[rogermugs]

I dont care that we all think its something reserved for 16 year old girls... blogging really is sweet.

[Chuckit]

I think you've confused blogging with Myspace.

[Gator Lager]

nope, but clogging is cool. especially with wooden shoes.
pisses off the down stairs neighbors.

[BasketofPuppies]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think you've confused blogging with Myspace.

LiveJournal Xanga

No, he means blogging.

But blogging is so 2004. Twitter is where it's at now. Who has the time to write a full paragraph about what they ate for lunch today.

[rogermugs]

Originally Posted by BasketofPuppies 

But blogging is so 2004. Twitter is where it's at now. Who has the time to write a full paragraph about what they ate for lunch today.

thats why you do BOTH... but twitter is where you put all your useless stuff that noone actually cares to read... your blog is where you put your real musings

[osiris]

I have to go with Chuckit on this, myspace is for the dazed youth masses.

Flogging is something I can get into.

[Dakar the Fourth]

You are so olde school.

[osiris]

Yea. Ye olde Schoole.

[Dakar the Fourth]

There is no in schoole, foole.

[osiris]

Peter O'Toole.

[Dakar the Fourth]

[BasketofPuppies]

Originally Posted by rogermugs 

That's why you do BOTH... but Twitter is where you put your short useless stuff that no one actually cares to read... your blog is where you put your long useless musings that no one actually cares to read.

Fixed.

[Oisín]

Glogging is coole?

[Railroader]

Blogging is like reading the National Enquirer. Entertaining for sure, but you feel icky after reading most of it.

[starman]

Originally Posted by BasketofPuppies 

LiveJournal Xanga

No, he means blogging.

But blogging is so 2004. Twitter is where it's at now. Who has the time to write a full paragraph about what they ate for lunch today.

Back in the day I used to think that's what blogging was for also. There are good blogs and bad ones. There are also some really stupid ones where people go off on a rant about crap without doing any real research.

Twitter's just random thoughts. People say that if it takes more than 140 characters to get out what you want to say, it's a blog post.

However, Twitter has become the place for people to start controversies lately.

[Jawbone54]

Twitter is definitely picking up steam, but there's no way I'm letting myself get sucked into a 24/7 chat room, which is what it becomes when you follow too many people.

[MacosNerd]

Maybe its my age, or my apathy but I really don't care about either. If I have anything to say, in depth or shallow, I usually say it face to face, or even in an email,

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Maybe its my age, or my apathy but I really don't care about either. If I have anything to say, in depth or shallow, I usually say it face to face, or even in an email,

Is every thought that comes into your head directed exclusively at one specific person?

[starman]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Is every thought that comes into your head directed exclusively at one specific person?

I thought of the same response but you can email multiple people.

What's great about Twitter is that as long as people are using it, you can get a sort of "stream of consciousness" from people on the 'net. That's how I like to describe it. You find a lot of interesting people too.

[BasketofPuppies]

Admittedly, I have not spent much time on Twitter, but I have never been able to understand what anyone is writing about due to a lack of context.

At least a personal blog allows enough space to give that context. I don't care what you had for lunch, but you were able to explain why you wrote about it.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by starman 

I thought of the same response but you can email multiple people.

I think the question still stands. I feel pretty sure that a lot of people have thoughts without a particular recipient or even a finite set of recipients in mind. This is where the entire publishing industry comes from. You could just as well argue that magazines should be converted to personal email.

I mean, I can get that some people don't have the time or inclination to write anything of general interest. That's fine. I'm just trying to highlight the difference between writing for a general audience and writing for specific people.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Is every thought that comes into your head directed exclusively at one specific person?

No but by the same token, if I want to tell a friend how my fishing trip went, I'd tell them. What are the odds that I'll put down what I did on my vacation in a blog and tell my friends if they want to know what I did read it because I'm not going to tell them - slim and none. Likewise I think many people who blog also talk to their friends and family but also blog the same thing, making it superfluous

[MacosNerd]

Let me clear on misunderstanding up. I usually talk to people face to face or on the phone. On occasion, I'll email some friends who are not local and who I don't always call. Its not like I'm trying tell people what I did by email.

[dingster1]

I started one, and don't keep up with it like I should. So much for catharsis

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by dingster1 

I started one, and don't keep up with it like I should. So much for catharsis

To be honest, that seems to be the rule rather then the exception. People start them for a variety of reasons and then a few months down the road they're toast.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

To be honest, that seems to be the rule rather then the exception. People start them for a variety of reasons and then a few months down the road they're toast.

Again, likely because they end up with the realization that no one actually cares to read their drivel.

Personal blogs are for narcissists who think everything they say/think has some importance to someone. I mean honestly, does anyone really care what you had for lunch today or if someone cut you off on your way to work?

Want to put your thoughts/musings down for posterity? Start a diary. A private diary.

[rogermugs]

I think its a fantastic time to be writing. You no longer have to be published to be published. This is a bad thing in that there are lots and lots of terrible blogs out there, but it also makes it so anyone who is serious about writing can have an audience.

