Not my playground

2006 December 19
by Cornelius

Reading about blogging can be a lot like having too much candy in the pre-Christmas season. At first things are wonderful, but then at some point you’re just full, and when the day finally arrives you simply cannot stomach any more of the stuff. Especially when what you get is “who shouldn’t blog”-style advice.

I’ve just finished this post by Douglas Karr and all I can say is wow. I shouldn’t even opine (let alone complain) and leave that stuff to others, but in this case I just can’t stop myself. So let me blog my advice to Doug Karr’s advice on giving blogging advice. Or something like that.

<sarcasm>

I have recently realized that there are certain things that I believe to be right and other things that I believe to be wrong. To help you understand the difference without having to think too much, I have carefully assigned each term in question a side. Observe.

On the left:
- war
- poverty
- cholesterol
- traffic jams
- Satan

On the right:
- love
- happiness
- a cure for cancer
- eternal joy
- bunnies

But that isn’t all. I also have this picture to prove my point. Apple good, PC bad!Just in case your eyesight is limited: it shows a sad, old, confused guy on the left and a cool, hip, clued-in dude on the right. There is clearly a pattern there!

Here’s another pair. I have put a descriptive adjective in brackets, just in case you were getting confused by all those different sides.

Left (bad):
- apple pie

Right (good):
- ice cream

Wait, you don’t think apple pie is t3h lam3? You can’t be serious. Everyone agrees that it SUCKS. Like, totally. You should really think twice about disagreeing on this one. You don’t want to end up on the left side, now do you?

Ice cream is like way more superior than apple pie. Studies prove it. Apple pie is so last year. That’s why I suggest that lame people like you stay the hell away from ice cream. You’d eat it all wrong and make a huge mess and the ice cream is like totally too good for that, capiche? Eat your crummy, dull, uncool apple pie instead.

Now back you go, to your corner of the playground.

</sarcasm>

Note #1: I’d love to see Doug Karr and Brian Clark fight it out in some grand battle for the One True Blogging Philosophy(tm). I don’t think I really agree with either one, but my money would probably be on Brian.

Note #2: My point isn’t to bash. I just think there’s a lot of advice and opinion out there, considering how little we actually know about why people read or write blogs, or what kind of impact the social media will have in the long run. Maybe facts (like politics) are also dying, hated and unpopular, but – call me a leftie – I still kinda like them.

Sorry for the diatribe. I blame the sweets.

from → Corporate Blogging, Opinion

7 Comments
2006 December 19
Brian Clark permalink

From Doug’s post:

IMHO, the worst advise that continues to be perpetuated on the blogosphere to new bloggers is to avoid personal posts and stay on topic. Ugh! Those are the blogs I never visit. Those are the blogs that have hit capacity and aren’t growing.

I don’t know if he is adverse to my so-called philosophy, since he reads my blog. :)

Personal touch is crucial, but only to the extent that it adds to the beneficial experience of the reader. Knowing where that line resides is a bit of an art.

2006 December 19
Cornelius permalink

I agree that it is an art and I’ve posted serveral times about how important the personal relationship between blogger and reader appears to me. But why aren’t politicians allowed to blog? Why is a copy writer who blogs “guaranteed to be a failure”? I smell blogelitism.

2006 December 19
Brian Clark permalink

>>Why is a copy writer who blogs “guaranteed to be a failure”?

I don’t understand what you mean…

2006 December 19
Brian Clark permalink

Nevermind, I see…

2006 December 19
Doug Karr permalink

You won’t find Brian and I fighting anytime soon! Brian’s blog would never be a target of mine.

I’m a huge fan of Brian’s site and his advice.

In fact, you and Brian add commentary that I absolutely agree with!!!

1. There is no One True Blogging Philosophy. AMEN! Take the left column… newspapers do it the same, radio does it the same, politicians do it the same. That’s exactly why I am advising AGAINST any single philosophy… blogging provides you the freedom to do whatever you would like!

2. Brian’s feedback is key… “only to the extent that it adds to the beneficial experience of the reader.” If my blog is on cancer, it can be an explicit account of my illness, my schedule, my medicine, my feelings. So it can be 100% personal. If my blog is about programming search algorithms in Python, I can probably skip the post on taking my dog to the vet… “Knowing where that line resides is a bit of an art”.

Brian nailed it! Thanks for the post and the reference, and I absolutely appreciate the .

:)

Cornelius: Politicians can’t blog because anything they put down in words will be held against them. It’s the same reason why they never really say anything on camera… and the same reason why folks are cynical of them.

Copywriters are usually fantastic bloggers. I didn’t say they could not be… I said if a blogger doesn’t want to ever engage personally, they may as well become a copy writer instead of blogging.

I really hope I’m not being a blogelitist… it’s exactly what I was trying to write against.

In any case, great conversation!!!

2006 December 19
Cornelius permalink

“Politicians can’t blog because anything they put down in words will be held against them.”

But what they write and say *anywhere* can and will be held against them (think George Allen and the ‘macaca’ incident). And quite a few of them blog, as do CEOs, investment bankers, breastfeeding mothers, university professors (too few, in my opinion), lovesick teenagers and geeky programmers. And all of them choose to make personal issues, feelings, impressions and opinions a part of their blogging to different degrees, from virtually 0% to 100%. Whether you like it more or less personal depends very much on your preference as a reader. How do you define the value of the blog, as a reader? Does the blogger even care about what her readers want (some don’t, in my opinion)?

2006 December 19
Doug Karr permalink

I don’t think I’m getting through… I’m not criticizing or trying to point to an absolute. That was the point of my post - when you try to, you’re not really ‘getting’ what blogging is all about. The great thing about blogging is that there are no rules. I’m advising people to keep that in mind.

The name of my post was “The worst blogging advise you’ll see everywhere.” What is the worst blogging advise? It’s ironically providing clearcut rules about what to do and not to do with blogging.

My advise is to follow your heart and do what you think is right. If I’ve set a different impression - it was not my intent.

Warmest Regards! And have fun blogging!

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