I also wish there wasn’t so much competition coming from big money blogs, especially the ones that are backed by major corporations. If there’s one thing I wish corporate America had stayed away from, it’s blogs. I’m tired of seeing the same listings on the Technorati Top 20. Oh and that reminds me…

I’m tired of Technorati because they have not updated my authority or ranking for over three weeks, despite the fact that I know I’m being linked to by pinging blogs. Their functionality is NOT stable.

How people’s minds have shifted away from personal expression and human connection to hierarchical positioning and getting as many pageloads as possible.

Yes, I make money off blogging. But even with the money – which has its charms, no doubt – I kind of miss the good ole days.

I love blogging…………………………

For me, that means “state your opinion, and here’s what I think.

I love to blog,
I love to share what I’ve learned in life.
I love when my readers leave encouraging, inspiring, and meaningful comments on my blog.
I love learning something new everyday.
I love to read other blogs and blog comments, and see what someone else has to say.
I love the fact there are 110 million+ blogs out there, and people are learning to express their opinions, and share their knowledge with the rest of the world.
I love that we have an opportunity to make money with a blog, and can choose to fill our pages with ads, or not.
I love that there are so many talented people in cyberspace who freely and willingly share free themes, plugins, widgets,and gadgets with fellow bloggers.
I love that Darren asked this question, so I can have my say. Thank you!

Our VP of Marketing has been thinking of starting a blog, so she’s been reading Blog Rules by Nancy Flynn.

Now she’s thinking of *not* starting a blog, due to the legal issues. On page 48, Flynn says that the blog owner is responsible as a “publisher” for the content of the replies — if those replies are edited (i.e. if we delete spam posts, defamation, copyright violations, etc.).

We’re having a big committee meeting this week about whether we should blog or not. She yanked me out of my old position in the company to do this — the waffling is driving me insane.

Blogging feels like trying to fill a bottomless pit. No content is good enough. Everything is forgotten a day later. The short attention span of the blogosphere is almost as frustrating as my inability to captivate their minds.

I get incredibly depressed when I encounter someone who’s done something more meaningful with their life or is more successful in my chosen field, especially when they’re younger then me.

Having an audience who cares about me and enjoys my content is one of the biggest highs I’ve experienced, but it feels so insignificant when I come across the website of a successful international photographer… who’s barely seventeen.

That’s what’s on my chest.

I’m REALLY sick of seeing the headline (number)+(plural noun)+(stuff)

12 Reasons Your Mother Doesn’t Love You
15 Ways To Stop Writing Digg Bait

I just want to write and throw it out there. I’ve got too much to do to be worried about a lot of this other stuff — like making a few cents off ads — who do I link to — who links to me — how much traffic, etc. If I’ve helped one person, then it was all worth it.

1. Being told that one blogging platform is better than another. The best one is the one you like to use and not one that someone tells you is the best.

2. Being told that I need a dedicated hosting service instead of using a free service to be a “real blogger.” Personally, I think those that push the dedicated hosting must have ties to those services and are making money doing so.

3. Digg – There is more to life than Technology, News and Gaming. Also, way too much emphasis on getitng your posts “dugged.”

4. Alexa, Page Ranks, etc. Way too much emphasis on stats instead of keeping with your blogs goals

Other than those four things, blogging is fun and enjoyable.

I write a theatre blog because I love theatre. Sometimes I think the voice in which I write comes across as a little “Pollyanna,” like, “isn’t everything just peachy…”

There are a lot of bloggers out there who see themselves more as critics of the world at large. I sometimes am imagining the vultures descending on me before I’ve even clicked “publish.”

Honestly, Darren, you have been an inspiration as someone who has maintained his own, very positive voice throughout three years of blogging about blogging. I appreciate that.

(See, I can’t even complain in a post that encourages complaining…)

– blogs that require me to register for their site before I can comment ( I leave without commenting)

– commenters that can’t respect the request to make it brief (150 words max)

– comment spam

(I REALLY hate comment spam!)

(all this in less than 50 words – more than enough)

1. Spammers. Comment spam, spam blogs that copy my content, email spam…

2. Bloggers who have a casual attitude toward spammers. Get some anti-spam software! And don’t assume spam isn’t a problem just because they haven’t found you yet.

