Written on February 17th, 2010 at 12:02 am by Darren Rowse
What’s Wrong with Blogging? [Take 3]
Back in 2005 I asked my readers a question that surprised some for a blog like ProBlogger – I asked readers to talk about what was wrong with blogging.
I introduced the question by sharing a story of a debate between a Christian group and Pagan group where each group was asked to not argue FOR their own belief system but to share what they disliked about their own Faith perspective. The result of that debate was fascinating.
Instead of it ending in an angry fight where everyone just had their beliefs reinforced the debate was actually quite constructive with both groups coming away having learnt something about the other and more importantly themselves.
Similarly the responses to my question about blogging were insightful also (in fact I’ve asked this question twice previously – in 2005 and in 2006 and both times were fascinating).
There were a couple of things that came out of those discussions:
- it was a place for some bloggers to get some stuff off their chest about their frustrations with the medium.
- the answers actually gave a number of blog tool developers some great ideas. I know that at least two WordPress plugins were developed to solve issues that came up in the conversation.
It’s been 4 years since I asked the question last – so in the hope of a productive conversation I thought it worth asking again.
What’s Wrong with Blogging?
What are the limitations of blogging as a medium? What are its weaknesses? Where does the blogosphere and/or blogging tools need to improve? What are you main challenges as a blogger that you don’t think you’d have in other mediums?
Hopefully in answering this question and deconstructing the medium of blogging a little we can play a part in the improvement of blogging as a whole. By identifying what’s wrong perhaps we can improve it.
Like last time the rules are simple – say anything you like about blogging as long as it’s not positive (note: I’m not inviting you to critique individual bloggers – but the medium itself). You can do this in comments below or by writing a post on your own blog (just leave a link below so we can find it). There are no wrongs and rights and everyone’s critique of the medium are valid and welcome.
So – what’s wrong with blogging?
Over to you!
147 Responses to “What’s Wrong with Blogging? [Take 3]” - Add Yours
Jan Oda
February 17th, 2010 1:13 am
My biggest frustration with blogging is a personal one I fear. I’m a non native English speaker, which can be hard.
I write in a niche which is 99% aimed at English speakers, so I need to write in English, however, this means I need all my blogposts to be edited, because I still make a lot of mistakes, and typo’s and grammar mistakes tend to look very unprofessional. It’ll never work perfectly, but I’d really wish the available online translators would increase in quality, as it stands, translation engines are horrid.
English being the main blogging language creates a fake sense of global culture which isn’t real. Many of my RL friends don’t follow my blog because it is in English, many of the internet evolutions, like twitter for example, have little impact on my personal network, and trying to explain what it’s all about can be a real hassle.
But I also often get the feeling, that a lot of bloggers forget that English isn’t everyone’s first language, and that what happens in the USA doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening everywhere.
How I wish that Esperanto would have worked, so we could really connect without language barriers and the like.
gwen
February 17th, 2010 1:14 am
I guess there’s nothing wrong with blogging. If there will be wrong with it, I think it’s the person making that blog and the commentator’s criticism. Or is there really wrong with it? Hmmm I believe in freedom of expression. Great post ;)
Gwen
http://bizfunding101.com/freewebinar
Toya
February 17th, 2010 1:15 am
I would honestly have to say what’s wrong with blogging is almost the same thing that’s wrong with self publishing a book. You don’t have a big name behind you so that means going to the streets to promote yourself. That is probably one of the biggest issues I have. With blogging it is generally a one man show. You do it all as it should be.
But, it would be nice if there were a more effective way to get yourself seen without exhausting the social network sites and trying to stand out in a sea of talent. Although, I know that is a given with this vocation.
Also something else that I think is wrong with blogging is the lack of censorship when you want it. I am a person who does not choose to use profanity but it is almost impossible for me to link up with like minded people.
There are no real categories of blogging. Now to some that may sound a little anti free speech but it isn’t. It’s pro choice. I want to be able to choose what I expose myself to but since blogging is such a wide open forum I’m not sure that will ever be possible.
One last thing, part of the argument that “journalists” have against blogging is that anyone can do it therefore it isn’t a legitimate form of writing. I think this argument limits the amount of respect bloggers get in some circles where respect leads to money. I wish blogging would once and for all be recognized for it’s worth and indispensable value to journalism.
Steven | The Emotion Machine
February 17th, 2010 1:16 am
One problem with blogging is that it is so common. There are too many average Janes and Joes and not enough risk-taking and creativity. People are following a cookie-cutter formula and expecting to get results and then become shocked when they realize they have done nothing to grab any genuine attention from viewers.
Debojyoti
February 17th, 2010 1:18 am
I don’t see anything wrong in the medium itself. Wrong use will make it wrong. The medium is not to be blamed for that.
WD Favour
February 17th, 2010 1:19 am
I’ve thought hard and long about this question. Really, it’s hard for me to come up with anything wrong with it. Its full of challenges, the challenges of writing fresh content several times a week, marketing your content, networking, relating, conversing, and so on. It’s hard for me to see what’s wrong with blogging.. of course, as an addicted blogger, I guess I’m the wrong person to ask… lol. I’ll share my thoughts, though as soon as I find a negative.
deb@birdonawire
February 17th, 2010 1:26 am
Blogging as in journaling, writing has no problems, but..what has happened in the blogging world is that its turned from journaling and expressing mere opinion and thought to a form of advertising. In most niches, (genre) you’ll find that many if not all of the bloggers involved are using the medium as advertising, heavily monetizing word and being. Mommy bloggers have gone over the top, begging now for sponsorship to certain blogging conferences. This formerly unheard of tactic seems commonplace in their world. Other niches seem taken over by plr. While certain “bloggers” tout themselves as experts in their fields, their words are purchased, spun and reguritated. Google a keyword and see how many closely resembling articles you find..Its a bit dismaying. I’m for declaring a month of originality, sans advertising, monetization and begging. Getting back to the roots, then we can look at the process, the art of blogging with fresh eyes.
