Humour, comics, tech, law, software, reviews, essays, articles and HOWTOs intermingled with random philosophy now and then
Filed under:
Internet and Blogging by
Hari
Posted on Fri, Nov 11, 2005 at 13:11 IST (last updated: Wed, Jul 16, 2008 @ 20:33 IST)
Of late the trend seems to be blogging about blogging. You know, the buzz words: blogosphere, del.icio.us, tagging, social bookmarking, technorati, web 2.0, blogroll, live bookmarks, Flock... it just goes on and on and I am sure I have missed a quite a lot here. Many bloggers have commented on the importance of these tools to bloggers and how utilizing these web resources are critical to successful blogging.
I don't have a problem with embracing technology even though I find many of them quite bewildering. As a matter of fact, I have tried to understand what "blogroll" really is and to be frank I have only a vague idea of what many of all these new terms mean. I am just getting started as I only recently signed up with Technorati and I still have no idea why it's important to get "tagged." What I do know is that these people who talk about blogging success seem to emphasize a lot on getting yourself a higher search-engine rank, getting more hits on your blog and making more money through ads. They also tell you how you should blog, what you should blog about and how much you should blog to become successful.
I do have a problem with people who try to tell me I have to do certain things and blog in a certain way to be successful: you know, the "10 ways to blogging success" type. They miss the point. What exactly would you define as success? It is so subjective that it's hard to even find any reference point, let alone describe it.
Would you define success as getting more number of hits on your website? Sure, there are plenty of ways to do this. Exchange links with every Tom, Dick and Harry's blog and get a higher rank on google and Technorati. Load up your sidebar with links to hundreds of blogs who link back to you. Or even spend some money to get listed on AdWords. Just want to get more comments? Find any crap blog, post a vague, hypocritical comment praising the author and leave behind your link with your name. At least three out of five will reciprocate by leaving vague, hypocritical comments on yours - you know, the "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" routine. Or do you define success as just enjoying what you're doing, period? Lucky you! You don't need to do a thing. Just be yourself.
Well, whatever be your definition of success, I guess many of us just want a fair combination of all: site traffic, community interaction and popularity. There's nothing inherently wrong with wanting all this. However, each blogger has to define how much they're willing to sacrifice just to become popular. I want more traffic, but am I willing to link to any random crap that I find just so that I can get a reciprocal link and improve my SEO rating? Or do I want to plaster my links on several other blogs with useless messages just so that the author will check out mine? Do I want to hypocritically praise just about anybody to get a praise in return? I want popularity, but do I want to write in a certain way just to get popular? Should I "play" to my audience by writing on topics which I don't a crap about? Do I have to write only on particular issues just so that my blog appears to be more focussed? Or do I write anything I want to irrespective of whether my readers will like it or not?
I think every blogger has to answer these questions in his/her own way. I don't condemn other ways, but personally I would care about whom I link to. In fact, if I like a blog or a website, I would link to it regardless or whether I get a link back or not. I would care about community building without necessarily wanting to be the most popular. I would care about how whose blogs I hang out on and do so whole-heartedly by either commenting usefully or not commenting at all. (On that note, I would add that one of the most challenging things for bloggers looking to build a community is finding other blogs which actually interest them. In spite of so many search engines and tools, it's exceedingly difficult finding bloggers with whom you can actually relate to among all those thousands out there).
I would write about what I want to without worrying whether my audience will like it or find it relevant or not. I generally tend to write serious articles, but occasionally I do post an "intermission" type entry just to add a little spice. I'm a great believer that if you have something to say, the right audience will ultimately find their way to you. On the other hand, if you want to "play" to your audience, I have no problem with that either: it's just that I wouldn't do it. Many people think that focus is important, but I don't think it is such a critical thing. I just define success in the quality of my writing in my own eyes. So I have scripted my own formula. Have you?
Ultimately it's about finding your level of comfort. Whether you agree with my point of view or not depends entirely on your definition of success and the reason you blog in the first place. If popularity at any cost is your way, by all means go ahead and do the things which will make you popular. As I said no way is better or worse. But that means there is no "cookbook" or "recipe" to success either and that is my point: it's up to each of us to find our own formula and be happy with it.
4 comment(s)
Comment by Dominic (visitor) on Fri, Nov 11, 2005 @ 23:02 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on Fri, Nov 11, 2005 @ 23:09 IST #
Comment by Shrinidhi Hande (visitor) on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 @ 09:04 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 @ 09:38 IST #