Ding dong – Angels calling? Do Squidoo Angels behave like Angels on Squidoo?

The first of a new SquidLog series where AJ is Musing on Manners

You would think to see some of the comments that have been made on SquidU, that “Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in fer me”, is happening on Squidoo. What a carry on!

(And yes, “Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in fer me” is one of my fav lines in the film “Carry on Cleo”. I can still hear Kenneth Williams uttering these lines as he is stabbed – classic!!)

So are SquidAngels as Angelic as we think? Is it all sweetness and light up among the Squidoo clouds? Or are there some “dark Angels” *gasp* doing dirty deeds? *gasp* again.

The speculation over dark deeds has led to several SquidU threads springing up and I don’t think I can remember a time in my 14 months on Squidoo, where the Angels and what they do has been debated so intensly. To be fair, it has been acknowledged right from the start that the Angels are a hard working flock and that their contribution to the Squidoo Community is valued by most people, but I can’t help feeling uneasy when aspersions are cast – particularly where there appears to be no hard evidence to back it up.

“Is this article going to be a whitewash?” I hear you ask. Is AJ going to stand tall and proud and declare that the Angels are perfect? Errrr…..actually NO!

Let’s look at the SquidAngels and what you should you do if the unthinkable happens *gasp* (yet again) and you have reason to believe that an Angel has been “unangelic”.

But first, who are the SquidAngels and what is their role?

32 volunteers have been appointed by Squidoo HQ to try to ensure that lenses that are newly published do not fall foul of the Squidoo TOS. They are a mix of experienced and relatively new Angels, who also look for quality lenses that, in their view, deserve a boost.

You can find out who the Angels are on Squidster’s Angels R Us lens and Christene’s SquidAngels HQ Group.

The team at Squidoo HQ is too small to be able to hand review every lens that is published – actually, in my view, even 32 Angels is still too small a team to review the thousands of lenses that are published each week. There is an electronic filter that blocks some lenses from seeing the light of day, but spammers and scammers are always looking for ways around filters and yes, they do find them.

But….even with 32 Angels, it is impossible to visit every lens that is published (on my five lists I get anything upwards of 300 lenses PER DAY to review) so a lot of Angels end up scanning their lists. Inevitably this will allow lenses through that should not be published. We simply do not have the time to catch everything.

The next review of a lens will come when it reaches the Top 100 in its category. The Angels are asked to regularly check their Top 100s, to Bless and Ding as they see fit. The thinking is that this will allow the cream to rise to the top. However, some c**p will float unless it is weighted down with a Ding!

The Top 100s are the lenses that visitors to the site, who might just be checking out Squidoo for the very first time, are most likely to see. These lenses will form a lasting impression about what is on the site. Anyone who cares about Squidoo’s reputation, and therefore their own, should be concerned about the lenses that the public are likely to visit as a result of landing on the Home Page.

Therefore, it is equally important for ALL Lensmasters to report any lenses they find, that violate the Squidoo TOS. The more reports on a specific lens, then the quicker it will get locked from view and either the bad material will be removed or the lens will be deleted.

Do Angels Bless their buddies?
Of course they do! But I like to think that is because their buddy has produced a good lens, not because they like the Lensmaster.

Do Angels Ding their rivals?
How can I say? It is inevitable that in any group, you may get someone whose behaviour is questionable. It is the same with Giants. Just because people have a position of responsibility and they are generally well respected because of their title “Angel” or “Giant”, you may still get a Dark Angel or a Grumpy Giant.

My Lensrank has tanked – I must have been dinged!

Yes, the thought has occasionally crossed MY mind too! However, there’s so many factors that contribute to a dive in Lensrank that it is unlikely it will be as the result of an uncalled for ding.

It would also take more than one ding to bury a lens (I know because I have seen a ding that I have given have hardly any impact on Lensrank) and I am not aware that flocks of avenging Angels are the norm on Squidoo. In fact we are positively discouraged from discussing individual lenses unless they are good ones.

If you believe that you have been unjustly dinged then report it to HQ. Raising the issue publicly is NOT the way to do it. For one thing no one other than HQ can help you.

“Pointing the finger” on Squidoo is a big no-no and that goes for the Angels as well. We can declare if we have blessed a lens, but to publicise who has been dinged is a big no-no too.

Squidoo HQ can see who has visited lenses, they can also see the activity – get into the habit of 1-starring lenses and you will get an email. The same goes for the Angels, their activity can also be tracked.

So, I am not saying I know for certain that all the Angels would never do anything underhand. However, what I do know is that the Angels visit hindreds, heck, it is probably thousands of lenses on Squidoo each week. You only have to look at the Bios of some of the Angels to see how many lenses they have visited. And they do all this at the expense of their own lensmaking and maintenance.

I am certain that if the Angels were not there to give deserving lenses a boost and also try to prevent a tide of what I call TAT (tacky and tasteless) and Spam from overwhelming Squidoo, then some of us would never get lenses in the top three tiers.

Everyone who is Community aware on Squidoo benefits from the actions of the Angels. It is in everyone’s interest for the Angels to keep calling!

The next article will talk about “Blessiquette”: how Lensmasters can help themselves to create what an Angel may consider a Blessworthy lens; what to do if they have missed out on Blessings and how not to overdo the invitations for an Angel to call.

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