Kosmo @ The Casual Observer
February 17th, 2010 1:28 am
I’d like to see more people jumping in. I hear a lot of people saying “I should start a blog”, but then they don’t. These are folks who often have good stories to tell. Take the plunge. If nothing else, it gives you a chance to sharpen your writing skills.
I also (ocassionally) see a reluctance to link to other blogs in the same niche, out of fear that the other blog will “steal” those readers. Since my own site is non-niche, I link to basically any blog that I enjoy reading. My logic is that readers don’t stop reading Blog A because they like Blog B better – they stop reading Blog A because it is no longer interesting to them.
And it would be nice if there was a leprechaun who wandered the internet and dumped buckets of cash on people when they delivered a particularly insightful article. I’m not particular, though – it could be a gnome instead of a leprechaun if there is a shortage of leprechauns.
Anette Ejsing
February 17th, 2010 1:30 am
It isolates you. I know we have an indefinite number of ways to counteract this, especially with the burgeoning social media. But there is no way around the fact that we always have a computer screen between us. I don’t like that.
So maybe what’s really wrong is that we are not all in the same room.
jan geronimo
February 17th, 2010 1:37 am
What’s wrong about blogging is that we call it blogging. Too ugly. Sounds like something that went splat against the pavement.
But then again writing is too often associated with lofty vision of a scribe toiling away at his desk, bleeding as it were his thoughts on a page.
Blogging is writing, too. Lose the stiff upper lip. And the attitude. Because blogging – er writing – is here to stay.
Lance
February 17th, 2010 1:37 am
My biggest gripe about the medium is that the quality of writing can be so POOR. Since it’s easy to self publish and blog, most bloggers don’t take the time to develop any skill in writing or even revising before hitting the publish button. Most don’t know how to structure a thoughtful post, develop themes and narrative, or know how to self-edit.
I’m not looking for high literature in my blogging, but I do think some kind of standard should be developed that bloggers can at least review and aspire to.
JudyAnn Lorenz
February 17th, 2010 1:40 am
1. It is too easy to begin and very difficult to maintain. Niches mean that I should have several blogs, but I don’t have that kind of time.
2. Too many ideas and not enough time to get them written. Blogging is to blame because it opened the venue possibilities.
Benjamin M. Strozykowski
February 17th, 2010 1:42 am
One of the biggest problems I have come across in recent times that rubs me the wrong way is the idea of “Fast Food” content. I do not like the idea that blogs write about the posts on other blogs, rather than producing original content with pertinent personal opinions about the products/services they are reviewing.
I try to avoid as much as possible the trappings of these cookie-cutter sites, and write not only about what everyone else is saying, but what my personal take on the situation is–however different that may be from the consensus.
I agree that the amount of social networking and other obnoxious “marketing” efforts needed to get your blog out there can be a bit overwhelming. I do not like having to post multiple times to all kinds of social networks in order to obtain a slight bump in the number of page views my blog sees. I would much rather content speak for itself, and have people come to my posts organically.
But, if you want to keep up with everyone out there who is doing the whole blog-on-the-street-corner thing, you have to join them. That REALLY rubs me the wrong way.
AnastasiaCarroll
February 17th, 2010 1:43 am
I don’t like that it takes much time to become popular.
Tomas Stonkus
February 17th, 2010 1:44 am
That things bother me with blogging is the lack of expertise and experience on the part of people who right about things. Then there is lack of creativity, lack of uniqueness.
However, the thing that bother me the most about blogging is its existence for its own sake. It seems that nobody else is reading blogs besides the people that write blogs.
Then there is the fact that people write about things and they have no real skills to back it up. Then everybody all of the sudden is a self-development guru even though they have no more expertise or knowledge than the next guy. Self proclaimed experts is what I am talking about.
There just is too much of the same old written over and over again. Even the so called A-list blogs do not produce anything worth while for the most part. Blogging is filled with cheap, under-researched and under-developed articles.
Then there is the disease of copycats who just try to copy what the best guys in their niche do.
Then there is lack of actual value that is being created. Then there is billion articles on how to become a great blogger all of the recycling common sense ideas. Maybe this is it – everybody talks about common sense, which anybody could figure out with five minutes of thinking.
In short, blogging is becoming a self-serving medium where people comment on each others blogs and write guest posts just to attract more traffic to their own blog.
Best,
Tomas
Sharon Mostyn
February 17th, 2010 1:46 am
I agree with JudyAnn – for me, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to give blogging the attention it needs/deserves in order to be done properly.
Angela@SpinachTiger
February 17th, 2010 1:47 am
I see way more right with blogging than not. As a food blogger, we have a tighter community. What’s wrong with food blogging? Sometimes blogs that are not very good get heavily promoted and popularand it’s disturbing. The main wrong thing is too much advertising. Now some food blogs are using way too many posts to promote bad products and not staying passionate with the food. The worst thing ever to happen to food blogging was a very vile blogger getting popular and a movie and book, mostly using the F word, anti-bush politics and really very little passion for food. She is not the true representation of a real food blogger.
