I love this blog, it’s the only one I read, but I’d have to say this post falls under the category of information pollution (as does my comment). A post which is basically an opinion about someone else’s content with a few quotes from other blogs isn’t very interesting or useful.
I’ve had, let’s say, “lowered expectations” where Scoble is concerned ever since he went off on a SF-area blogger and SF Chron columnist just because Fortune (I think it was) included her on a list of bloggers-to-watch. I get a very “old-guard-new-technology” feel from him, but that’s just my opinion and I don’t (generally) humor it with the actually effort of typing it for others to read.
I myself have toyed with starting a blog separate from my socially-oriented meanderings, to deal only with technical/technology issues. While I don’t think I would need to be as retentive as Nielsen would suggest, I definitely don’t want to be as well, trivial, as so-called “A-listers” such as Scoble or Dave Winer are. In that regard, I found Nielsen’s article considerably more useful than Scoble’s (extremely narcissistic) response.
blog, blog, blog…
You quoted the following from the article:
“What matters is that the user experience is that of immersion in comprehensive treatment of a topic, as opposed to a blog-style linear sequence of short, frequent postings commenting on the hot topic of the day.”
I would say that this summarizes quite nicely the way in which most people in our country [USA] both produce and consume information. The one information medium that has done more to shape our culture than any other, television, works the very same way.
What is cable news, except short, frequent bursts of information on the hot topic of the day?
What are TV sitcoms? Short, frequent bursts of information designed to entertain and amuse.
TV documentaries? Short, frequent bursts of information, designed to entertain and amuse.
All of these have as their objective to keep the attention of the audience just long enough to sell them a product.
The blogging community, for the most part, is simply acting in the same way as the rest of our American culture, because that is how we have been conditioned by television to consume information.
For anyone out there under 40, try reading a book published in the mid-to-late 1800’s or early 1900’s, on any serious subject, and see how long you last. For most of us, our minds just isn’t conditioned for such a strenuous exercise.
To make a living out of posting diary notes… No offense, Jeff. I think your posts are informative and interesting, but why waste time on the useless chatter?
Maybe there should be a distinction between writing and blogging.
I suggest blogging be re-named blabbing. That way I can choose to read the writers’ posts.
I’m just saying…
While I have to admit that I could probably fall under the commodity blogger category, mostly because I find it extremely easy to want to comment on the latest happenings. Giving myself some credit, I do at least try to put my own personal opinion in there and not just a article copy.
I do to agree with Brook Monroe (“Why do some people think it’s their business what I post on my blog”). If I simply want to make short little one liner posts about things going on, then that’s my prerogative. However I do know that if I were in the “business” of blogging, then of course I would try to come up with more original content than simply commenting on someone else’s. The issue that I maybe see more is when news/blog sites are filled with nothing but exact copies of articles from other sources, with no additional comment or input on a given subject matter. Plus, just like I’ve always said about content in movies and television, if you don’t like it, don’t watch/read it! Then again we can come down to an even simpler version of the question posed by Brook: Why do people think it’s their “business” to tell me what to do at all?
Blogs… the Usenet comment garbage stream of the new century.
I killed my blog for the reasons in Jakob’s article before I even read Jakob’s article. Once I stepped outside just making sure I posted something/anything and looked at what I’d posted, I had no hesitation in pulling the plug. Close examination revealed that my blog provided none of the things I liked about my favourite blogs (this one, mashable) and then it was obvious to me why no-one came in the 18 months my blog was alive. 'Twas liberating and saddening all at once. But 3 months after that decision, I can only feel the liberation. The key question I couldn’t answer for my blog was “why would anyone come here, rather than go look at x?”
Interesting comments, but a blog is unedited content no matter how you slice it. Nielsen’s comments are basically saying: “Don’t pollute the web with your ramblings”, but a blog is personal rambling so I don’t agree with his viewpoint, but I do agree there is a lot of information about nothing that is being stored on a daily basis. Can’t stop it now, so live with the overload and try to limit the input.
His guidelines are good (self critique and review before posting), but let’s face it, no blog entries are reviewed, edited, etc by anyone else besides the blogger.
I am not sure this post is about, writing quality blog entries? Maybe pick up and read Blogging for Dummies if your having a hard time???
More posts around coding and less about blogging please, although its your blog, so YOU can do what YOU want. I find coding posts much more interesting that someone’s viewpoints on how to blog.
Blogging use to be fun but in my opinion it has been hijacked. It is one thing to use a blog to promote a product or service and quiet another to use automated crap software to scrape, content and spam others with useless comments. All Those blogs about “my cat fee fee” and “what I ate last night” should not be allowed to clutter .com they should be moved to new top level domains smut on .sex and cat blogs and affiliates on .opm
Weird News is OK as long as it is funny though. Matt C. seems to like it anyway. 