Comments on: Are blogs an exercise in vanity? http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226 Weblog about the Citizendium project and its Citizens. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:38:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Ben Yates http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226#comment-40072 Ben Yates Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:19:49 +0000 http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/10/04/are-blogs-an-exercise-in-vanity/#comment-40072 One problem is that it's really tempting to write with reddit and digg in mind -- <a href="http://reddit.com/info/2v8ez/comments" rel="nofollow">this post</a> got me 2.5 thousand visitors in a single day (and it barely broke the surface tension of reddit) -- getting linked to in the los angeles times got me maybe a quarter of that (though half of them subscribed). Er -- the problem being that the whole premise of the made-for-reddit post was a bit of a stretch, and possibly damaged my credibility in the long run (certainly it would if I did it very often). I reflexively jumped at the "multinational corporation versus open source people power" angle because I knew it would draw traffic -- but that's not the way to build readership. You have to be ultra-disciplined, basically. Newspaper journalists already know this kind of thing; bloggers are (hopefully) learning. One problem is that it’s really tempting to write with reddit and digg in mind — this post got me 2.5 thousand visitors in a single day (and it barely broke the surface tension of reddit) — getting linked to in the los angeles times got me maybe a quarter of that (though half of them subscribed).

Er — the problem being that the whole premise of the made-for-reddit post was a bit of a stretch, and possibly damaged my credibility in the long run (certainly it would if I did it very often). I reflexively jumped at the “multinational corporation versus open source people power” angle because I knew it would draw traffic — but that’s not the way to build readership. You have to be ultra-disciplined, basically. Newspaper journalists already know this kind of thing; bloggers are (hopefully) learning.

]]> By: Larry Sanger http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226#comment-39286 Larry Sanger Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:05:11 +0000 http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/10/04/are-blogs-an-exercise-in-vanity/#comment-39286 Did you notice that, Gerard... ;-) Did you notice that, Gerard… ;-)

]]> By: GerardM http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226#comment-39284 GerardM Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:42:32 +0000 http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/10/04/are-blogs-an-exercise-in-vanity/#comment-39284 There were a flurry of Citizendium blogs today.. this is the only one with a "Digg this" ... given the vanity subject it is a bit ironic :) Thanks, GerardM There were a flurry of Citizendium blogs today.. this is the only one with a “Digg this” … given the vanity subject it is a bit ironic :)
Thanks,
GerardM

]]> By: Disaffected Wikipedian http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226#comment-39272 Disaffected Wikipedian Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:40:31 +0000 http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/10/04/are-blogs-an-exercise-in-vanity/#comment-39272 Vanity blogs are just one flavor of blog. A large proportion of blogs are filled with sensible posts about a wide range of hobbies and interests. There are also a significant number of blogs which tackle important social issues that the mass media tend to gloss over -- arguably a valuable public service. I think there's a risk that intellectual snobbery about the outlets for personal expression on the 'net might alienate potential CZ authors. By the way, since the upgrade to the latest MediaWiki version, rel=”nofollow” is once again being added to external links. Vanity blogs are just one flavor of blog. A large proportion of blogs are filled with sensible posts about a wide range of hobbies and interests. There are also a significant number of blogs which tackle important social issues that the mass media tend to gloss over — arguably a valuable public service. I think there’s a risk that intellectual snobbery about the outlets for personal expression on the ‘net might alienate potential CZ authors.

By the way, since the upgrade to the latest MediaWiki version, rel=”nofollow” is once again being added to external links.

]]> By: Jeff Staddon http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=226#comment-39265 Jeff Staddon Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:35:04 +0000 http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/10/04/are-blogs-an-exercise-in-vanity/#comment-39265 There is definitely hubris in blogging. However, I wouldn't say that vanity has entirely obscured intelligent postings. Nor would I say discussion boards are better. From what I've seen they can be even less nuetral and just as prone to vanity and pointless chatter as blogs! The truth is the entertainment industry has always been about the extreme. What article would you choose. "The Rabid Dog Attacks" or "Brown is an Important Color in Dogs"? The article on dog color may be well researched and thought provoking, but it simply won't draw attention. On either the mainstream media, or bloggers, or discussion lists. The discussion topic of "Microsoft Stinks" will have 50,000 comments while the one on "Developing better coding techniques" will have 50. The one advantage however is it's easier to filter--i.e. if there are lots of comments it's an extreme so you can safely skip over that thread without missing anything. However, I guess my point is that both discussion lists and blogs suffer from the same human nature that aflicts blogging. Interesting thoughts though. Best wishes There is definitely hubris in blogging. However, I wouldn’t say that vanity has entirely obscured intelligent postings. Nor would I say discussion boards are better. From what I’ve seen they can be even less nuetral and just as prone to vanity and pointless chatter as blogs!

The truth is the entertainment industry has always been about the extreme. What article would you choose. “The Rabid Dog Attacks” or “Brown is an Important Color in Dogs”? The article on dog color may be well researched and thought provoking, but it simply won’t draw attention. On either the mainstream media, or bloggers, or discussion lists.

The discussion topic of “Microsoft Stinks” will have 50,000 comments while the one on “Developing better coding techniques” will have 50. The one advantage however is it’s easier to filter–i.e. if there are lots of comments it’s an extreme so you can safely skip over that thread without missing anything.

However, I guess my point is that both discussion lists and blogs suffer from the same human nature that aflicts blogging.

Interesting thoughts though. Best wishes

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