[starman]

There's something about blogging that I just don't get. I think it's great that people put their words onto the net. It might seem like verbal vomit, but it gets people to be creative and to write. What I don't get are:

1) How do blogs become successful?
2) Why would you want to go back to a blog you read once?

There isn't one person's blog I read on a regular basis. I started one and thought that I was wasting my time. So, can someone clue me in on the Big Picture of blogging?

[Landos Mustache]

You have to talk about things that other people want to read not just ramble on about your life and how someone cut you off when driving home. Most blogs are:

a) Equivalent to making someone watch slides of a family vacation
b) A great resource for stalkers
c) Delusions of grander

[starman]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

b) A great resource for stalkers

Ain't that the truth.

The internet is wonderful and scary at the same time, isn't it?

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by starman

Ain't that the truth.

The internet is wonderful and scary at the same time, isn't it?

Yep, both me and my sister have had issues with this.

Heck, even some people here are a bit obsessive over other members.

[Mastrap]

Blogs are like any other web page - anybody remember geocities? When they first opened it was the coolest thing ever, mostly because of the community features they built in. VEry cool for the time.

Content is king.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Mastrap

Blogs are like any other web page - anybody remember geocities? When they first opened it was the coolest thing ever, mostly because of the community features they built in. VEry cool for the time.

Content is king.

Ya but look at myspace. It is the ugliest, trendiest, most annoying thing on the net but it is popular as hell.

Hope it goes the way of geocities.

[itai195]

Good blogs are ones that frequently post useful or interesting information. I don't read many personal blogs about people's private lives, but I do read some blogs on politics, economics, video games... you know, the important stuff

[mitchell_pgh]

I use my blog for keeping track of little projects I'm working on and photos. It's really more for me... and I have no illusion that it's all that important. I find it's a nice scrapbook... but I don't post ANYTHING that I wouldn't share with the world.

I also make it a point not to post my real name or the real names of my friends.

[olePigeon]

"Professional" blogs are just the new way of doing editorials for a news paper.

[davesimondotcom]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

c) Delusions of grander

That one made me giggle considering you posted it from your Lando's Mustache account.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

I use my blog for keeping track of little projects I'm working on and photos. It's really more for me... and I have no illusion that it's all that important. I find it's a nice scrapbook... but I don't post ANYTHING that I wouldn't share with the world.

Same here. I use mine to document progress on projects. I'm making some powerbook 1400 picture frames for a guy so rather than email him with pictures and stuff everyday, I just gave him a link to the blog and I update whenever I get something done.

[Ulrich Kinbote]

Originally Posted by starman

What does it take to make a blog people actually care about?

People care about blogs?

[willed]

A friend of mine has leukaemia so started a blog to let people know how he was and how the treatment is going.
The only reason I've got a blog is so that people can keep track of me on my 500 mile sponsored cycle ride that I've mentioned http://ogpilgrimage.blogspot.com

However, these blogs have a purpose. I would never read (or write) an everyday blog. No one is that interesting.

[mitchell_pgh]

I actually like well maintained blogs... It's great when trying to get a feel for an upcoming event to have a first person perspective...

Example: I almost went to an event that was $50 for all you could eat/drink at the zoo. I read a blog from last year that said it was overcrowded, the beer ran out in the first hour and there were LONG lines, and the food was poor. After reading some of the guys other posts... I saw he just wasn't a jerk... so I trusted his judgement.

[Doofy]

http://www.fishtank.org.uk/humour/pi...3?pictureid=31

[Chuckit]

I read blogs that offer ideas or stories that I couldn't get elsewhere. Ray Mescallado's Cult of Pop and American Wota blogs, for example, take a uniquely intellectual perspective to teen girls dancing in hot pants. It's weird. It's interesting.

[Ulrich Kinbote]

People care about blogs?

A friend of mine has leukaemia so started a blog to let people know how he was and how the treatment is going.

Way to make me look like a jerk.

Really sorry about your friend. I make an exception for his blog.

[mdc]

I started a blog a while ago after I left South Africa. It was quicker and easier for me when sitting in internet cafes to post a blog entry than to email everyone.
My family and friends would read it and it continued. Eventually I grew bored of writing for the sake of writing, especially since by then I had my own computer and home internet connection and could meet my family and friends online and instant message them.

