December 8, 2003
Gothamist Notes 1: What Not to Do When You Blog
Often, while sifting through the mountain of daily Gothamist correspondence, we come across emails asking for advice about starting a blog. Why anyone would consider Gothamist an authority on the sweet, intricate science of blogging is beyond us – but we are loathe to sidestep our obligation to respond. Here then, based on our blog-exploration and the evolution that is Gothamist, the first in a series of Gothamist Notes On Blogging, entitled "What not to do when you blog."
1. Don't use the word blog without realizing what it means. Blog blog blog - our ears are bleeding from it. Using Meg's definition as a guide, blogs are made up of posts that have "links + commentary." Commentary, not Joyce-ian stream-of-consciousness. They can be personal, but more in terms of point of view, versus a webcam of yourself. It's more fiting to call your website a website. Call yourself a journalist, or a writer. Having special names for everything smacks of 1999 newspeak. Sure- it's sad that the word blog has gotten all used up but c'est la vie, time to move on. "Bloggers" have come to be irrevocably associated with 16 year old girls, writing in bad grammar on LiveJournal, the label has become inappropriate for the rest of us.
2. Therefore, for the love of God, do not write about yourself. Do not write about your friends. Do not write about your family. Do not write about your pets. Or airport travels. Do not write about that girl at the bodega on 4th avenue and how she's giving you the eye. Do not write about your dates. Pick a real subject or series of subjects and stick to it – if you have to use the word "I" more than once a week, you are doing something very, very wrong. No one cares about you or the things you do (unless you are Paris Hilton, Bazima, or Bennifer – don't believe the weary, B.Lo, keep it comin' strong!), keep it to yourself. And if that's not enough to stop you from writing about yourself, just remember these words of advice from Meg: "A cardinal rule of blogging is this: Post as if everyone you know will read your weblog because chances are very good that they will. If you don't want your boss, religious leader, or your parents to read what you're writing, you might want to think twice about posting it." And if you're on that first date where he/she knows everything about you, it's your own fault.
3. Do not blog unless you plan to take it seriously. Nothing looks worse than a blog where the latest entry is from last month. Do not forget the commitment you make to your readers. You provide content and they consume it on a regular basis. If you post every single day, you need to keep that up. Have a goal of posting a certain number of times a week and try to stick with it. Do not bitch and moan about how little traffic you get when the last time you posted was two weeks ago, and that post was about your freaking cat. By the same token, do not go for the easy posts. If all you are doing is passing on a link, use a sidebar- or go the Kottke/Dashes route and balance linkage with real posts in the main column. If you do a post and it takes only 5 minutes you are doing something wrong. You probably haven't thought about it enough. You've probably missed some typos. Laziness is not a nice quality in bloggers.
4. Do not write to other bloggers and ask for links. No not expect to make someone's permanent link list just because you linked to them. Links are like relationships – they take work. Asking for a link is like taking "it" out on the first date – it might work with some girls, but most of the time it makes you look desperate. Very very desperate. How do you get a link? Produce high quality content for months on end- link to other people in those high quality posts, drop them a line (but don't harrass) about your site. Eventually you'll get the love you so desperately need.
5. Do not steal. A Creative Commons license is not permission to rip someone off. If you take an idea or a link, make sure you credit it to the appropriate person. If you borrow an image, make sure the attribution is present and correct. If you steal someone's design, at least have the decency to change the colors. Do not steal a design and then ask for a link. That's like stealing someone's watch and then asking them if they know how to change the battery.
6. Do not consider your blog a free ride to slander, promote gross inaccuracies, or pass along "facts" that are rumors. Sure, you are not writing for the New York Times, but you should keep in mind the basic rules of journalism and ideas of fairness. If you are sarcastic and have a snarky tone with your site, that's fine, but realize that a lot of literal thinkers out there are going to make assumptions that you'll have to deal with. And, associated with that, do not allow your blog to become a vehicle for slander. Do not neglect to moderate your blog. Some son–of–a–bitch is going to start using your comments section as a personal platform for hating or whatnot, and if you don't slap him down, that nonsense might as well be coming out of your mouth. You are responsible for every word that appears on your website – and don't use free speech or bullshit like that to sidestep the issue. So if someone is using your blog to call someone else a whore, that person better be a whore – or it's your ass on the line.