Robby G
February 17th, 2010 1:51 am
I agree with “deb@birdonawire” every other person is apperantly an expert at something. Bloggers who haven’t earned a dollar from blogging telling others how to make money (not including you Darren here) or selling ebooks based on complete inaccuracy in what they claim to be professionals in. They over-advertise and the better marketer you are, the more important they seem in a genre. It’s annoying seeing people say they are authority in a field and not have any facts to back it up and still have a huge following just because they “sound” legit because he is able to get his name everywhere. And if you’re truly passionate about your topic and do post with helpful advice that do benefit people you won’t get far because you may not be passionate about running through the web and sucking up to other bloggers to get a mention or commenting your arse off even though you have nothing new to say, etc etc.
Paul
February 17th, 2010 2:02 am
I think the biggest problem with blogging is that the underlying technology has grown up, and hit the mainstream.
In 2002 when I first started a E&N site (everything and nothing), it was basically a weblog without the specifically branded blogging software (I used Nuke, then graduated to Post-Nuke, then Type Pad now I am on WordPress… My underlying tech has matured into a blog). My point is back in the day it was a fairly technical exercise to start and maintain a blog like website.
8 Years has passed and inroads have been made on the underlying technology and the associated technologies ( 8 years ago who had broadband at home… no how many don’t?) have become easy to use and VERY VERY accessible to the masses.
So now it is no longer the ‘Nerd’ elite who can create a blog, and it has become very very mainstream. Because of the influx into the ‘blog market place’ we no longer have accidental millionaires. It used to be if you build it, they will come. Now if you build it… no one will probably notice.
There are so many people blogging about every imaginable topic it is hard to stand out. So few bloggers these days, from what I have noticed have plans on what they want to accomplish with their blog… let alone ‘Business Plans’, if they think they will make money from their blog. Thus the blogosphere is now filled with disappointment and a great many stale sites.
I think blogging is as important a step in the evolution of society as the printing press was so long ago. But as was the problem then (relatively speaking), back then it took a while for regulation took hold to help separate the wheat from the chaff. Yes we have freedom of the press (a corner stone of democracy) but we also have accepted codes of journalistic ethics and integrity.
I think there should also be ‘freedom of the blog’ coupled with a code of ethics and integrity that all who choose to blog must adhere to something like this (from http://www.rebeccablood.net/handbook/excerpts/weblog_ethics.html):
1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
6. Note questionable and biased sources.
or this (from http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=35000):
1. I will tell the truth.
2. I will write deliberately and with accuracy.
3. I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.
4. I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing.
5. I will never delete a post.
6. I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic.
7. I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.
8. I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking.
9. I will stay on topic.
10. I will disagree with other opinions respectfully.
11. I will link to online references and original source materials directly.
12. I will disclose conflicts of interest.
13. I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.
Cheers,
Paul
Melanie
February 17th, 2010 2:03 am
I have to agree with some of the comments here in a few respects.
1. I find it very hard to market. With the thousands of new blogs being added online every day, you need to have wicked content and a fresh approach to advertising, for people to want to find you and stay with you.
2. I have gone to so many blogs, especially internet marketing ones, that are the same topics, discussing the same points, just in their own words. If I am going to spend my valuable time reading other people’s blogs, I want to learn something new, not re-read what I already know.
3. Some people have gone over the top when it comes to trying to monetize their site, you can go to some blogs and find very short posts that do not state much, and then see a ton of different forms of advertising. It can be distracting. I know sometimes, I have a bad habit of trying to add too many banners as well, so need to constantly review and delete things regularly. If something seems to work, I leave it up.
Blogging can be fun, and even a means to generate an income online, as long as people can stay focused, treat it like a business and cut the crap. Provide value to your readers, and not worry so much about the almighty dollar.
those are my 2 cents.
Ami
February 17th, 2010 2:07 am
Hi Darren,
I saw a nasty response in one of your previous posts (Rank Higher in Search Engines…) about not mentioning this was an affiliate review (of course you do so in many places in your blog). I think this is a problem in blogging and is something that does require attention because many people are not aware of it.
I wrote an article about the ethics of Affiliate Marketing, you can see it on by blog:
http://www.beeablogger.com/affiliate-marketing-ethics
Ami
Guillermo
February 17th, 2010 2:09 am
It looks like blogging is finally showing itself as a non-profitable activity. In the last few months many, many new services and products are evolving around blogging in order to get a few additional dollars from the non-savvy crowds.
Third Tribe and this latest so-called SEO tool (that I cannot recall the name) are good example. Blogs are not for making money, the products and services around it.. may be (it looks like 27 is the ideal price, in a side note) What is next? Paid content? We may not be that far… Third Tribe again is a good sample on how content is starting to be reserved for those who can pay… more than a dollar a month (Have you noticed hoy the Problogger.com forum is slowly dying?)
Regretfully, this will initiate a tsunami of shitty stuff of all kinds from every blogger out there who is desperately trying to make a 100 bucks. After that, all we can expect is a loose in quality content.
But, good news are that only the best will survive.
Free Blogs are dead, Lon live to Free Blogs
Mark Wolfinger
February 17th, 2010 2:13 am
Bloggers are not held to any standards.
They can spew lies, misinformation, ignorance. There is no way to verify the accuracy of any blog post.