3. People with an attitude about commercialism. I have advertising, and I deserve to make a few cents for what I write. Get over it.

4. Bloggers who don’t understand the concept–people who write deeply personal things on their blog and then get bothered when their boss/wife/etc discovers it, people who enable comments and then complain when they get comments from strangers, and so on.

5. Endless discussions of “the rules” or “what is a blog?” or “blogging etiquette”. Everything’s a blog, and nobody cares about the rules. Let’s forget about the novelty of blogging, each set rules we can live with ourselves, and focus on the content.

6. CAPTCHA images for comments. Don’t make me type “2kcx098v98fQ” to comment. It’s annoying to your readers and it’s easily defeated by spammers.

There’s more on my chest but I should keep it short…

I wish commenters would actually READ what they are commenting on and stay on comment. Many times I’ve had commenters accuse me of saying things that I never said. When asked to provide me with an example it becomes apparent quite quickly that they misunderstood or misread but by then bad feelings abound on both sides. I really dislike it when the topic has degrades into talking about who-said-what-and-when.

This medium has a limitations. You can’t read “tone.” Assume the best!

Dang it. I wish it didn’t take me so long to learn everything I know about blogging!

If I had known these things a few years ago when I started I would be a mack daddy blogger by now! It seems like the obvious is the best when blogging. Instead I took too much advice and tried too many failed experiments.

In August I started my first good blog. The rest before sucked. Why? Because they felt like so much work.

I actually enjoy my blog now and would continue posting 1 to 3+ times on a daily basis even if I made $100 per month.

I didn’t realize the great thing about blogging until recently. Bloggers have a way to voice anything they want. Your one opinion can impact millions of people. When you’re not a blogger, you’re just another person with a small opinion or worthless advice.

Even writing SEO-focused posts don’t feel like work to me today. It’s because I actually enjoy the content.

Another thing, I enjoy being an entertainer, being a social blogger, getting to know other people and what they think, and more. Blogging has become one of the most fun things I do with my time.

It’s an honor to have a blog and say whatever I want to say.

I just wish I had thought like this from the start, instead of thinking $ $ $.

I’ve had dieting blogs, even credit card blogs. Man, I don’t get a rat’s behind about that stuff. But I wanted to make money online so bad that I started a blog on them anyway.

I’ve had a make money blog, a sports blog, a blog about blogging, a writing blog, a product review blog, a humor blog…

All a waste of time.

Now I only blog at one blog that I love, my guitar blog. I’ve met other guitarists in the blogosphere and we chat about everything going on, what we think, we share our recordings… It’s just awesome.

I’d like to make a lot of money with my blog now only so that I can spend more time blogging.

It’s a straight up blessing.

My whole way I view blogging has changed. If it were only this way the day I started (and only if I already understood HTML, some PHP, monetizing, SEO, social media, etc)…

I guess the last few years was like going to blogging college.

I’m glad I’m on the right track now, but all of the failed attempts were annoying and unsatisfying.

- “blogging” has come to mean political or pro or tech business blogging — completely ignoring the majority of blogs out there

- suddenly we have lots of ‘rules’ — which may or may not make sense for problogs, but are assumed (wrongly, I believe) to be applicable to all blogs

- personal blogs — which often have the best, most edgy, most risk-taking writing — are ‘dismissed’ as meaningless and unimportant

- the blog world is drowning in ads and make- money- blogging schemes, propagated by folks who don’t ask themselves: what am I good at? or: what can I offer? but only: can I make money at this?

- thus, it becomes more difficult to find those blogs that truly have something of value to offer.

Am I making a mistake by not having an About page? Is that an immediate turn off for people? Seems a lot of people are ranting / complaining about poorly written or lack of About pages.

If don’t have time to post, I feel bad. I feel as though I’m neglecting something and letting someone or something down.

I’m annoyed at the lack of related blog content on health professionals like me who blog about their workplaces and professions.

People need to comment more. Nothing worse than having plenty of hits on a post and nothing much more to say about it because people don’t comment.

It annoys me how computer unsavvy people are, particularly the people I work with. So many people out there don’t know or understand blogging.

I despise how blogging gives me an excuse to feed my chronic insomnia!