7. Do not overreact when you get dissed by your readers. While it's your blood, sweat, and tears that you're putting up there, it's myopic to think that everyone will have the same opinions as you. If people are calling you out, just learn to take it and move on. If they start to attack you, again, you can close comments, delete comments, and block IP addresses. When someone decides to launch a personal vendetta against you, using five different pseudonyms and ten different websites, enjoy the ride! No one becomes successful without acquiring some enemies – and the more devoted your enemies, the more successful you are. At least, that's what we keep telling ourselves.
8. Do not forget to be polite. If someone links to one of your posts, say thank you. If you see a picture on a photoblog that you like, tell the photographer that you appreciate their work. If someone points out a typo, let them know you appreciate their vigilance and insanity. Courtesy is the grease that lubricates the wheels of society. And as Kramer would say, if you don't want to be part of society, maybe you should move to the Upper East Side.
That is all – feel free to add your own advice in the comments section. We remain, as ever, your loyal readers.
|
jeez, gothamist- you used to be cool- now you've gone all authoritarian on me. suckers! don't you think that some personal voice is acceptable in blogs? i mean, what are personal websites without personality?
I think there is a place for personal content, too, but I heard that a certain publisher pees blood when he reads blogs with TMI about the bloggers' personal lives. But I think he just has a urniary tract infection.
yeah- i should probably get that checked out.
For no other reason than to possibly make some people jealous, I have to tell you that she made a pj harvey cd mix for me, and even kissed it.
That's why rule #8 is so true. If you are nice enough, someday a beautiful new yorker will xoxo you.
Give your site a personality, both in content and design. Your design should be somewhat different than the next. Don't use the default template, but change colors, fonts, etc. Likewise, put your name or a memorable alias on your site. If your readers can't remember you after they have left your site, then they probably won't return.
"paris hilton, bazima, or bennifer"?
hmm... i don't really know whether to feel grateful or insulted!
xoxo b
Yeah, a #9 could also be about the experimental nature of the internet and blogging.
If you generally focus on small community issues/ small public officials, don't be surprised at all the contortions they will throw behind your back. And the cronies/tortfeasors they'll send your way. (I got one of them almost seems to asking me to come and take a lien on his house, I dunno. ("Here. Me and my family live here, but I have this uncontrollable urge to attack you personally for criticizing my political candidate/ potential government contract patron. So here, come get a lien on my house." )
Like Jen says, once you commit to writing, you better stick with it as long as sitemeter tells you you have hits. And unbelievably maybe, once you are on the daily/weekly surfing list, you will continue to get hits. Congratulations! You beat television in at least a couple households.
Myself, I think blogging will inevitably follow capitalist rules--that there will be a handful of "winners" at the top, and a whole slew of also-rans. So I suppose in the end, goal setting (who are you reaching?) is key. I like to set mine where success on the counter will be at the other end, so I stay hyper-local to Somerset County and Bridgewater, with some other general stuff thrown in so as not to sound like a Johnny One Note.
I heart Gothamist, really I do. And while I was starting to dig on the sarcasm of some of the earlier "rules", I think that somewhere around Rule 3 or 4 this post started to spin a little bit out of control and into the realm of Sunday sermons (is it just a coincidence that this was actually posted ON a Sunday?). I read and read, waiting for a punchline that didn't come. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan, but the main reason that blogs have blown up and attracted so much media attention this year is that there AREN'T rules to abide by. The barriers to entry in the blogosphere are minimal (hell, even homeless people are blogging!), so anyone out there who's got anything to say can start up their own site over at Blogspot and write `til their heart's content. Naturally, great sites with great content will rise to the top and get their rightful due (be it page views, getting on guest lists at the local hotspots, jobs in the legit media, what have you) ... this site is clearly in that upper echelon. So, as a leader in this arena, why try to impose all kinds of stodginess in the Blogosphere with rules and regulations? Leave that to the chumps at places like IDG who publish "Blogging For Dummies" and other BS like that. Obvs.
Typo: No not expect to .... Rule #4, 2nd sentence. That should be do not. Please appreciate my vigilance & insanity at 3:22am. Also, the timer on your comments section is 54 minutes fast...
1.this isnt a class on semantics.
2.make it impersonal. check.
3.well i agree with this.
4-7.fine.
blogs can be anything and everything. they can be what the rules state they "should" be, or they can be what you think they "shouldnt" be. why should every blog be commenting on the bad news of the world?
Hey!