Jackie
February 17th, 2010 2:20 am
Anyone can say anything when they blog, which means that it’s easy for misinformation to get out there. Then of course it’s a bit of an echo chamber, so misinformation can easily spread.
Kimberly Houston
February 17th, 2010 2:28 am
I had to think long and hard to think of anything wrong with blogging that can’t be repaired with the proper attitude towards it, and the proper amount of hard work . . . .
Something that comes up for me again and again in my niche (and most others, I’m sure) is something several other commenters mentioned: since anyone can start a blog, there is a backlash among established writers and experts in certain fields, who have now jumped on the bandwagon and started their own blogs, trashing blogging as a medium and bloggers in general. And some of the griping really sounds like sour grapes, as in, “I am an expert on this topic, but now there are all these people blogging in this topic area, and I’m losing some of my audience. Therefore, I declare bloggers and blogging to be useless sources of information.” Meanwhile, they are blogging themselves! I’ve seen this lots and lots lately in the food and wine niche, especially in the wine part of the niche. Many of the gatekeepers want to keep the gates closed. Not all, though.
So that’s what comes to mind for me — “experts” in certain fields writing off bloggers and blogging as a useful information source, when they themselves are offering information via a blog.
Aaron Hockley
February 17th, 2010 2:38 am
The biggest thing wrong with blogging is that most folks aren’t willing to take risks or try something new… they’re simply looking for some sort of cookie-cutter “get rich quick” scheme that worked for someone else.
ипотпал
February 17th, 2010 2:48 am
the idea is fascinating. I can’t wait to see what will come out of it
Dana @ Blogging Update
February 17th, 2010 3:11 am
It is really needed hard work and consume a lot of time to gain a success. No easy success on it. That’s the wrong.
Gunnar Gällmo
February 17th, 2010 3:24 am
“How I wish that Esperanto would have worked, so we could really connect without language barriers and the like.” F. Y. I., it _does_ work, for those who study it! See http://sv.lernu.net/
Jenn
February 17th, 2010 3:26 am
One of my biggest issues is seeing people using (or stealing) other people images… I’m constantly seeing blogs that have photos posted on them that say …found via X website. That X website is rarely the original site or owner of the images and its usually impossible to trace the photo back to who actually took it. The disrespect of copyright is just getting more and more out of hand. It’s also been an issue on my own site with people being able to copy my image to their desktop and then reusing it without asking and without giving proper recognition.
Jim @ JOY is in the JOurneY
February 17th, 2010 3:28 am
There is still a HUGE stigma to the word “Blogger.” Most people think bloggers can be a self-absorbed and self-proclaimed experts with little to no credibility. And in a lot of cases they may be correct. Wouldn’t blogging be better if there was an organization or association giving an official stamp of credibility to blogs? (example: something like the official twitter account badge on twitter.) Is there one already that I’m not aware of?
Joshua Black-The Underdog Millionaire
February 17th, 2010 3:29 am
I would say that the thing that is wrong with blogging is that it is too easy to get started, so everyone wants to do it as an escape from the rate race. Not that it should be harder to get into, but there is so much noise, that getting even the smallest amount of traffic and readership without celebrity endorsement is like pulling teeth.
It’s the same thing that is wrong with most e-commerce. There is only so much time for your customers to search the sea of information.
You can have the best, most wll-thought content in the world, but if no one’s reading, did the tree really fall in the forest?
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Wayne Vassell
February 17th, 2010 3:39 am
I guess you can see pros and cons with mostly any subject. With blogging I guess the biggest issue is the identifying the authenticity of a blog.
Any tom, dick or harry can setup a blog over night and claim anything they wish, to an extent.
However, that same “issue” can also be seen as the “beauty” of blogging, the freedom of speech aspect.
Interesting topic…
Livia Blackburne
February 17th, 2010 3:41 am
Given that most bloggers are doing it as a hobby, blogs don’t last as long as, say, newspapers. They often die out as the blogger loses steam.
Joel
February 17th, 2010 3:49 am
While blogging is a fantastic medium for the beginning and advanced writer alike, the medium does have some significant drawbacks:
1) The desire to be popular can outweigh the need to create quality content. The medium can encourage outrageous, offensive, dishonest, or otherwise controversial content. This is not to say that controversy is bad, but controversy for the sake of controversy can detract from otherwise good content. Becoming popular and producing quality work can be at odds with each other.
2) As a result of #1, there’s a lot of crap out there. Part of building a blog is finding and forming a community around your niche. However, breaking into that community can be extremely difficult. It seems that for every great blog on a subject, there are 25 terrible ones.
3) While a lack of editorial control is important for the blogging medium, its effect on common use language has been detrimental. To publish something to the Internet, all you need to do is bash your face into the keyboard a few times and click “Publish Immediately”. Some people use this lack of control to their advantage, pushing the limits of language and media and creating excellent, fresh content; others use this as an excuse to produce shoddy work.
Lori @ Couponomic Stimulus Package
February 17th, 2010 3:56 am
It is so hard to get known. You can comment and link up and that works for a day or two, but it doesn’t have a huge impact for keeps. I love writing and wish that would be all that was on my plate, but it’s the promoting of one’s self that becomes the hard work. Especially when you have very little money to work with until some money finally starts coming in.
RJ Weiss
February 17th, 2010 4:27 am
One problem with blogging I see is many people still don’t know exactly what a blog is.
