Apparently this isn't a hot topic, or rather it isn't anymore. So why am I talking about it? Well, it's because I've decided, for once, to not hide behind the shadows of others, forbidding them to somewhat manipulate my mind and instigate me to write about what everyone else is writing (this is such a long sentence to say with just one breathe). *Phew*

YES! I want to break away from this... CONTROL they have upon me and talk about a long forgotten topic that no one cares a damn about!

YES! I'm such a "drama princess" (it should be "drama queen" but I prefer being a princess, so yeah)!

* A sudden chill surrounds the atmosphere *

Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

Let us first define what exactly a "blog" is:

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Both Ping.sg and Tomorrow.sg are communities that cater to bloggers' content. They are regularly compared to one another but they are significantly different in aspects.

Let me define my understanding of Ping.sg to you.

The idea to build Ping.sg started when I was bored one night more than 2 years ago and I wanted to read some general blogs by Singapore bloggers. At that time, Tomorrow.sg has already been up and has been functioning pretty well. But as a bored student, I wanted to read something more leisurely and probably more to my interest. So I thought of starting a ping service for Singapore bloggers. I wanted to have a group feature, so that bloggers can create their own interest groups and follow each other's blogs more easily. At that time, I wanted to find NUS students' blogs to read, but I couldn't find any blog directory that is close to that. Even if there is a categorized Singapore blog directory, there is no way I could've known which one has just been recently updated.

In fact, Ping.sg is quite straightforward and easy for users to administrate. All you need to do is register an account, your blog and whenever you have updated entries, simply click the "update all my blogs" under your user navigation. The "system" would be able to capture your feeds and publish it.

Simple isn't it? Now, let me explain how the "ping" and "pong" works.

Basically, whenever you update at Ping.sg, you receive a "ping". And whenever someone reads your entry, through Ping.sg, you receive a "pong". To define your stats, all you need to do is view your "user profile". It is calculated based on the division of "total pongs" by "total pings", you get your "average pongs per ping"!

For example:

Total pings: 10
Total pongs: 100
Average pongs per ping: 10

100 / 10 = 10

Simply take 100 divided by 10 and it will you 10!

Go figure out your maths, if you are still unclear.

Now, let me define my understand of Tomorrow.sg to you.

Now, is this an IDA thing? Hell no! As SGNIC whois record shows, it is registered to me personally. My boss in IDA is aware of it, but note it is "aware" not approve or disapprove, just merely aware. In other word, I screwed up, I am on my own. He is fancinated by all these Social Software and had given me a lot of leeways to indulge in this blogging stuff and I thank him for that.
Now back to why I did Tomorrow.sg - the first and foremost reason is technology, as I always am. As a futurist, I study a lot of history on various industries; I noticed a trend that every 10-12 years, something major will come along to sweep away the former paradigm, the old ways of doing things.

Otherwise of Ping.sg, Tomorrow.sg is a little more manual (actually, it's very "manual"). You can't just click one button and expect your content to be published.

For Tomorrow.sg, you need to register an account, then whenever you find a entry, be it your own or someone elses', you contribute it via the "submit article" icon at the top right hand corner (within the center column), of the front page.

However, it isn't instantly published after your submission. You still have to wait for 2 editors and/or administrators from Tomorrow.sg's team to approve it before it is actually being published.

So in other words, DO NOT piss the editors and/or administrators off, otherwise your "contributed entry" will never see the light of day at Tomorrow.sg!

Are you still there? I hope I've not made it sound too complicated.

Okay. Now the question goes down to, "Ping.sg vs. Tomorrow.sg". Honestly, both has their pros and cons.

In my opinion, I feel that Ping.sg is more of a "readers' choice". If your entry title and teaser is attractive enough, you'd get your readership. On the other hand, as for Tomorrow.sg, it is more of an "editor's choice". If the editors and/or administrators find your entry title and teaser to their liking, it'd naturally be published. Or else. Well, too bad.

Looking at it in this prospective, the answer is clear, Ping.sg is the "better choice" but you tend to get a lesser sense of achievement, ‘cause anyone's entry can be published at Ping.sg...

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