Blogging is like sex.
Sometimes things are going just perfectly and it’s all you can think of and want to do. Other times, it’s this gigantic weight hanging over your head and you feel guilty if you can’t find time to do it.
The art of blogging fascinates me. Techniques change. Some bloggers mature and show some real talent. Sometimes there’s an emotional connection between the blogger and readers. Some blogs are loners.
When I check my feeds and see the same topics repeated in the post headlines, I start skimming faster, looking for something exciting. Different. Something that’s worth my attention and time. Every week, it’s harder to find something juicy. Worse yet, I wonder if I will have something worthwhile to add, or will just fake it, to get it over with.
Is Your Blog Feeling Frisky?
One of the things I’ve learned from Cre8asiteforums about web design, as it pertains to usability, is that guidelines and heuristics are not agreed on by all web site visitors. We may design for usability as we believe it be usable, but believe it or not, many web site visitors are flexible, patient and willing to cut you a break.
For example, in some circles, allowing a link “Home” on your homepage is considered user-centered design blasphemy. But, when we asked forum folks what they thought, it was like the Woodstock concert. The majority were at peace with that “home” link and felt that whatever floated your boat was cool.
It’s the same thing with blogs. There’s so many guidelines, gurus, books, and blogs explaining how to do it, but no, “The Joy of Blogging”, with naughty pictures. Where is the experimentation? Where is the “Do what feels good to you and that’s okay” guideline? There’s such incredible pressure to perform, I’m amazed that anyone blogs very long, especially if they’re doing it for money. Sooner or later, you’re going to feel like you’re being pimped to death.
Blog Date Night or Spontaneous Back Seat Nookie?
Am I crazy because I want to blog when I’m in the mood? Or must I get out here and do my job, because I’m a blogger and this is what bloggers do? If I don’t keep that feed cranked up, am I no longer hot?
There’s a really good conversation going on called Do’s and Do NOTs of Blogging, Your 2 Cents. I like it because the comments are rational and no one is dictating rules. They do have preferences, however.
Ruud wrote,
“Be my good friend. Be there for me. Make sure I know what I can expect from you.”
He’s talking about communication. I think this expectation by readers to get a constant fix from their favorite blogs is hurting us because we’re forced to post to keep RSS feeds and social tagging fanatics busy. This pressure to perform has created topic redundancy. It’s created unoriginal blog posts. It created splogs.
On the plus side, good communication by a blog owner has let us find the blogs that best match our needs. We’ll stick with them, as long as they do what Ruud describes. Be dependable, but remember to define what that means for your particular blog, to your readers.
I think every blogger has to make their own way, and develop routines that fit their work and private lifestyles. Sometimes I think I’ll be forced to set up a “date night” with my blog, but despite that kind of advice being the norm for married couples with kids, I’ve always hated scheduling THAT (you know what I’m talking about.)
The best I can offer is to be bloggily hormonal.
I never said living with me would be easy.
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it it wrong that this post has really turned me on :-S
No! Because if it hadn’t pushed a button, (at least), I wouldn’t have had the chance to see YOUR blog, which is a ton of fun to read. If I were single, and still at the bar-stage, I can just hear the new pick up line now…”Hi there hot stuff. Wanna meet later at my blog for some [insert imagination here]?” Who needs revenue, anyway?
Yeah, I was thinking along these lines as well.
There has to be a line where ‘pimping’ for page views and traffic has to be balanced with doing whatever you want to do.
I suspect there also has to be a moment when a blogger is just tired of following all those “Top 10 things you need to follow on your blog” imposed rules and just switch to the ‘It is my blog and I do whatever I want’ style.
That’s because there has to be a balance. You make your blog visitor and SE friendly and don’t fret about post titles.
Write what you find interesting, not what you think your readers want. If you are not interesting for one audience, you’ll find another.
Oh well. I guess it deserves a post on its own, eh?
thanks for the complement and for checking out my blog. I’ve been reading your usability opinions for about a year now but yeserday was my first response… Which reminds me of something my media advisor told us working on the campus radio station in college. Many more people listen to the station than will ever call in.
Many more people read your blog than post comments.
Does that mean that people who blog every day out of duty or obligation are blog prostitutes? What about people who made a mistake and blogged for the first time at 13 vs. those who didn’t get a chance to blog until they were in college?
There’s a vague borderline, Rebecca.
What if a blog is just starting and you have a lot to say as well as to keep your initial visitors reading and talking about your blog? You’ll need to post every day in that case, even if you ‘have a headache’.
Having a stable posting schedule is something everyone advises to, like writing and saving drafts if you have inspiration and posting them later.
But the idea of artificial blogs is something that isn’t really obvious (they haven’t been on for a while, too). A blog becomes less interesting when you blog just because you have to, not because you want to. Remember, blog is created when one has something to say, not for other reasons.
“A blog becomes less interesting when you blog just because you have to, not because you want to.”
Hence, the comparison to being a blog “hooker”. Not that I know anything about THAT. LOL.
Rebecca, no need for you to worry. Everytime you post at SEOMoz, the crowd comes running to see what you have to say. On any day you say it
Yuri, you reminded me of the reputation concern. We warn people to be careful about what they post in MySpace, etc., because it can come back to haunt you later. Same with Blogs. Some days I scare myself.