blogging

Easy. They call your posts, “blogs.” I got an email the other day from a really nice, uninitiated guy that said, “I really like your blogs,” referring to my posts on a single blog. I’ve heard this several times before and can’t think of a time where the person using the inaccurate phrase wasn’t new to blogging. Generally speaking a log, or web log, is a single entity with several entries, though I suppose each entry could technically be called a “log” or “blog.” But for the sake of convention, they’re called blog posts, not “blogs.” Not trying to call out those new to the superior form of information exchange because I think it’s fine, it’s just a funny use case for the word “posts.” (Tries to think of newbie phrases that I use on occasion…)

Smooth Harold is about to break its 600 post in just under two years since its inception. Small fry compared to most. But that’s not the point of this post. My point is that out of that group of 600 articles (some short, some long, some funny, some serious, some just links), could some posts effectively be repurposed and republished to the homepage (in their original form) to the value of current readers without alienating long-time readers? I think so (if and only if the original content is that endearing).

Here’s how it could work. Bloggers would scour their favorite, most commented, most viewed posts from their archives and resyndicate them to their own homepage just like several TV shows resyndicate their content in its original form. I believe TV shows are the only medium that does this, but if in moderation, I think it could work for non-ephemeral blog posts. That may be a bit presumptuous of me to think my content is that prolific, long-lasting, or worthy of republishing, but I think I have a good 10 or 15 pieces lying around that I could repurpose to good reception. What say ye, oh wise readers? Can resyndicated blog content work?

In addition to blogging for myself, on various side projects, and for Weblogs Inc, I’m going to start blogging for Om Malik this week on his GigaOm Network, specifically GigaGamez which covers the business of video games principally stocks, trends, etc. I’m excited to start working alongside Om and his team in San Francisco, and if you haven’t already noticed, I really like blogging. It’s like my second favorite (now perhaps favorite) thing to do online. It also lends itself well to the other various web projects I’m engaged in on a given day as a consultant.

And for any interested, you can check out my latest article at Next-Generation examing user-generated game content. It might be a bit boring for some, but I really feel this is going to be a big, big space. Everyone and their dog is trying to be the next YouTube, no matter where the conversion is taking place.

PC World has compiled a list of whom they believe to be the 50 most important individuals on the internet. The Google boys take the top spot with all that power they yield, Steve Jobs takes the number 2 spot with all that influence he yields (however warranted), and BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen rounds out the top three. A slew of A-list bloggers also made the list. Check it.

Utah Business, which is generally a pretty poopsky magazine with very trite articles, has a nice little read on the key benefits of blogging. They dub keeping tabs on what’s going on in your space by reading blogs as the first benefit of blogs and the marketing power via publishing a blog. Here’s a nice blogging for dummies description from the article: “A corporate blog can enhance a company’s brand, build thought leadership, deepen customer relationships by promoting conversations and put forth a human face to a large organization. A blog also provides fresh web content, which gives you more online visibility, attracts search engines and drives more traffic.”

My only beef; if you decide to publish a company blog, don’t call it a “corporate blog.” Just call it a blog. Personable. Authentic. Sans spin. No direct selling. Blogging: taking the corporate out of companies since 1999. I should trademark that.

Over the last two years, blogging (and social sites in general) have been big sellers for Griffio. The short answer is because they work in boosting exposure, influence, and opportunities. But sadly, the blog drop-out rate is ridiculous. I’ve heard as little as 1% of all newly created blogs continue publishing after only a short while. To counter that futile fate, here are (5) guidelines for building a successful blog should you decide to start one: (more…)

A blog can be an excellent tool for building “You Inc.” For those out of the loop, a blog is nothing more than an easily updateable Web site intended to inform or influence. Here are eight things to avoid while blogging to help attract site visitors, garner trust, heighten exposure and increase revenues. (more…)

In an article entitled “Do Newspapers Have a Future,” author Michael Kinsley at TIME magazine had this to say: “Meanwhile, there is the blog terror: people are getting their understanding of the world from random lunatics riffing in their underwear, rather than professional journalists with standards and passports.”

He’s got a point. However, he also exposes the overall threatened view of traditional media towards bloggers, and rightfully so. (more…)

I don’t like moderating comment criticism on blogs. Granted, moderation is good for some large organizations or companies that need to be especially careful with what’s posted on their site, but for independent publishers, I like the added democracy of an open comment system. And for the most part, blog readers have come to appreciate that comments do not express the views of the posting site or its author.

Moderation, either before-the-fact or after-the-fact gives the independent publisher the power to masque criticism, ideas, thoughts, new views, differing opinions, open-mindedness, vulgarity, and hate speech. I’m not sure I want that power, though I do use it in the case of the last two. I have let a little hate speech slide but don’t really like to. I prefer after-the-fact moderation (once a comment is already posted) because it’s easier for me to let comments “stick” if they aren’t too racy. The extreme one’s (through rare on Smooth Harold) get thrown out once I spot them in my email inbox.

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Okay, this might be somewhat of a dated topic, but should biased, opinionated web loggers enjoy the same protection as so called “non-biased, but they really are biased” journalists? Apple Computer seems to think not in wake of their recent litigation against bloggers who got the computer company ruffled when they took the steam out of their new ipods and imacs.

Let me know your thoughts on this one… Do bloggers deserved to be treated as new amateur journalists of the new era? As for me, it is yet to be determined. (Sara, this goes for you too!)

“PFG - pretty freakin good”