Some of us use Livejournal and are not linguistically challenged 16 year olds. Thankfully we don't take ourselves seriously enough to be truly offended by #1. Though we do suspiciously use the royal we....
afraid i must diagree with uncle grambo and veritech above- this post isn't about "rules" that people must follow- it's about notes on what we think make a blog good. sure, as chris rock has said, you could drive a car with your feet- but that don't make it a good fucking idea.
you could open a live journal and talk about your issues with people at work, or write about your failures in love- but don't complain when even your friends refuse to read it.
trust me here- it's for your own good!
Believe me and Jake when we say this post generated a lot of debate at the Gothamist office.
points 3-7 are good tips for blogging etiquette. 1 and 2 however are dictating what a "definitive" blog should be, which is just a bit presumptuous. i wasnt aware blogging was so regimented and "good" so objective. i should take notes...for my own good. some people blog for no apparent reason...whether they want to attract readers or not (i wasnt aware this was a popularity contest.) or maybe friends (and strangers) far away do actually read what one does in their everyday lives, because its become another form of communicating.
I have to diagree with the whole "Do not write about your self part" I tried this and my readers reacted. So I have a eZine blog and a personal blog.
Hmmm. I wonder if the line between "blog" and "journal" really means much anymore. If I have a bloglike setup with comments but I write journalistic personal entries, which may or may not have links, what do I call it?
I'm not a big fan of categories; I prefer the Calvinball approach, where you make up the rules as you go along.
I do agree on the writing as if everyone will find it. They will. So keeping it general is a good idea, unless you hate someone enough that you want them to know it/send you hate mail that you can then post....
One more: Spend the $10 or so to buy your own domain name. Much more professional.
i think you guys do a lovely job. and i don't even live on the upper east side...
i may be alone in this- but i think there's nothing valuable in blogs that simply record the events in a person's private life. my ideal blog is about ideas, events, subjects, threads that connect us to one another. sure- i could spend every day recording where i ate lunch and who with, but would you really want to read it? would i really want to write it?
i guess i don't understand people that blog about their personal lives- it just seems lazy to me.
The thing is that once you start to agree (or disagree) and become fascinated with the person's ideas and thoughts, you want to know more about the person behind them. I'm totally guilty of trying to find out more about different writers I really like. But maybe we need to put a cap on our natural curiosity (the reason being the over importance of celebrity culture).
Depends on what you're *doing* each day. Some people *can* write about what they ate (and post the recipe) and what they did (say, creating something and including a picture), and flocks of people will read it.
I've learned this the fun way. And so will the 16 year-olds.
Well, some of them maybe.
(You would probably despise my site.)
I agree wtih a good deal of what you're saying, but part of wht you're running into is the collision between blogging and online journalling: I started out doing the latter, and while my site has the appearance of a blog, it still has basically the same content.
I've tried to do link+commentary a number of times and it bores me to write that way. I started my journal as a way of making myself write regularly. And that is why I'm still writing, 3+ years later. It being online keeps me accountable--the fact that anyone finds it interesting is, well, nice, but ultimately not why I do it. If you don't like what I'm doing, no one's forcing you to read it. There are plenty of sites out there, more than enough to suit anyone's fancy. There's no need to get all superior because the content you prefer isn't what everyone is creating. For me, I like having a searchable record of my life.
Don't make it personal? Whats up with that?
Most of my recent posts are about my daily meditations, and those are very personal to me. But you see, my blog is about yoga, meditation, religion and spiritual practices, so it fits in with the content of the site.
I say make it personal if thats what the blogger wants. Afterall, its the bloggers blog.
why can't we all just agree that people who want to blog about personal things should be kicked off of blogger and typepad, rounded up, and interned over at livejournal? is that so unreasonable?
Er, Jake, you're being silly. Let's not forget how this whole blogging thing started, ok?
Look at it this way. Anne Frank wrote about her--I can't even begin listing the things she wrote about that I couldn't care less about--but people care, because her thoughts connect to more than just her.
Just talking about what you ate for lunch might not lend you lots of readers, but I'd bet there are weblogs out there that talk about food and have large audiences. The trick lies in whether you can think beyond yourself. Anil Dash and Kottke (to choose cited examples) talk about themselves ALL THE TIME. I did this, I did that, I was here, when I saw this, etc.
Rule of thumb: If you are me, you may write about yourself. Otherwise, it is a better idea to write about me.
I think an interesting blog consists exclusively of posts regarding the author and his/her guitars.