Rebecca
February 17th, 2010 4:30 am
As someone who has come from a professional publishing background, one of the thing that continually frustrates me is the lack of credibility and seriousness that blogging is given. Many people are so quick to dismiss bloggers as the unemployed, unwashed masses typing on their laptops while swaddled in their Snuggies and surrounded by cats (and many have said this to my face).
n reality, there are many talented writers who are putting fantastic ideas that deserve to be recognized out there into the Internet, and they simply aren’t getting the feedback/respect they deserve. I’m not saying this applies to everyone, but as someone who is currently seeking a job, to have a potential employer sneer when you mention that you blogged professionally for a previous company only further hammers in the reality that blogging is still not an “acceptable” form of writing for many people and companies.
carbonboy
February 17th, 2010 4:38 am
What’s wrong about blogging is that too many bloggers blog about blogging.
Oops – wrong site to make that statement – sorry!
Cathy Hofknecht
February 17th, 2010 4:46 am
Outside of the blogosphere, a lot of business people I meet still don’t understand the value of blogging. It’s not simply a method to generate more leads. It’s an opportunity to have a more personal conversation with your customers and give them further insights into how your company thinks and operates. It’s an opportunity to stay in touch with your customers and community on a more regular basis. And, it’s an opportunity to provide valuable information to a potential customer before they ever have a need for your products or services.
ordago13
February 17th, 2010 4:49 am
Blogging is like the world there are so many tipes of blogs and so many tipes of people blogging
A lot of “tech blogs” “help blogs” “hack blogs” most of them with lots of ads
A lot of mammy blogs
A lot of “i love miley cirus blogs”
A lot of categories and forms and tipes and reasons.
The deal is if you have 10 million blogs you cant expect de 10 millions to be famous and get lots of visitors.
With a blog everyone can write but that doesn´t mean everyone is going to become shakespeare
The same happens with photos, videos, drawings and music.
Just becouse you do something and you put it on the internet that doesn´t mean you are going to be tarantino, the beatles, annie liebowitz or whoever…
People doesn´t realize that…
Idrees Patel
February 17th, 2010 4:49 am
I think the biggest problem with blogging is the format itself. Reverse chronological date based posts? Monthly archives? There is no good way for readers to absorb information from a blog, especially if it is a large one. No HTML sitemap is a common feature I see on many blogs.
All blogs should have at least a ‘Best Of’ page or Popular Posts on the sidebar. This is something I need to address on my blog as well. If blogs hide their best content and promote the most recent three paragraph post they wrote today… well there won’t be many readers willing to read the blog content. It just doesn’t make sense: after all, you most want your reader to read your best posts, and many blogs seem to push their posts further and further into their archives.
On a blog as big as ProBlogger a different issue occurs. There are only a few static pages, and there are no content landing pages for any series of posts. The reader is confused which content to read first. And you can bet that he won’t read a post which has been published in 2006 no matter how timeless it is, just because of the dates and the monthly archives. But even a sitemap won’t be an answer here, it would simply scroll endlessly. More than 5000 posts – and which among them are the absolute must-reads?
Blogs are a terrible medium to give information because of all the scattered posts. That’s why logical products such as books sell even though they are the same thing, just organized logically.
Keith
February 17th, 2010 4:52 am
My biggest complaint is the overwhelming influx of writers in the MMO (make money online) niche, and 95% are still trying to make money online….
ordago13
February 17th, 2010 4:52 am
Other thing is that i don´t have publicity on my blog (about my radio show) and so it doesn´t the blog my radio has.
So i tend to dislike blogs with publicity unless they are really really good or really really what i am looking for….
Jewelry Secrets
February 17th, 2010 5:07 am
The stress of having to put up great articles (better than before) everyday so you keep your readers, don’t let them down and attract new ones is not easy, even if you love your niche.
Marketing and Promoting… Overwhelming and Tedious. It’s a never ending job.
Making Money. Always a battle!
Houston Librarian
February 17th, 2010 5:08 am
Too many fly by night blogs, just trying to make a quick buck.
Bruce Backman
February 17th, 2010 5:42 am
I read the posts and the comments and it is interesting to me that it seems the entire concept is completely liberating for many people and in the same vein that freedom of expression is its biggest weakness for others.
This is true with the comments sections on blogs as well. The freedom to comment brings great spam. Having interaction on your blog is a beautiful thing but it opens the door to an amazing amount of unwanted and unsolicited advertising. I don’t blame people for wanting to market but I don’t want them to do so with such disrespect…thank God for plugins. The greatest strength becomes the greatest weakness at the same time.
If you think about many areas of life where freedom is concerned this is true. Do we trade the freedom to share your ideas or experiences simply because you are not an expert? Do we trade our freedoms for safety?
I believe the blogging concept is marvelous but with glitches. Technology (mostly via plugins) has fixed many of the glitches but there are plenty that have not been addressed yet as well.
I agree that on most blogs the organization issue is a major problem…there may be fabulous posts and information that are simply buried too deep for most people to even bother to look. However, this too can be a strength for certain blogs in that as trust is built up in the content shared…people start to dig. When they have made the choice to engage at that level the “relationship” that is developed between a blog and its readers is strengthened.
It seems to me that many of the problems for one group are the strengths for another. Oh…quite a reflection for real life I believe.
I think that great content shared over time and purposely “marketed” (in quotes because I can’t think of another non-commercial sounding word that conveys the same meaning) will create quite a following. Perhaps the negative aspects of blogging stem primarily from laziness and a lack of concern for great detail and content on the part of individual bloggers? Maybe there isn’t anything really that wrong with the medium itself…perhaps we have just lost the concept that anything you put your hand to may just have to have a great deal of care and effort to actually succeed. If you don’t care about a following and simply want to journal…I suppose that is just fine as well.
