buttons do you want? Let me know in the comments.

Here are some ideas:

  • Google: Google +1; Google+ Share; Google Buzz
  • Facebook: Facebook Like; Facebook Share
  • Twitter: Twitter Follow; Twitter Tweet; TweetMeme
  • Buffer
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • DZone
  • StumbleUpon
  • Topsy
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Yahoo Buzz
  • DesignBump
  • Serpd
  • TheWebBlend
  • BlogEngage
  • Pinterest
  • Flattr