In my ongoing attempt to clarify "the rules" about what makes a good blog - one that is readable, insightful, and thought provoking - I'm adding a new one:
- The Problem: Posts that only offer links to news articles, or simply re-paste an article with 1-2 sentence "parrot observations." I find these posts are really feeble attempts at creating "value-added content" for a blog's readers.
- The Solution: before you post, ask if your post contains a brief, clear and self-contained idea; if not, keep the post in draft mode until it does.
Authors who break this rule risk alienating blog readers, who may not realize there are better options, and in turn wind up deciding that all blogs are basically a waste of time.
Let's do one another a favor: cut down on the news summaries, and increase the quantity of brief, fully-formed ideas.
Everyone will benefit, even the writers. - Ed
I agree. It reminds me of university where students who didn't want to do the work on their papers just cut and pasted from other sources and gave little description of their own viewpoint. It's just filler material and a total waste of time to read.
Posted by: Sam | August 25, 2005 at 07:10 PM
I believe that selective, editorial-type blogs can serve a useful purpose, in helping us find/filter what's "out there" but that we might not otherwise fine. More here: http://www.erebor.com/wp/?p=96
Posted by: Ryan Waldron | August 29, 2005 at 04:37 PM