Squidoo - Why Is Your Lens Locked?

Squidoo’s forum has had several plaintive requests from lensmasters whose lenses have been locked. They ask someone to tell them why. As the lens is locked no other lensmaster can read it and give a detailed explanation. All we can say is the lens has tripped a filter or been reported for abuse and so is probably on the SquidDon’t list.

The very first thing I did before signing up for Squidoo was read their Terms of Service (TOS). It’s what I did when before I recently joined Qondio and even Facebook and Twitter. I like to know what I’m getting into. I also like to know what rights I have, to my copyright for example, and what rights the company insists on having. Make no mistake, when you join any online site, it’s their bat and their ball so they get to make the rules. You either comply or go elsewhere.

Why doesn’t everybody read the TOS either before or just after they join Squidoo? If they did, they would know that spammy lenses about dieting, for example, or any lenses about multi level marketing (MLM) and the other banned topics, would probably be locked because they aren’t allowed. There are so many subjects that people can write about without falling foul of the network’s anti-spam, anti-abuse rules that it’s quite surprising that this problem recurs as often as it does.

It’s not just that people don’t read the rules. It’s also because they want to write about topics they think will earn them big money quickly. They disregard the fact that the web has millions of pages from other people under the same delusion. It’s true, a minority do make a fortune on the internet but they are few and far between. Yet another spammy page on getting your ex back or earn thousands of dollars every week for two hours work will just not do the trick.

Some lensmasters on Squidoo earn a reasonable amount of money from their pages on the network every month. Some enough to replace a full time job, others enough to make a big difference to their regular salary. Some people make just enough to save for a special treat occasionally. Others do it because they love writing even if they never make any money at all from it. What none of these people have done is make SquidDon’t lenses that bring the site into disrepute. Newcomers to Squidoo should take note of this. They should also make a point of reading the Terms of Service and the SquidDon’t page so they know the rules and can stick to them.

Most of us cannot understand how anyone can be so evil that they would buy and sell children in the sex trade.  How paedophiles can brutalise children for their own selfish gratification is beyond any understanding and certainly any kind of forgiveness. If I had my way, they’d be castrated without anaesthesia. I’d probably have them cast out into a vast wilderness as well, to fend for themselves, far beyond any kind of help.

We can’t wave a magic wand to abolish this evil trade but we can help to fight it. Find out what you can do – read Best of Child Trafficking on Twitter and see how people on Twitter are are getting together to support the charity Born2Fly – read about it here.

Find out why 09-09-09 is an important date for your diary and for children all over the world then use your own Twitter and other social networks to spread the word.

It was good for me because it made me concentrate on writing quickly and not spending too long agonising about which subjects to choose. I have a terrible habit of starting a lens then deciding I don’t like what I’ve written and I’ve lost interest in the subject so I delete it.

A Favourite Climbing Plant

I’ve been pleased with the look of some of my recent lenses like My Favourite Climbing Plants, Best Desserts on Twitter and I Love Lilies. I’ve been lucky to find some really lovely pictures to illustrate them. Sometimes I spend more time looking for pictures than I do writing a lens.

The last one, I Love Lilies, was done in response to a Senior Squids weekly challenge. I wish I’d taken a more active part in Senior Squids earlier because I’m sure it would have helped me with making lenses for the Giant 100 Club but I was like the person pushing a bike who is late – I didn’t have time to get on it and pedal!

That’s the brilliant thing about Squidoo, there is such a great, supportive community willing to help. You never need to feel you are struggling on your own.

Blackcurrants - A Superfood?

Yesterday I published my 100th Squidoo lens – Blackcurrants – A Superfood? I can hardly believe that I have produced so many lenses in just a couple of months.

When I committed myself to bringing my total number of  lenses up to 100 by June 30th back at the end of April, I never really thought I could do it. I had to produce 23 lenses in just two months. That sounded daunting, to put it mildly.

I really did just keep plugging away doing one after another. Before I decided to go for it this time, I’d run out of ideas to write about. It’s strange because once I started, ideas came to me.  In bed one evening, I wrote out a list of ideas for new lenses and listed over fifty. Since then, I haven’t even started most of those because I’ve had even more new ideas.

Best of Summer Fruit on Twitter

For me, it seems like the more I write, the more ideas I get for topics to cover. When I get a new idea, I can hardly wait to start writing about it.  Unfortunately, other things like my blogs suffer because I run out of time especially as floors don’t vacuum themselves or dinners get cooked on their own.

I’ve fallen in love with one of Squidoo’s new templates – the Twttrlist. I made three of them, one after the other:

• Best of Chocolate on Twitter
• Best of Summer Fruit on Twitter
• Best of Garden Flowers on Twitter

I had a short break to write about blackcurrants then I did another one – Best of Superfoods on Twitter. That brought my total to 101 lenses. I like these templates because they look good and they are a good way of bringing together lenses on a similar topic and to add some extra information.

To qualify for the Giant 100 Club I have to have 100 wonderful lenses. As I’m not sure all of mine are wonderful, I need to carry on until the end of June and hope I’ve done enough. If not, then I have another chance at the end of September.

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