As a professional writer, I found the Internet to be an answer to my prayers way back in 1996. That’s eons in Web time, eh? Well… it used to be that I had to figure out what it is I needed to know about a topic, go to the library and schlep home a pile of heavy books. If I wanted something in a newspaper or magazine, I had to stay in the library. And if I wanted something fresh and unique, I’d interview an expert. These are still quite viable ways to research pieces, but today, the choices are just wide open for finding everything you need online, even experts.
I learned that quickly because I had a small child at the time, and getting to the library and all that it entailed was difficult. No babysitters and this full-time mom had to be creative about getting her research done.
When I finally got online in ‘96, I was completely thrilled to find so much information at my fingertips. I set about doing a very complicated piece about circumcision, interviewing 42 men, women, and professionals on the topic via email. I got way more input from folks than I ever could have by phone.
Then, a couple of years down the line came blogging. Blogging! It meant that writers, pro or amateur, could write what was on their minds and have it published immediately for anyone who was interested to read. Wow! Being published in print is a hard row to hoe. You have to know the proper formats, go through the proper channels, and often wait a very long time before an editor finally shows interest.
Yet, blogging wasn’t serious quite yet. Blogger was the rage and people writing about what they had for lunch wasn’t terribly exciting. Traditional publishing was actually LATE to the online world, so there weren’t as much cogent and useful writing as one would hope in the early days.
All of that has changed. Now, there’s more good writing on popular blogs than bad, and running a blog ticker on blogs in your niche is almost imperative. For me, keeping up with the news in SEO is imperative, and so, I read lots of blogs pertaining to the topic. It’s easy for me because there are places like SEOMoz, Search Engine Land, SEOBook, and the essential Matt Cutts. I try to read these at least once a week, each plus others as I see fit. The information isn’t just accurate, it’s timely. I don’t have to wait for this month’s issue. I’m getting input every single day.
But sometimes, you’re in a niche that isn’t quite so easy to find information in, and this is especially true when it comes to blogs. Let’s say you’re in the knife throwing niche, for example, or coin collecting or fishing. There are corporate blogs in each of those, I’m sure, and you can find some stuff that’s reliable. But when you go to a blog that’s not a company’s blog, is the information you’re getting correct? Anyone can throw up a blog and may not be expert in the niche you’re working in. You may have more smarts about the topic than they do! So? Reader beware.
Kendall Allen wrote about this very topic today in “The Love/Hate Livelihood Of The Blogosphere” at Online Spin at Media Post. The good news is that the blogosphere seems to be improving in quality. But she’s coming at the topic like an offline person, asking about metrics and such. Any online marketer worth his/her salt and any blogging pro knows that there are lots of great measurement tools to use. Her approach is rather stuffy. She’s talking about standards and in some respect, regimentation.
I’d hate to see that, really. Regimentation will squeeze all the life out of blogging, just like it squeezed the life out of the publishing industry. Only the very accurate in form are even considered for publication. Seriously. If you don’t have your format correct, editors may not bother with your writing no matter how great it is. They figure that if you haven’t done the background work to find the proper forms that you’re not serious and pffft!!! You’re out before you even get to the plate.
The talk of “best practices” in Allen’s article just chills me to the bone. I embraced the blogosphere simply because there was none of the regimentation and picky B.S. that accompanies the offline publishing world, and I’ve written for all print media types — newspapers, magazines, and books. It’s not that she’s saying that the information should be accurate. I’m 100% on board with that, but…
Bloggers should be policing themselves, not some set “standards.” That would just take all the fun out of it. What would that mean for sites like ” Boing Boing,” which is almost 100% scraped content. It’s not a particularly well written blog, but it sure is a ton of fun.
And I totally don’t think it can ever happen.
But I assure you that the first time they try to set “standards” for blogging, I’m off to fight against it.
Pat Marcello | 
06 11th, 2009| 
I have a few cool plugins for Firefox, but one of my favorites is “
The constant pace of blogging can be demanding. When you’re first starting a blog, it’s important to write in that blog seven days a week. Then, once you have a following, you can cut back to five days and then three, and still maintain an audience. But the reality is, the more you post, the bigger your audience will grow, unless you’re a total moron and posting crap all the time. Hopefully, you have some cool stuff to mention about your niche to keep your audience engaged, but you must be consistent.
those people down and unfollow them back. Sheesh. It’s what they deserve, right?
