I think all of us who blog sometimes think of “pulling the plug” and running for the hills . . . but. . . we don’t. Looking back over the months of blogging I’ve done, those random comments and handshakes from folks telling me my words had some influence keeps me going.

And anytime you wish to enumerate the fifteen who think you are great, count me in!

Terry Thornton
Fulton, Mississippi
HILL COUNTRY OF MONROE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI (blog)
THE GRAVEYARD RABBIT OF THE HILL COUNTRY (blog)
THE GRAVEYARD RABBIT (association blog)
NEW HOPE CEMETERY (blog)
LANN CEMETERY BLOG
INSIDE THE MAGNOLIA CURTAIN (blog)

I just read the article (I hadn’t seen that it was online when I wrote my comment) and I have a few more responses. The biggest hole in Boutin’s article is his assumption of the mutual exclusivity of text-based blogging vs. media based blogging. My favorite blogs not only incorporate video and images, but link about every important phrase to a former post or an article or the wikipedia entry about the topic or person. Most YouTube videos I watch I find through blogs.

The most upsetting and striking point to me is about the search engine results–but I think this goes back to the reason why you’re blogging in the first place. I’m gonna go out on a limb here, however, and call BS on this “purity of the blog” statement. Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s my bad memory, but I can’t recall a time when a major media site wasn’t the first hit when Googling a certain subject. I feel that nostalgia may be getting the better of Boutin. Most blog readers I know read the big name blogs, but they also read small, quirky blogs that they love.

I feel that “quitting before you start” is not the solution here. More individuals need to make more blogs, and if it’s good, it will be read. I think networking is the biggest problem that is simply ignored in the article. Google hits aren’t the only way to get your blog read. You just need to find your niche.

I’ve been considering creating my own, permanent, well-designed blog for a while now, and just haven’t done it. I think my main problem stems from that “well-designed” bit I mentioned. I guess my thinking is that anything, and I mean ANYTHING put on this beautiful internet of ours has the opportunity to be seen by millions of people, has the chance of becoming incredibly popular. If that’s the case, I want to make myself presentable–put on some jeans and a nice top instead of your sweatpants in case you see the entire community at Costco, you know? I want something impressive, that I can be proud of.
That said, I’m not bashing a simple and clean layout. When content is the main focus of the blog then it is well-served to be front and center. A flashy layout would only detract from that. Not to mention probably half of the blogs I read have a similar, very clean, very simple and well-laid out layout like this one (thesuperest.com, brokershandsontheirfacesblog.tumblr.com, etc.).

I suppose my point is (sorry for that aside), you should always write or paint or even dance for yourself first, but I feel like you need to be prepared for you to hit it big. That means trolls and insult comments. I don’t see how this “ruins personal blogging.” Why not just delete those comments? Ban that commenter? Moderate comments by having them emailed to you first? I don’t see why that’s a reason to stop blogging. The fact that trolls even want to post on my blog at least makes me feel like it’s being read.

My second qualm was with Boutin’s comment about text-based sites being outdated. I thought about this and came up with many examples of how this wasn’t true…until I realized all of my examples fell into the category of “magazines, corporations, and paid bloggers.” I find this interesting, though, because most of these blogs that fall under “paid bloggers” started off as blogs with unpaid bloggers. I think Boutin’s completely off-base here. Why would a small-business owner not open up his small shop because it may not do well? One of the only ways to make a chain of stores is to start with one, just as one of the only ways to make a “paid blogger” successful blog is to start with an unpaid one.

And I suppose I don’t even really have to address it, but your point on incorporating media is the point I would have made (see the brokers blog I posted a link to before).

Anyway, I think I ought to go ahead and read this article before saying anything assessing it as a whole. Again, though, I’m glad you brought this up. Being told not to start a blog makes me want to start one even more

Well said. I have to confess that when I read this article in Wired the other day, I felt a little depressed, and I thought of a mini-funeral that I’ll someday hold for my blogs. Then I snapped out of it for the similar reasons that you mention here.

I’ll admit, there was a time when one of my main professional goals was to be as prolific as I possibly could in terms of posting content on my blog in the hopes of building the audience. What I found was that I was losing touch with the reasons I began blogging in the first place: reflection and feedback. I write now when I can’t move forward without feedback–when I need other voices to help shape my thinking.

Thanks for the post!