Post Panda: What Blog Networks Do You Use/Prefer?

From what I've been reading, it seems like after Google's recent bullshit "Panda" update, in-content links from other sites and blogs are the way to go.

Does this mean that services like SEO Link Vine, My Article Network, Article Ranks, etc. are going to gain more popularity and be a smart choice for building links since that's exactly what they give you: in-content links?

If so, what networks do you use and recommend? I haven't really heard good reviews about a majority of them, but that was pre-Panda, so maybe things are different now?

If none of those services, what is the best way to get contextual links from other sites aside from contacting each site owner directly and asking if you can do a guest-post?

Also, what about article directories that allow you to place your link in the content and not just in the resource box. Will those links be more powerful too since they are technically contextual links?

I dont know man, i've been posting to blog networks as well such as BMR, linkvana, and ezarticlelink, and tbh i found it hard (still) to rank with those networks because you will only see couple of backlinks from them indexed in Webmaster tools/YSE while from my competitors you can see thousands of backlinks from different blog networks...

I havent checked out my article network or article ranks but i also would like to know if those things work

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