Ideas of March
Dear Reader,
As part of Chris Shiflett’s “Ideas of March” project, I have spent a good deal of time today thinking about why I read blogs. Sadly, I came to the conclusion that I don’t actually read many blogs; I skim blogs. I skim a lot of them. It’s not that the writer did something wrong, it is just that because a strong “content strategy” is so important these days that I find most blog posts mechanical and uninteresting. There are exceptions, most of my technical friends write about things they have discovered. I read those because I want to know what they discovered and want to understand what they are working on.
So how does that bode for my blog? Well, in thinking this through I began thinking that if I don’t blog as a “content strategy” – and so help me God, I try not to – why do I blog and why do people read my blog. When I blog – I mean the blog posts I really love – it’s because I’m working through something. It’s more for me than anyone else. Those blog posts are my favorite but are rarely ever read by anyone else. Posts like:
Those are some of my favorites and I am guessing none of you have ever read any of them. (Don’t bother now; unless you are me, they aren’t very interesting.)
On the other hand, when I blog as part of a “content strategy” I end up with things post like this.
- Being on Facebook Does Not Make You Social
- Are Your Painters Standing around While You Pick Out Colors?
Those posts – and a lot of the stuff I see written these days – should be tagged as “stating the obvious” so that Google can filter them out of their index.
The most interesting blog posts I read – the reason I keep skimming blogs – are the ones where I learn something about someone. Those posts I read and sometimes re-read. Those post help me understand the writer, help me experience their journey, and help me glimpse life – even if for a moment – from their point of view. That’s insight I can’t get on twitter or Facebook. That’s as close to getting to know someone as I can get without sitting and sharing a coffee with them.
Those posts are worth my time to read.
I will do my best, dear reader, to write more. I can’t promise that it will be interesting but I do promise not to write just for the sake of creating content.
Until next time,
I <3 |<
=C=
Tags: ideas of march, why I read blogs
Nice read Cal!
Some other reasons of “skimming” blogs might also be due to the fact that:
1) there’s so much content piled up all over the net, much of them conveying similar information
2) blog readers are exposed with too much information and news feed per min (or sec?) – they can hardly absorb all that (so skimming to stay abreast?)
//Wasseem
I think you’re talking about story… when we put ourselves out there (warts and all) and say, “This is me, this is what I’ve learned and what I’m continuing to learn.” When someone tells us their story it helps us connect to our own story and helps us reconnect with larger ideas like purpose, community and friendship. We may not always agree with someone’s story, but we don’t always agree with every movie we watch either… it’s the story that keeps us coming back.
Great post, Cal. So glad my story includes you.