Blogs

[SweetErika]

It seems like blogs are very popular, and I started wondering...

What makes a good blog? Conversely, what makes a lousy blog?

What advice would you give someone who's considering starting one?

What's your favorite blog software/hosting site (WordPress, Blogspot, Soulcast, etc.)? Have you found one that's particularly great to use or visit?

Are there any particular topics/genres that you think are underrepresented, or you'd like to see in a blog?

Any other blog-related thoughts or questions are welcome, too.

 

[JamieB]

Blogs are tricky. It's a little bit like trying to pin down the things that make a good story. There are so many different kinds of things people are interested in, the possibilities are limitless.

Personally, read a few blogs every day that are cycling-based. After looking at them and trying to find commonalities, I came up with a couple. The examples I'm working from are Bike Snob NYC (http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/) and Dave Moulton's Bike Blog (http://davesbikeblog.blogspot.com/). BSNYC lampoons the cycling culture, and Dave Moulton is a super-knowledgable retired frame builder.

I like these for different reasons and get different things out of them, but they have a few things in common.

1. They know what they're talking about. BSNYC is a racer who clearly spends a fair bit of time on the Internet reading ads and blogs and forums, and weaves that information into his insightful, funny blog. Dave Moulton's credentials are amazing, and his bikes have been ridden to victory in storied European races as well as domestic ones. His past blog entries are a treasure trove of amazing anecdotes and practical knowledge.

2. They're controversial. BSNYC is rich with sarcasm and sardonic humor that pokes fun at every aspect of cycling. He routinely pisses people off while making others laugh and go "Oh man that is totally true!" Dave Moulton is an older, crotchety type who wears his unshakable views on his sleeve. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't, but it's always a kick to watch the fur fly when he takes a controversial position.

3. They're real. Both of them have personalities. BSNYC protects his anonymity, but he's funny and compassionate and genuinely loves cycling. Dave Moulton is like the uncle who taught you to tie your shoes and sometimes gives you gifts that would piss your parents off, and maybe he does it on purpose.

4. And of course, the subject matter is near and dear to my heart. That's neither here nor there I suppose, because whatever topic you choose to blog about, there's an audience out there.

Not sure how helpful that is, but anyway. Good luck.

J

 

[bailadora]

I generally like an element of humor in the blogs I read. One in particular that I enjoy is Because I Said So - a parenting blog. The author was featured in Oct on World News Tonight. What caught my attention was how she had blogged the previous night about how she'd accidentally ran a disposable diaper through a wash cycle and the resulting mess it made- .

She's the mom of 6 kids and the way she writes about daily life with them is so funny but also has such a ring of truth to it. On the days that I feel like my own three are driving me insane, her blog helps me to regroup and try to see the humor of it all.

 

[Colton_White]

It seems like blogs are very popular, and I started wondering...

I'm by no means advising you, I'm only putting my thought over it. based on my own experiances.

What makes a good blog?

Good blog in materialistic terms means something with lot clicks.
its attached to GoogleAdsense and generates a lot revenue. that's a good blog.
That means good blog = some thing celebrity scandals/pics/movies, stolen passwords, patched programs etc.

Conversely, what makes a lousy blog?

as long as no one reads/gives you feedback except your own friends its a lousy blog.

What advice would you give someone who's considering starting one?

in the beginning you'll have to pimp your own blog, spamming accross websites and forum.."hey check out my blog"
if you've lot online friends, more chances it'll work better.
otherwise you'll be an average blogger with no 'clicks' no matter how much you write.
===========
I tried my hand writing genuine blogs about how to surf internet faster on a snailspeed broadband/dialup. [w/o purchsing any of the so called speed & performance enhancer programs]
but people seem to preffer live in the slow speed rather than do those tricks.

other blogs I wrote about How to stay smart and prevent hackers / viruses.
but they're dead inside the deep sea of internet, after I stopped pimping them and I don't have a big online friend circle to pimp it for me either.

you've to pimp your blogs just like I'm doing right now...........
[size=+1] Does ‘TONGUE’ size really matter? [mockery of 'size related threads' in How to Section!] [/size]
Cum & say Hello to Colton [Playground thread]
My Humor Stories-
[size=+1] Lady finder a.i. Chat autobot [/size]
A 'Fake' Dom remembers

[again, I'm putting my thought and I'm not advising you.]

 

[NippleMuncher]

Not much of a blogger or blog reader myself, however I am interested in a personal website to chronicle products in the form of reviews, and personal projects that I enjoy sharing with others. I don't have a "website", but I do have a couple pages that I've created that I post links to when the topics are in discussion on the few forums I participate on.

 

[Eilan]

Not that this will answer any of your questions, but. . .

I'm at SoulCast, as you know, mainly because I followed a few Litsters there. IMO, it has a message-board, diary-ish (is that a word?) dynamic to it and quite a bit of interaction between members. That's part of the appeal for me, though some might consider what's posted there to be drivel. I just kinda figure that if you don't like what's written there, then you don't have to read it.

I can talk about things there that I can't necessarily start threads about on the HT Café, though my blog entries cover a lot of topics, like my family and friends, funny/weird/local news, books I've read, sex, etc. It's not a "good" blog, but I'm not trying to reach a huge audience. I just like talking about myself and interacting with people I care about.

As far as topics go, I'm a huge fan of silverwhisper's "on the nature of" blog entries. There's a little bit of everything there.

 

[SweetErika]

Lots of good food for thought so far!

I'm not really a blog reader or writer myself, but Hubby just started posting to his again (it's focused on his journey as a submissive), and I thought maybe, just maybe, I have some thoughts to get out for myself. I don't really care if other people read them, but if they're going to anyway, I might as well try to keep organization and such in mind as I move forward.

 

[Phaedre]

I post at Soulcast as do some other Litsters as Eilan said.

I also have a Livejournal blog but I visit that much less frequently. It doesn't have the allure of Soulcast as the interactions are much clunkier and my social circle is more limited there.

As with all forums & blogs there are pros and cons but I prefer Soulcast.

 

[silverwhisper]

erika queried:
what makes a good blog? conversely, what makes a lousy blog?

i think that while these things are intrinsically subjective, at least in part it's dictated by the hosting site. as some of you know, i consider soulcast my online home, due to its forum-like community feeling. that's facilitated by the way the site is set up and operates (a ready means of tracking comments made, facilitating a conversational thread-like quality). therefore, on that site, what for me makes a good blog entry would be one that's personal in some fashion. rather than a cookie cutter-type copy & paste across a host of blog hosting sites, it's something peculiar to that blogger's online persona at that site. i find content like that more compelling, generally.

erika queried:
what advice would you give someone who's considering starting one?

figure out what kind of blogging experience you want first, then look for sites that offer the opportunity to achieve it.

erika queried:
what's your favorite blog software/hosting site (wordpress, blogspot, soulcast, etc.)? have you found one that's particularly great to use or visit?

i'm more than a tad fond of soulcast. :> i like the community there. by and large the fuckwit/decent person ratio is low, although of course there's always the exception--but what site is entirely free of that sort of thing? :>

erika queried:
are there any particular topics/genres that you think are underrepresented, or you'd like to see in a blog?

as a whole, no. i tend not to read many blogs that feature an intense focus on a single or small number of topics--my interests are broad and often multi-faceted, which for me means that the people whose blog entries i read should ideally offer an interesting combination of topics.

there are of course exceptions: certain bloggers (e.g., andrew sullivan) address politics only, and in such cases, i favor bloggers who are either saying what others are saying faster and more cogently, or who offer a different perspective that i don't encounter otherwise.

eilan: you're altogether too kind--thank you. :>

ed