My blog started to get neglected and the main thing I started to use my site for was to upload photos I'd taken.

Now with the site redesign it's gone from a blog to more of a photo showcase with the ability for me to post blog entries. I prefer it this way.

[Salty]

I don't know why people read my blog. But I installed a stat tracker script from http://www.statcounter.com/ and, the results freaked the crap out of me! I'll occasionally get one or two comments from friends online or off, but that's about it. So when I went and saw some days I might have as high as sixty unique visitors, it scared the crap out of me! I noticed one message board I have my blog in my signature and a good number of people from there seem to keep checking out my blog.
I actually think a large chunk of the readership some days is actually people from my old church haha. I went to that church on one Sunday and before 3pm I had something like 50 unique visitors, where as I had like 20 the day before hahaha. That actually really creeped me out. The next week I got a lot of hits on Sunday too. Since then I think they've finally lost interest. Apparently when I got kicked out a lot of people were reading my blog. Which I just find so funny. Especially since I hadn't really TOLD people in the Church about it.

Anyway, I tend to post graphics I do, post poetry that I write (haven't written much great stuff lately) and then my thoughts on random theological topics that interest me. Lots on Church reform, the Church's stance on homosexuality. That sorta thing. Largely I just ramble but for some reason people read it.

[willed]

Originally Posted by Salty

I don't know why people read my blog. But I installed a stat tracker script from http://www.statcounter.com/ and, the results freaked the crap out of me! I'll occasionally get one or two comments from friends online or off, but that's about it. So when I went and saw some days I might have as high as sixty unique visitors, it scared the crap out of me! I noticed one message board I have my blog in my signature and a good number of people from there seem to keep checking out my blog.
I actually think a large chunk of the readership some days is actually people from my old church haha. I went to that church on one Sunday and before 3pm I had something like 50 unique visitors, where as I had like 20 the day before hahaha. That actually really creeped me out. The next week I got a lot of hits on Sunday too. Since then I think they've finally lost interest. Apparently when I got kicked out a lot of people were reading my blog. Which I just find so funny. Especially since I hadn't really TOLD people in the Church about it.

Anyway, I tend to post graphics I do, post poetry that I write (haven't written much great stuff lately) and then my thoughts on random theological topics that interest me. Lots on Church reform, the Church's stance on homosexuality. That sorta thing. Largely I just ramble but for some reason people read it.

Dude, get a blog.


Oh, wait...

[Adam Betts]

I don't really read blogs, I'm only interested in blogs with purpose, like:
Omnigroup and The Omni Mouth for product teasers, misc info
Phillryu.com for a more personal version of Macthemes.net on mac customization topic
Surfin' Safari
Luxo - Where else can you get all Pixar-related news in one place?
and of course Daring Fireball - Excellent Mac articles

Those are just few examples. There's plenty more blogs that you're likely to be interested in such as TUAW, Joystiq, etc.

[Millennium]

I can think of four things:

1) Interesting content.
2) Regular (though not necessarily frequent) updates.
3) Decent-quality writing.
4) A nod from Slashdot, BoingBoing, or Digg.

That seems to work pretty much every time.

[Mastrap]

If you're one of the people using a blog to keep clients informed of projects you might want to check out Basecamp.

[chrlane]

-snip-

[hayesk]

Originally Posted by starman

There's something about blogging that I just don't get.

Here's what most bloggers and people wanting a blog don't get:

You don't make a blog because you want to make a blog.

You make a blog because you have something you want to say.

If you can't think of what to put on your blog, then you don't need a blog.

Simple enough?

[starman]

Originally Posted by hayesk

Here's what most bloggers and people wanting a blog don't get:

You don't make a blog because you want to make a blog.

You make a blog because you have something you want to say.

If you can't think of what to put on your blog, then you don't need a blog.

Simple enough?

You're missing the point. Some people are accidental bloggers. I didn't think I'd make it to #12 on iTunes' podcast list, but I did, and I wasn't even trying. The question was geared more towards getting a blog to be popular. There's no iTunes Blog Section.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Mastrap

If you're one of the people using a blog to keep clients informed of projects you might want to check out Basecamp.

That link didn't work for me...