Well, it’s official. I finally got around to joining the “major” blog communities out there. When I say major I mean the major networks that I see the most bloggers using. The two that come to mind are MyBlogLog and BumpZee. Honestly I don’t have a real great feel for either of these networks as of yet so I can’t give you a flawless rundown but I will give you what I do have.

I can tell you that even though BlogCatalog advertises themselves as a blog directory they seem to function as more of a community just like MyBlogLog and BumpZee. So far I seem to enjoy BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog for their ease of navigation and joining communities. This is a huge factor for me in making these sites more appealing. Bumpzee is bringing up the rear because I find it to be the toughest to navigate. Bumpzee just seems to lack that “it factor” to keep me coming back. Although Bumpzee may not be the best for me, it does have some good communities that you might enjoy connecting with.

As of right now I’m having a debate with myself over widgets. Should I add widgets from any of these sites to my blog? Which widgets do I choose? This is a tough decision because I will be giving away precious space for these widgets. I can’t trash up my front page with a huge number of widgets at this point in the game, so someone has to be left out. Who will it be?

On the other hand these widgets might actually provide some relevant traffic for my blog. For instance I know that BlogCatalog offers you a little more pull on their site by giving you an “increase in your blogrank by ten points” if you use their neighborhood widget. I am going to try and spend more time on these networks to see which one works the best for me. I’m sure you will see at least one widget on the sidebar soon. Time to spread the love.