The newest Tools addition is a downloadable group of 9rules Reader Badges, something that we’ve been asked about for a few months now. We are very appreciative for everyone who reads 9rules and our member sites, and now you’ve got some digital schwag to show off! More details are available at the Tools page, including the ZIP download which includes various badges and Photoshop (.psd) originals for you tweakers out there!

Go ahead, show the rest of the world where you waste away your time reading through some of the best content on the net. Go ahead, grab your own buttons to muck around with.

It finally happened. 5ThirtyOne, as well as Forty Media, 22 Dollars, About Heroes, and Ads of the World have all graced the blog pages of 9rules. What does that mean? It means that fresh new content will soon be rolled into the master 9rules feed for public consumption. Over the next few days, 9rules will highlight each fresh new member. Keep your readers ready as great feeds will surely find new homes.

I am already discovering new content from fellow inductees. Recommended read at the moment? 22 Dollars. Money, stocks, and a young business savvy blogger.

You promise to maintain the standards you have set for your site and will strive to continuously improve the quality of the content to allow for a better experience for you, your audience and the Network. #

Rest assured that my inclusion into the 9rule Network will not affect the ergh “quality” of the content & brain farts published throughout 5ThirtyOne. I fear that I have yet to feel the full weight of the network until the public announcement for these here humble pages on the official 9rules blog. My only uncertainty is my ability to match the current quality of posts from the likes of Paul Stamatiou, Mashable, ionfish, Godbit, and if…Else Log to name a few.

Like so many before me, I anticipate the priveledge to contribute to the current content-rich communities which comprise the network.

And finally, I leave you with a bit of hand trickery. I have yet to figure out how contort my fingers to mimic the thumbnail. Unfortunately, the email source did not cite the original. Regardless, anyone can grab their “blog” t-shirt from Threadless. Can anyone else rep their livelihood? I managed to output something that looked like b-l-o-o.

Christian Montoya shares his thoughts on the significance of being accepted into the 9rules network. My personal take? A large, diverse, rich network such as 9rules brings to the table more than additional traffic and recognition for your site and writing style, a sense of comradeship is also achieved. [Case in point: Chris Rhee]

Before I force myself to stay away from the feeds for a few hours, I leave readers with the following question. On the topic of “Writing Patterns” & “Quality”, is quality writing judged based on the interaction between writer and reader? Do long, well researched posts – with little to no interaction between writer and reader – carry more value as opposed to shorter “flatus” posts which entice solid reader interaction?