Laurabelle’s Blog

Jeremy Zawodny wrote an entry about The 10 Habits of Highly Annoying Bloggers (via Burningbird). I agree with his list, and I don't think I'm guilty of those sins, even the most-insidious lack-of-original-content traps. I don't have an About me page (#5 on Jeremy's list) on this site, though I do have one on my old MHC site and also a fairly-hidden one on my UW portfolio site. I guess I don't really see the point of having an individual page to contain that information, because my sites are all about me, but I do understand Jeremy's desire to get some idea of a blog's author, and I will look at that sort of page if I see a link to it. So I will create have created one, although it will contains more links than original content. (Said about me page.)

As for the original content that I create, it's generally about personal stuff related to my life. There's some and this is what I ate and did and said today, because I see my blog as a good way to keep in touch with friends and family in other parts of the country and the world, but I also use it as a medium where I can write and clarify the thoughts I have about my life as well as weightier matters. Kevin started a blog towards the end of January and has been using it to publish his opinions on politics and other stuff. I'm working up to that kind of social engagement.

Burningbird talks about memes, and although I'm not sure exactly what a meme is, I understand her point about following the crowd. It's boring. What's the point of reading a blog that only links to things that everyone else is linking to, and that doesn't provide any sort of unique commentary? Her entry sounds like she's really down on the Link-and-Comment style of blogging, but another comment of hers, attached to the same entry, makes it clear that the content is more important than the style. If you can do link-and-comment really well, that's great. I would even say that the person is more important than the content, at least if it's a personal blog. I'm trying to widen my audience a little bit and to attract regular readers, beyond those who know me personally, but I know that this blog will never be much more than a personal site. In fact, I write it more for me than for anyone else, and the thoughtful articles I write are more for the exercise of expressing myself than because I think many people will read them. I hope that it's all interesting and enjoyable, but my blog is what it is. As I've said before, there are no absolute rules about format, style, or content. It all depends on the blog and the blogger.