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According to everything that I have been reading on blogging, my site should have no readers
Written By pia on Mar. 18, 2007.
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I am thoroughly confused. I didn't even know what community to put this in. I'm a personal blogger with delusions of being a literary writer who delves into too many issues. I began to blog simply because I love to write. I hadn't planned to become issue oriented but issues seemed to find me.
I keep my original Blogger Courting Destiny, because comments were difficult if impossible to import into Word Press, and many of the comments I got then were designed to make me look stupid, and demean and demoralize me.
e were told to ignore trolls for a week then, but when somebody asked me what mental illnesses I suffer from because I wrote a post on not being a linear thinker, and there were at least ten other comments disparaging me because these people don't like my politics, I had to fight back.
I have also gotten many comments on my morals because I dared to write about my past. The day I realized a personal blog isn't covered under The First Amendment and I could delete was a very happy day. I do send the person an email saying that I will delete and why.
I'm also very into the community aspect of blogging and have written about that for several blogs. I get comments complaining that I talk about blogging too much. Yes, it's a revolution in communication and I feel lucky to be part of it.
When I had my blog designed two years ago, I knew nothing about blogging, so I did everything wrong according to all the things that I have been reading.
I write long posts, though I intuitively knew that small paragraphs would work.
I'm having my blog redesigned because it looks cluttered. Here is the problem: people talk about content being king. To many of us, it always was.
I don't know how many blogs I have read since December on blog design, content, and ways to use your blog.
They all seem to be geared to marketing, tech, and somewhat to entertainment and political blogs.
Personal and literary blogs feel like the evil stepchildren of blogging.
The personal blogs that I read don't say:
I woke up. I had oatmeal for breakfast...."
Many actually help people because others can relate to the feelings. They can learn from the experiences. The beauty of blogging is that everybody has a voice and in a way it's the first meritocracy in publishing.
Yet personal and literary blogs don't seem to come into play in all the blogs about blogging. They make certain assumptions about the blogger. And the blogger is never me or others like me.
I want to get all I can get out of my blog. I have invested much time and effort.
Google does cache me everyday. I'm pretty high up in Technorati and TTLB. I have gotten MSM publicity.
Yet I feel that most personal and literary bloggers are patronized by the rest of the blogosphere. We're not about making big money directly from our blogs, the latest blog tech crazes, or many times issues so what purpose do we serve?
My definition of "content is king" seems to differ from the blogs that specialize in writing about blogging.
I would love to see personal and literary blogs talked about in these blogs.
That's sad because this is a revolution but one that we all have a chance of winning.
But we all need to work together.
Kamigoroshi
Written Mar. 18, 2007 / Report /
Well...that's where 9rules has got things licked there. Quality of content doesn't necessarily equate to popularity as one 9ruler pointed out. Blogging originally started as a form of personal carthesis for a lot of us, it just found a better appeal to people when they began to have tech niches. It's just the evolution of design.
I write a personal and commentary blog and while my hits don't rival other tech orientated blogs out there much less the ones in 9rules, I get my fair share of hits and I work hard to maintain the community that's forming on my blog. It's basically hard work because you got to remember, if it's a personal blog, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Then again you also have to remember, if say 50-100 people read your personal blog a day, that's more than if you're going to tell all the friends in your life in a given time.
9rules does have a very diverse and interactive personal community so there very little need for a change. There are plenty of good personal blogs out there which fit your idea of personal blogs as opposed to something the "what I did today" noodle posts. I've been blogging for a long while now and it's easy to miss out on blogs like those because like I said, you don't need to be popular to be good. I'm one of those rare personal blogger that blog everyday, for the most part, you don't need to blog frequently when you're out there living your life in the first place.
In my experience, personal blogs mean we blog for ourselves first and foremost. If you spend your time defending yourself against what other people say about your life, well...your writing does suffer. It happened to me more than one occasion.
Just take it easy. The rest will follow through in time as we find our voice.
viperteq
Written Mar. 18, 2007 / Report /
I think that if you continue on the path that you're on, people will eventually recognize the passion with which you write.
Nils
Written Mar. 18, 2007 / Report /
I'm not sure what your message is here. But it is a fact that personal and literary blogs don't 'score' the same way tech ones do. Literacy is becoming a fringe skill and investing in personal relations with your readers takes time and effort.
Foremost though, I think we should realize that pro-bloggers don't focus on blogging per se, but on the pro bit: how to make money. It follows, again, that 'lit & pers' don't get much coverage.
As for being patronized, ridiculed or being generally miserable: I am not convinced that is the case. Just look at the names in the community here: Kami, Cas, John, Josh, Dave... they're all great and respected bloggers with great content and reasonable 'success'.
To put it blunt and short: where exactly is the problem?
shadowsun7
Written Mar. 21, 2007 / Report /
People read more tech blogs. They read more political blogs. They read up on gossip and celebrity spats. They read up on problogging to make money (who doesn't want to make money?). I suppose they don't read personal or literary blogs as much because:
a, Personal blogs don't help them much, be it with love or money or the next big web app.
b, Both require reading a convoluted mass of words, often of high quality, but since they don't help the average reader they don't get read.
c, Literature isn't meant to be consumed off the screen. And only book nuts will subscribe to literary blogs, which (unfortunately) does not constitute the majority of internet users worldwide. The current trend is consumption without much thinking. Perhaps a blog specifically about chicklit? Hrmm.
d, I write a literary blog. It doesn't get read much. I'm still happy. I write. I love the fact that i write.
e, Have you heard of blogging celebrities? They're pretty big in Asia (or maybe just south east asia). People like Xiaxue and Kennysia and Smashpop command a vast following, and sometimes all they do is post up pictures, with very little words. (Go google them)
So while personal and literary blogging may not be popular now ...
Okay, i don't have a good conclusion to this. Someone give me writing lessons, please?
>.<"
bloglily
Written Mar. 21, 2007 / Report /
ShadowSun -- I'd love to read your literary blog. I couldn't get to it though because it's not linked on your bio page. (I'll check back later, in case you've fixed that.)
Pia, What really matters here is that you write what you want to write. And that you love doing it. That's the 9rules way.
As for all those nasty comments? I use comments moderation and delete anything that even approaches nastiness. Maybe you should think about doing that. You'll have more time to put into your writing because you won't be engaging in useless conversations with mean people.
Kamigoroshi
Written Mar. 22, 2007 / Report /
I don't delete nasty comments. In fact even though I have a no troll policy on my blog, I sometimes publish nasty comments to highlight the stupidity of some people. I don't defend myself, I just amuse people with it.
Laughing at yourself with a thick skin. That's the best thing a personal blogger can do. It makes you feel better and your posts will be a whole lot more lighthearted to begin with.
LorriM
Written Mar. 22, 2007 / Report /
Pia: If you are satisfied with what you write...that is what matters. If you are passionate about your writing, and enjoy it, that is the most important thing.
shadowsun7
Written Mar. 22, 2007 / Report /
Amen, Lorri.
I came across a discussion somewhere in the blogosphere not too long ago. It went "what do you hate most about blogging?"
And a frequent theme I saw in the replies were 'Google doesn't find personal blogs as important as gadget blogs, or political blogs, or even craft blogs.'
And so with the democratization of media and opinion we've come to finding that the world (or at least the online one) places too much importance on hits and links and not writing alone.
Enjoy writing. I do. And if blogging/writing online doesn't work out, curl up with a nice book and forget about the computer. A little real life never hurt anyone.
*PS: Bloglily, I've updated my profile. My literary blog is there, though I must warn you it's partially about the internet and how it affects our reading.