You broke the most important rule: never blog about blogging.
i agree- if you are anne frank, back from the dead, or jonathan van geison, you may blog about yourself. otherwise it is better to take hundreds of monotonous pictures of chinatown tenements and post them in lieu of having to compose prose.
I'm very happy that bloggers have never followed your rule #2. Like way back in 1999, when Meg started a post like this:
wednesday, may 5
I went to the Tully's on Irving Street (@9th) for my usual vanilla soy latte. The man behind the counter told me they were out of vanilla soy.
that's clearly a post about soy lattes- not meg's personal life. i'm sure if you printed the whole post, she'd go into great detail about how soy lattes are made, where soy beans come from, and how irving place got its name.
Why would anyone take this so seriously? If you don't want to read my site, don't. But don't tell me how to do what I want to do. I can entertain, enlighten and link to my heart's desire, but I'll do it on my terms. It's my site after all. So comment away or not.
yeah- i agree- you have the right to do whatever you want in the privacy of your own home- but if you walk around outside without pants on, don't be surprised if people look at you strange. that's what i'm arguing for- a universal consensus that blogging about your private life is totally uncool!
you are so asinine your tongues gone clear thru your cheeks.
Um, jake, most of what I know about you personally has come from your blog. I think that if you take stock you may find a lot of personal stuff on your blog.
As for me, if I don't post about my friends and family they'll kill me! But I try to squeeze in some other equally uninteresting-to-others content.
I am adding authors and giving them two rules: #1. No plagiarism
#2. No porn (cause there's so darn much already!)
......Also, there was some good advice in this gothamist post. Thanks gothamist.
I totally agree with Gothamist/Jen & Jake on "What Not to Do When You Blog". All notes are well written and contains very good advise. I have been in the media-business in northern Europe for about 20 years, so I base my opinion on my experiences as journalist and editor. Writing about your private life is absolutely uninteresting from the reader's point of view. Better keep that as a private diary. But if you write about something from a personal viewpoint you have a greater chance to find an interested audience.
Ahem? Three words come to mind: Pot. Kettle. Black.
Anyway, some of the points you make are certainly good ones, but this holier-than-thou lecturing is a little annoying, and quite condescending, oh wise Internet God. What makes the online community so interesting is the diversity of styles and discourses. Can you imagine how utterly boring it would be if we all surrendered to your ideal blogging paradigm? Of course 50% of all blogs are, well, crap, but that's inevitable, in anything in life. I also personally dislike many of the things you've mentioned, but variety is the spice of life. Lighten up. If you don't like it, don't read it!
The integrity of internet writing is threatened more by those who want to dictate its form more than anything else.
What's worse than bloggers who commit the crimes you've outlined above? 'Coasters' who get a name for themselves and then rest on their laurels. Some of the supposed 'A-list' blogs out there are bloody terrible. Shoot them first, I say!
Blogs are worthless in the grand scheme of things. Whether you're prattling on about your life or your political views, you make the same impact on the world. Point to famous blogs as counterexamples. The 99.999% of blogs that go unread make a convincing case to back me up.
A blog will not get you a job at CNN. It will not get you any meaningful attention. It, like all personal web sites, serves to pad the ego of its creator.
#9. "Do not tell other bloggers what to do."
I think it's fair to say, one should avoid writing about personal trivialities (I stepped in a puddle this morning) but feel free to post personal adventures (here's how I built my shed). For most topics, the only original thing most people can contribute is a personal angle - trying to be objective just makes one a neophyte editorialist. And usually boring.
My audience is myself in 5 years and my daughter in 20. And, anyone who thinks what I write is interesting. The golden rule: Variety is the spice of blog. My personal contribution to the evolution of blogging/websiting: the Guided Archive (tm), which gives a method and reason to read what happened the day before yesterday.
> Blogs are worthless in the grand scheme of things.
> Whether you're prattling on about your life or
> your political...
Dear Jason, Please feel free to remove your head out of your ass.
From, Jennifer
(1) It's a technology that can do certain things
(2) whether you do those things is up to you
(3) the facts are that you can
(a)write and ftp up quick/ ftp up quick and unwrite
(b) hyperlink (but then you can do that in Word)
(c) create effects (but then you can do that in Word)
(4)it's the fact that everyone can do it, to some degree or other, rather than what you do with it that is the cause of so much fascination and rule makers.
