Swap Blog

Now some may consider this post be the pot calling the kettle black, but hey we got to do what we got to do.

First of all we do not consider our self a tier 1, top shelf blog. If you think we are THANKS. If you think we are terrible, well that is your right too. Now back to us, we are at our best a A- to B+ blog and most days we are probably a B to B- blog. Some days we are even lower then that, but we work hard to make those days few and far between. Bottom line, we base our self analysis on the number of visits we get, the links we get, the feedback we get, the amount of typos / grammar mistakes that get through, and how in general how we are not in sync with the mind set / focus of most blog readers most days.

There is a reason for that last point, we do not really worry about what is on everyone elses mind. We blog because we want to talk about what is on our mind when it is on our mind. You see, that fact is a key reason that we say we are car crash of a blog. We earn that name daily because this blog looks like someone just threw a bunch of stuff on the street and hoped for the best. If you did not know it before now, guess what we like it like that. If you don’t, well start your own blog or attack us on your blog, both, neither or either is fine with us.

Now with that behind us. There are some TERRIBLE blogs out there, and they are increasing by the day, and we are not just talking about on MySpace -

“Yeah and well I called him and he called me and well we went out and well you know we well we well we you know well we… and we might go out again” WE DON’T CARE AND NEITHER DOES ANYONE OUTSIDE OF YOUR ONE REAL FRIEND (NOT THE 370 ON YOUR FRIENDS LIST) AND / OR YOUR PARENTS!!!

Simply, we think something has to be done about it. The unfortunate thing is that we are drawn to bad blogs like a moth to a light. We would like to believe this is because we are optimist and that we keep hoping that the bad blogs will get better. Unfortunately they do not and we are probably drawn to them because we like the pain. Before you ask, the answer is NO. No we will not call names, or provide links, as we do not want to advertise bad blogs. We do not want to embarrass their authors either. A simple rule of thumb is that if we link to you, consider yourself NOT part of the bad blog crowd. If you think / know we visit you REGULARLY and we never link to you, well count yourself amongst the bad blog crowd.

To the bad bloggers out there, all we are asking is if you are going to take the time to blog, take the time to do the best work you can. Do we fall short of that some days, yes, but we do not it day after day, month after month, etc. Some of you all have been blogging longer then we have and you still are bad at it.

Some pointers -

1) Write about what you care about, not what is in the news / headlines
2) Assume that some of your readers are new, in other words they do not know everything you have previously said on the topic / issue. i.e. a bit of background can be helpful before launching into a post
3) If your blog is only focused on your personal life - edit a bit for the reader as we do not need to know ALL about you
4) Avoid 2000+ word posts about routine / specific events like family / church picnics, youth sports, etc
5) Don’t mistake quantity for quality. If you need 2000 words to discuss a topic use them, but if you can do it in 200 do it
6) Don’t delete / ban detractors - allow debate. If you do not want feedback start writing anonymous letter to the local rag. Blogging in INTERACTIVE. If just want to share you views, without getting feedback, go hire a professional listener or start talking to your pets
7) Blog consistently. That does not mean you have to blog every day, but blog regularly where people have a reason to come by regularly. Three posts and a three month break does not cut it.
Stand up for what you believe in. Do not avoid topics you are passionate about just because you have a minority viewpoint on the issue. There are plenty of people out there repeating what everyone else is saying. Have your own voice, and use it. You telling your readers what you believe, and why, may make them change how they believe and what they think on a topic.
9) Don’t use tone on tone color schemes. If you do not know why delete your blog NOW!!
10) Don’t forget #1

There are probably 20 more we could share but that is a nice start. To all you bloggers out there do your best and work at it, or be kind enough to not do it publically where others do not have to waste their time trying to read / wait on you.

— Update 6/28/06 —

Two other blogs have been kind enough to link to / cite our bag blog post. They also offer helpful advice and opinions of their own. Check them out both out -

Reality ME and Spy Journal.biz

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 27th, 2006 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Misc, Personal, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.