On the other hand…readers have to take some personal responsibility as well. Why would I care what someone else is sharing? I have the choice to read or not…to pay attention or not. I don’t need to worry what other people are reading…they have the same choice I do. The only reason I can see that people are worried about having blogs out there sharing mis-information is because we have developed a general attitude of arrogance in our society. For some reason we don’t believe people are capable of making up their own minds and making good choices for themselves. If someone makes a bad choice once…that is typically the best way that they learn not to make that same choice again.
I think the question in the post is great because of the comments that follow. I do hope more technical things flow out of it so that the actual medium itself can continue to be improved from a technological standpoint. But it is also fascinating to see how people’s personal belief systems shine forth through the comments in such a discussion as well.
Thanks!
Kim Doyal - The WordPress Chick
February 17th, 2010 5:50 am
I’m curious to see the difference between the answers you receive today as opposed to what people wrote 5 years ago.
There’s nothing wrong with blogging….the problem comes down to the people DOING the blogging. I think many people have an innate fear about writing or whether or not anyone wants to hear what they have to say. I’ve customized plenty of sites for people that still sit ‘content-less’ a full year later!
There’s SO much information available it’s easy to get distracted by the latest ’shiny’ promotion. But with blogging…you HAVE to be consistent! Not something many people want to hear (it’s certainly a challenge for me).
As Lao Tzu said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
Kosmo @ The Casual Observer
February 17th, 2010 6:09 am
@ TomasStonkus:
“However, the thing that bother me the most about blogging is its existence for its own sake. It seems that nobody else is reading blogs besides the people that write blogs. ”
Perhaps you’re looking at just a narrow subset of blogs? I actively read three baseball blogs. In each case, only a very small number of the readers are blog writers – most are just hard core baseball fans looking for more information. They could care less about Wordpress vs. Blogger – they just want to know what they can expect to see from Jhoulys Chacin this year.
Now, if you’re talking about meta-blogs – blogs about blogging – such as ProBlogger and CopyBlogger, then of course a very high percentage of he audience will be blog writers.
ginabad
February 17th, 2010 6:10 am
I’ve been blogging for a long time and I’ve seen it change from people who geniunely wanted to share their stories, information, struggles and encouragement to something more like pulp magazines and money making ventures. It’s awful when I meet someone on Twitter or FB who is just lovely and their blog is all about profit, selling and money.
I have zero interest in sensationalist stories, but last year I blogged about the “balloon boy” episode to see what it taught us about parenting (the subject of my blog). I got twice as many hits as ever and I must admit, I was discouraged by that. I became just another pulpy supermarket magazine.
Wilson Usman
February 17th, 2010 6:26 am
I don’t know if there is anything wrong with blogging. I enjoy it period. Yea I am hispanic and my grammar and spelling sucks but you know what I am being myself. I am writing about what I like and I am connecting with others that like what I like.
I think its a great question Darren, I think you should ask “What’s great about blogging or what opportunity does blogging bring?” You know I am unemployed right now and broke and even though I came into the blogging with the mentality of making tons of money online I now understand that is not why I blog. I don’t believe there is nothing wrong if anything there is plenty of good things with blogging.
Debbie Lattuga
February 17th, 2010 6:38 am
What’s wrong with blogging is that there is no simple way to find good blogs. If you google a keyword, you’ll get the ones that rank well, but not necessarily the good ones.
So it’s a little like being on a treasure hunt. Seeking out the good blogs while ignoring the sploggy ones.
Shirley George Frazier
February 17th, 2010 6:40 am
A problem with blogging falls squarely in the lap of some bloggers who stray off track, failing to discuss, explain, and expand the topic they originally chose when starting the blog.
Stay focused, and readers will become loyal and share blog posts with their friends and associates.
Dory
February 17th, 2010 7:04 am
Wowzers, you must’ve been reading my mind.
I got a lot off my mind when I wrote about my frustration with blogging about a week and a half ago.
http://www.cantrememberdiddly.com/2010/02/02/the-one-my-irl-friends-totally-wont-get/
Marcin
February 17th, 2010 7:30 am
What’s wrong with blogging? People who can’t express their opinion in a mature way so they write disrespectful comments.
Katrina
February 17th, 2010 7:53 am
Blogs are like instant gratification. I can literally type a couple of words, and then hit “publish” to send it out into the world. Sometimes looking back on posts I’ll wish that I had been more patient and let a post evolve and grow before sending it out into the world.
David Hutchison
February 17th, 2010 7:57 am
A few thoughts:
1. I love that there is no barrier to entry – but there should be some standards – drives me nuts when so many people ignore copyright laws, for exampe.
2. I have to agree with other commenters – the name. “Blogging” just sounds cheap.
3. Affiliate commissions – How can I ever get an unbiased opinion on something when so many are working so hard to promote products that legitimate reviews rarely bubble to the top of search rankings. e.g. web host reviews. I’d love to see Google not rank articles that are purely sales documents…
kathleen
February 17th, 2010 8:19 am
Web sites afraid of being real. I like a personal touch, rather than over hyped, get out your wallet approaches, I am not afraid of getting out my wallet, but there has to be trust first, that I am dealing with a real person.