(5)content is secondary - in fact it's irrelevant qua the technology (the slogan might be,It's The Technology Stupid!!!!) and mostly useless: but no one has the authority to grade anyone's content, to say in what form it will be presented, or to say what they can or cannot put into a website.
tell me about your dog! personally, I enjoy reading about other people's pets in their blogs, oops, scratch that, journals...
as a few of you have pointed out- there's more than a little bit of irony in my comments above- but also a lot of hardcore belief- if you go through gothamist and bluejake, the worse posts are the ones about me personally- the best ones are always about subjects or ideas. it's an overstatement to say personal posts should be outlawed- it's too tempting to do it occasionally when you have the whole weblog apparatus set up- and there may even be rare instances where it's called for- but if you make a habit of personal posts, i think it destroys any chance of the blog finding a wider audience. and that's the truth- so, if you must, blog about your dog- but blog about other things too.
I thought the whole blog entry was pretty amusing, especially the comments. Spend an evening reading and surfing through LiveJournal (if you can stand it). The reason I left LJ was because people told me they didn't want to read serious posts on thoughtful subjects (and tried to tell me what to write about), they much preferred the Quizilla crap, the surveys, the whining about relationships, the babbling about daily life stuff. I still have my account over there, but I almost never post in it because of the pressure I felt to write about unimportant things.
I prefer writing in my own blog about whatever I want to write about. I miss the interaction of what a community like LiveJournal brings, but I don't miss the mindless babble.
Do bloggers really need instructions from anyone on what they should all write/not write? There are folks of all ages and persuasions writing about things of interest (or not) to folks of all ages and persuasions. I think the blogosphere can handle the diversity.
Wow you guy's are corny, why don't you put a TV show on Lifetime about blogging? Thank God I had that cute teen lesbian from your personals to "gawk" at during the tooth-pulling.
I do not understand why so many oppose advise about blogging and also confuse it with "instructions" or "rules". Is this subject a new taboo? Lawrence Block, the famous writer (living in New York) has written four books with advise about writing fiction. The books are very popular. I think its essential in any creative occupation to listen and learn from others experiences, to discuss what you are doing and how you can develop what you are doing.
Sorry for the typo: It should be "I think it's essential..."
The Gothamist rules of success:
1) Use an image with every post.
2) Put more than one link in every post (over 3 links is good).
3) Post about at least once every hour.
4) Focus on a particular subject, like New York.
5) Refer to yourself in the third person.
6) Link to the NY Times and NY Post once a day.
About the personal/nonpersonal thing, I've seen both methods be successful. However, I think blogging personal items to the public can be very draining and problematic when it comes to your relationships, jobs, etc (Pepys is an exception, but he's dead.). If you're going to do a journal/diary, I think password protection is a good idea.
Jen: I actually did pee blood once and then wrote about it in my blog:
http://www.spies.com/~gus/ran/0006/000627.htm
That probably violates these blog principles on several levels.
You mean you didn't hear??? Livejournal is back in, but this time it's ironic!
PS: Do I have free reign of the use of Web Log... y'know since it's not abbreviated.
Apparently it's better to refer to yourself in the third-person than to say "I". Yeah, that's not pompous or anything.
Who appointed Gothamist blog cop?
There are different blogs, with different aims. My friends and I use blogs primarily as a way to keep in touch with each other, now that we are living in different cities and no longer see each other regularly. Day to day updates with our thoughts, jokes, and details of what is going on in our lives are not likely to be of interest to a random reader, but are invaluable to close friends. It's more personal and less work than letters and not annoying like those mass email updates that some of my other friends send while they are away. If some other random person wants to read my blog - well and good; I don't mind, but it's not aimed at them. At the same time, I'm careful to keep it anonymous so my parents, boss, etc, don't find it.
no one appointed gothamist blog cop- we applied for the job through the blog civil service exam that was administered in downtown newark last spring, and after months of background checks, we finally received our badge last week. as you know, the job comes with a large salary- but the real benefits come from the perks! mostly we just use the badge to impress chicks, but jen beat a speeding ticket with it last week.
And by large salary, Jake means "salary of the imagination."
Interesting article. Although I have to disagree with some of your points. Maybe you need to remind yourself what a blogger/webjournal/weblog is.
I love Destiny's comment. I totally agree with her.
I think the comments here reveal another rule that was not mentioned: in your commentary, be sure to say a few things that your readers will disagree with, so that lots of dissent and argument will ensue.