Mark VandeWettering of Brainwagon presents an argument against Amy's contention:
I write my blog for me. . .Amy in another post: argues against the "post everything on my mind" approach:
My philosophy of blogging is simple. Blog if you want to. Blog when you want to. Blog for whatever reason you want to. When someone says “don’t blog if you’re not willing to do X”, then ignore them. Somebody in the long tail will find something interesting in what you have to say. Don’t make it harder for them to find it.
My goal was not to say daily blogging or heavy reliance on the link-only posting format are always counterproductive for every blog.Blogging (or any other writing) for that matter, she points out, needs to be clearly thought out so that it can comunicate its message. Unfortunately,
That said, I honestly do believe that in most cases these practices tend to harm the overall appeal, quality, and usefulness of the blogosphere. Worse, they just tend to make the act of blogging much less fun.
Clear thinking takes a lot of hard work, practice, and (yes), talent. No, I’m not saying most people are stupid. I’m just saying that clear thinking and good communication don’t come naturally to most people.Most bloggers she points out just aren’t at this level.
Amy asks the daily blogger to consider this:
Would you want to read everything that you post, every day?The answer, I feel, lies in the reasons that you blog for. Is it only for yourself -- the audience is secondary? In such a case a blogger can follow the "post everything on mind" approach. But I guess, the act of "publishing" the post involves an audience and if you want to be a better writer, you should be more discerning in what you post. A blogger should ideally focus more on quality than on quantity and schedule. An honest answer to Amy's question -- Would you want to read everything that you post, every day? -- should help you decide.
. . .Life’s too short to spend significant time and energy on things that just don’t matter. Why blog daily if your individual postings don’t matter much? Try publishing only when you really have something significant to say.
2 comments:
I think, It would be wrong to say that you can't think of one good thing to say in one whole day. Most chances are, that there would be something, you would like to put across. Now a lot of people, or atleast a lot of people amongst those that I stay with, spend a considerable amount of time in front of a computer. And hence, posting a blog is not much of an effort. It's just about spending 15 minutes of your lunch writing something. It's more of a habit of writing something down, a habit of trying to think in a way in which you usually don't.
I think blogging helps, to expand your own horizons, for you write about stuff, you find stimulating, and get to spend more time thinking about things you like. It's a little more than thinking out loud.
Infact you could consider it to be like talking to somebody on the street, as in it's a lot better to just say hi and that your're enjoying the sun today, that waiting till you something to tell them.
This is one way in which it is different from writing a novel, because the topic has to keep changing everyday, and for a good communication to occur, it is very important to have a personal connection, which comes with putting something in daily.
Hi,
As I mentioned in the post -- our response to the debate will depend upon the reasons that we blog for. If it is primarily for an audience, I agree with Amy Gahran, that you should pay some attention to what you are blogging about -- you owe it to the people who visit your blog. The post need not be written in the most excellent style possible, but your thought in it should be clear. If you are having a conversation with someone -- it matters that the conversation is clear and is not of the kind that it will turn off the others involved in the conversation. I think what Amy is trying to say in her posts is that it is ok to blog daily -- provided you do post about something that your audience would like to read. In this case the purpose of having a conversation is fulfilled. What I think she is against is what is commonly called crapblogging.
Ultimately your audience will decide it for you with their clicks. What she is trying to say is to ensure that you don't lose any of those clicks.
And I loved your analogy "Infact you could consider it to be like talking to somebody on the street, as in it's a lot better to just say hi and that your're enjoying the sun today, that waiting till you something to tell them."
Post a Comment