Paul Germana
February 17th, 2010 8:26 am
There’s not a thing wrong in the world with blogging. It doesn’t matter what business your in; if you don’t bring traffic to your site you won’t make money. I spent over a year not knowing how to bring visitors to my site. But the simple truth is, if you can create a ton of links leading back to your site you’ll get traffic. Some may ask, but how do you know anyone will click on those links. Well that’s simple too. Post in targeted places, where people are asking the questions that you want to answer and solve with your product or service. I guess you need to know how to do that too huh? LOL! Ok :)
Go to google “search based keyword tool”, click on “Or see top keywords across all categories” and enter a search for the niche you want to analyze. It will automatically show you the most popular “key word phrase” for that keyword. You can either use that key phrase or click the magnifying glass and use the key phrases shown in Google Insights. Use the keyword phrases to create key word phrase questions. Enter those questions into Google Alerts “in parentheses” and wait for results.
I like to receive the alerts in Google Reader, but you can also receive them in your Gmail box. Go to the blogs or forums listed in the alert and comment, answering the questions being asked about your niche. Then leave your name, email and web address. Instant targeted links leading back to your sites. It’s just that simple and more fun than you could ever imagine. Stop killing yourselves and do it the right way.
Dave Lianelli
February 17th, 2010 8:39 am
My problem is that it’s a mass-medium, which means it will be used by many but also abused by some. Spamming, bashing, sharing illegal and disrespectful things online got way easier.
And I also agree with the people above which say that there are to many ‘average joe’s’. Anyone can write on the web, filling it with content. While only 1% of everything posted online is actually worth reading.
Angela @Homegrown Mom
February 17th, 2010 8:40 am
What’s wrong with blogging is that it remains a separate part of my life, trapped in my laptop. It still freaks me out sometimes that I have imaginary friends whom I know only by their little twitter avatar and might not even recognize on the street… but then I guess that’s what is wrong with me, not blogging.
Another problem is that so much of blogging seems to be about how to make money blogging, and I never wanted to do that. It’s hard to not get sucked in. But again, that’s my problem.
I’m not creative enough to think of something wrong with the medium itself.
Greg @ Greg Rides Trails
February 17th, 2010 9:00 am
I agree with much of what has already been posted. There is too much information out there to sift through, the format of a blog itself can be daunting for someone to actually find quality information, and etc. etc.
I think the biggest problem, as has been mentioned (but I’d like to reiterate), has to be making a name for yourself/your blog. I don’t think that wanting to become a well-known blogger is a bad thing; why else are you spending so much of your precious time writing and publishing content online? Getting recognition and a following is difficult, and trying to realize what sort of content that will get you such a following is difficult as well.
Another issue is the A.D.D. of people today. I’m not talking about an actual medical disorder, but about the fact that your average person only spends a couple of seconds on a web site. If something doesn’t jump out and grab their attention, their gone. This is a direct result of the vast amount of “noise” available online. All of this noise makes blogging seem like a fruitless endeavor.
Ed Fry
February 17th, 2010 10:07 am
The two fundamental flaws in blogging are the dating of content and site navigation.
The latter is simple; a blogger usually churns out dozens of topical, but not necessarily related posts with little for the visitor to do except read other posts (perhaps most commented or something) which may not answer their particular problem at that time. Subscribers tend to be the one’s who like a series of articles the blogger has written and want to hear what problems “could” be solved or have other non-immediate reasons like following someone to see what else they do. The sites which truly help people solve specific, timely problems tend to be well structured websites … not blogs.
The dating of content is inevitable. As newspapers are frantically purchased in the morning, they lie strewn all over cities by that very evening. Even the best papers don’t last.
This means every blogger is tied to the ‘content wheel’ much akin to a hamster in order to retain traffic and income (not helped by the high bounce rates thanks to site architecture). Search engines arguably treat blogs the same way as a new source. Sure, Google blog search brings in visitors quickly, but you’ll find your traffic on all but the most linked to blogs tail off after a few days even.
The answer… use blogs not to push content and solutions, but to engage a subscriber. PREsell if you like – otherwise use a structured website that is both search engine friendly and visitor friendly. It doesn’t date nearly as much!
Technology Slice
February 17th, 2010 10:22 am
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with blogging :-)
Heather
February 17th, 2010 10:23 am
About the only thing I can add (after reading through the other comments; some really interesting views there I have to say) is that I out and out hate it when bloggers gain a critical mass of traffic, stop providing good information, then start using the medium to make the false true.
I’ve seen it happen in a couple of the more local area blogs, it’s pretty horrible. Not a problem with the medium itself of course, but it is a bit of an issue with the bloggers.
Other than that there’s not much else to add. I like that it’s so easy to access, though I agree that there’s no great method to find new ‘good’ blogs and there’s far too much noise. Don’t see any solutions to that yet though.
Nick
February 17th, 2010 10:30 am
Great post Darren! What’s wrong with blogging? It is too easy to begin, but I’ve not enough time to post frequently on all my blogs.
Paul Germana
February 17th, 2010 10:50 am
You just need to promote your site through the same medium you are using to comment this blog. Having links pointing back to your site is the only way to generate more traffic.
Also some blogs allow you to post a link “IN” your post so you can anchor your link in a key word, like affiliate marketing for instance. Then search engines will associate your site with keywords and convey you as an authority on those topics.
