Ideas of March
Thursday, March 15th, 2012Dear 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=