I really appreciate that I can write to develop my writing and at the same time have feedback frequently about what people like and dont like...

the problem with a private diary is that for me the fun of writing is it being read. in poetry - sieveandsand.wordpress.com
or in the other things i write

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

Want to put your thoughts/musings down for posterity? Start a diary. A private diary.

Why? So your surviving family can look at it after you've passed on and say, "Oh my god...so THAT's what he/she really thought of me!"

[rogermugs]

well played jawbone

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Why? So your surviving family can look at it after you've passed on and say, "Oh my god...so THAT's what he/she really thought of me!"

Originally Posted by rogermugs 

well played jawbone

While you may disagree with mrjinglesusa recommendation to use a diary, he is right. Many of things that most (not all) people write in a blog is what you would find in a journal and to be honest, most people could care less about.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

While you may disagree with mrjinglesusa recommendation to use a diary, he is right. Many of things that most (not all) people write in a blog is what you would find in a journal and to be honest, most people could care less about.

I don’t see the difference, really.

If no one cares about what you write on your blog, no one will read it. How is it any different from an old-fashioned diary, then?

The only difference is the possibility of a blog to be read by others, and possibly be of use to others somehow. A diary doesn’t even have that. I’ve never seen the point of diaries, to be honest. Writing down mostly meaningless things, and then additionally not even letting other people possibly benefit from them? If things are so private that others can’t read them, don’t write them down in the first place. Otherwise, at least write them somewhere where others might make some use of them.

[starman]

I find it funny that people try to distinguish a blog and an "online journal". Blog is short for "web log" which is pretty much the same as "online journal".

[Mrjinglesusa]

Hey, to each his/her own. If it makes you feel good to write your thoughts/rantings/opinions online have at it. I personally have no interest in doing such or in reading what other people write in blogs. IMO, most people don't care too much about reading others personal blogs either.

[starman]

Good point, but then what makes one blog better than another? What makes one person well known and another a ranting lunatic?

[rogermugs]

Originally Posted by starman 

I find it funny that people try to distinguish a blog and an "online journal". Blog is short for "web log" which is pretty much the same as "online journal".

i find it funny when people comment on a thread they clearly have not read

[rogermugs]

Originally Posted by starman 

What makes one person well known and another a ranting lunatic?

the amount of rubble in their wake.

[Chuckit]

I notice people here keep specifying "personal blogs." What other kind of blog are you thinking of? I think most people are more interested in blogs kept by one person regarding his interests than in, say, corporate blogs. There are several personal blogs, such as Daring Fireball, that have enough readers to support the author as a full-time writing gig.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

There are several personal blogs, such as Daring Fireball, that have enough readers to support the author as a full-time writing gig.

So all one has to do is link to something someone else wrote, posted, etc. and comment on it to get a following? People need to think/read for themselves more. Appears to me that all that guy does is read something somewhere, link to it, and then make a comment about it. Cool.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

So all one has to do is link to something someone else wrote, posted, etc. and comment on it to get a following? People need to think/read for themselves more. Appears to me that all that guy does is read something somewhere, link to it, and then make a comment about it. Cool.

Not exactly. The feature you're talking about, the Linked List, is one part of Daring Fireball. It's popular in itself because Gruber links to good articles that are relevant to his readers' interests. Describing it as reading something and linking to it with a comment is like describing movie production as pointing a camera at somebody and pressing record — it's technically accurate, but it misses the aspects that actually make it worthwhile. The idea of the Linked List is to take a huge swath of the Web, sift through it, and recommend some interesting bits to Daring Fireball readers. There's no possible way anybody could read everything on the friggin' Web, and few people even have time to read as much as he does, so if you're of a similar mind to Gruber, these recommendations are useful.

Gruber also writes several original articles a week (not links with comments, but full articles), which are also good in their own right. For instance, he's done a few on how Apple makes money from Safari, which is a topic that isn't covered very much elsewhere.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Not exactly. The feature you're talking about, the Linked List, is one part of Daring Fireball. It's popular in itself because Gruber links to good articles that are relevant to his readers' interests. Describing it as reading something and linking to it with a comment is like describing movie production as pointing a camera at somebody and pressing record — it's technically accurate, but it misses the aspects that actually make it worthwhile. The idea of the Linked List is to take a huge swath of the Web, sift through it, and recommend some interesting bits to Daring Fireball readers. There's no possible way anybody could read everything on the friggin' Web, and few people even have time to read as much as he does, so if you're of a similar mind to Gruber, these recommendations are useful.

Gruber also writes several original articles a week (not links with comments, but full articles), which are also good in their own right. For instance, he's done a few on how Apple makes money from Safari, which is a topic that isn't covered very much elsewhere.

Ahh, I see. Your link only went to this Linked List and I didn't peruse the rest of the blog to see what other content there was.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

So all one has to do is link to something someone else wrote, posted, etc. and comment on it to get a following? People need to think/read for themselves more. Appears to me that all that guy does is read something somewhere, link to it, and then make a comment about it. Cool.

Isn’t that what nearly all newspapers do?

[rogermugs]

its actually shocking how much more traffic blogs will get if they link to outside stuff rather than write original content. Few people care about your rantings, but they might care if your wise about linking to other people who rant in prettier language than yourself.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Isn’t that what nearly all newspapers do?

Some, not all.