Blogging Rules Part 1
I joined the xanga community in September 2002 which means I’ve been a part of this online journaling hoopla for about 6 1/2 years now. In that time, I’ve come to learn which blogs “work” and which “don’t work”. That’s to say, I’ve learned generally what people will stop and take time to read and respond versus a bunch of random stuff people write to try to sound profound or share what’s on their mind, that the rest of the online community couldn’t give a crap about.
Now here’s the blogging wisdom that I will now impart to you, my fellow readers:
1. People usually like pictures but don’t really have anything to say about them (this is not limited to pictures of people but just pictures of food or anything that the blogger thought was interesting - like that neck tie I posted a couple days ago!).
2. People generally could care less about your future plans. As Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture, puts it “Just ignore everything they (men) say and only pay attention to what they do. It’s that simple. It’s that easy.” (thanks Trish, stole your quote) Do something, then maybe people will care.
3. Long posts are NOT a death trap. If the entry has good content and is well written, people will read it and love it.
4a. Trying to sound like a good writer makes your writing worse. Trust me, as a fellow bad writer, I know this to be true.
4b. You have to write something. Your blog can’t stand alone on video clips, pictures, and quotes.
5. It’s important to have some spiritual content in your blog. This way, it can help encourage or challenge people (or you) either now or in the future. What good is a blog (let alone what good is anything) if it doesn’t bring the true God glory?
6. Updating consistently, while avoiding the above, is key.
That’s all I have for you now. Maybe in another 6 1/2 years I will have learned more than six things.