Also this kind of traffic adds up quickly, especially the more you promote and get your link out there. I would rather have 2 or 3 visitors a day than 0. I would rather have 10 or 20 per day than 0
Cemil | Online Business Blackbook
February 17th, 2010 10:53 am
I think that’s what’s wrong with blogging has been said looking through the mass of comments.
It is unfortunate that due to various techniques used in the industry that Search Engine’s do favor those with thousands of backlinks, etc, etc, and the little guy with informative posts that actually brings real value are left in the dark ages.
Kevin (strongandfit.net)
February 17th, 2010 11:32 am
There’s plenty wrong with the fitness niche. Too many people promoting bogus products which they know are a complete waste of money.
When someone searches blogs for an honest review of a product or program they have to comb through a bunch of fake reviews which are nothing more than homemade commercials.
Robert Scott Lawrence
February 17th, 2010 12:17 pm
Blogging’s problems are the same problems suffered by every written medium — too much is written, and not nearly enough of it is remotely interesting. Go to the library and look at all the books on the shelf — most of them are not very good. Sure, they were good enough to get published, but most of them are garbage. The same is true of blogging (only multiplied a million-fold) — most blog posts are either unoriginal pap, or derivative pap, or just plain old pappity pap. Rubbish. There was a great article a few weeks ago by a writer talking about how he never has time to read books anymore, because his entire life is consumed with news, and Twitter, and social media, and other junk. Blogs can be interesting, but most aren’t. People are writing who have nothing to say.
Lita C. Malicdem
February 17th, 2010 12:20 pm
Great post! It reminds us that nothing is wrong with blogging. It encourages freedom but likewise warns us to observe the rules of good writing. Unless we do, blogging will be viewed by the critics as wrong, when in fact it’s just case-to-case mistakes that are not representing the whole of blogging.
Randy @ Just Point and Shoot
February 17th, 2010 12:49 pm
There are plenty of flaws with blogging, but most of the problems have more to do with bloggers rather than the medium itself.
As far as I see it, the medium is nothing more than an informational or personal site that has chronologically organized posts.
The issue of losing good posts and information in the thousands of posts that will eventually inhabit a blog is a problem, but bloggers themselves could solve this if they really wanted to.
From that comes somewhat poor navigation, most blogs just have an archive page of some sort, this isn’t the best way to find things, and blog searches are often bring poor results if the blog is big enough. I actually had a hard time finding one of my own posts once, I knew what it was about but forgot the date and it took me a minute to actually find it.
This is all off the top of my head, who knows how much sense I’m making haha. Good post idea though, or should I say bad post since this a negative comments post?
Kirsty
February 17th, 2010 12:51 pm
Hiya!
I find that my problems with blogging are specific to the type of blog I run. It’s a pretty crowded niche and other similiar bloggers (we are mostly female of the species) can get a little bitchy, territorial and cliquey.
ALSO, I love the networks created by blogging and through twitter I have gotten to know lots of authors, this sometimes makes it difficult to review their books in a totally objective way (especially if you’ve just been chatting to them about what you’re having for tea!)
Oh, and what do you do if someone nicks your ideas?! It’s not pure plagiarism, just stealing ideas for regular features – there is no way to stop that and it kind of bugs me. I have some great weekly feature ideas and my closest blogging competition seems to post a thinly veiled copy of it soon after. Gah!
Other than that, though I adore blogging :)
CorMom
February 17th, 2010 12:53 pm
Whats wrong with blogging is the learning curve in every part of blogging. From the ‘easy stuff’ like grammar and content to the ‘hard stuff’ like advertising your site, everything sounds so simple until you go ahead and actually put them into practice.
Justin @ Monetize Zone!
February 17th, 2010 1:25 pm
I like everything about blogging except one large issue! Getting traffic.
If a person is just starting with an unknown name to back them up it’s a long uphill battle until you get some momentum.
I have some ideas that I may be able to put together to help new bloggers overcome this rough patch!
Paul Germana
February 17th, 2010 1:50 pm
It’s not so much about promoting some of these products as it is about capturing the attention of readers with the niche that those products represent. If I post a comment about twitter with an anchor in it both pointing back to my site and to the niche of Twitter Tools then the search will identify the niche as well as counting the click to my site. I just increased my chances of getting visited by an immeasurable percentage. I won’t go into why participating in blogs and forums is SO important. There seems to be too much aversion to the whole concept. Fact is, if you just start getting back links to your site, you’ll get tons of traffic. Trust me you’re doing more work by avoiding the creation of content, than I am by telling you about it.
Steve
February 17th, 2010 2:38 pm
All the redundancy. So many blog posts say the same thing as something that has been said/written about 100 times already. Would love to see people being more original and doing research like a journalist would do to develop a unique storyline.
Elyse Doerflinger
February 17th, 2010 3:25 pm
I hate that when creating a blog with a domain name and hosting, you are pretty much limited to used Wordpress. I started off with Blogger and while I have a Wordpress blog also, it isn’t as easy for me to use as Blogger. It is probably because I am not used to using Wordpress and I find it really un-instinctive (that probably isn’t a real word, but you get the point).
Just seems like Wordpress has the monopoly
Johnny
February 17th, 2010 3:56 pm
SEARCH! Blogging needs to have a search engine / directory that does a great job at excluding spammy results!
Diana
February 17th, 2010 4:09 pm
In the area of interest that I blog about (craft/art, kid’s stuff and homewares) there seems to be so many blogs that other people write that promote other people’s images/products.So many craft/art blogs seem to repeat the same images/products, therefore alot of these blogs have nothing new or original to say and it all becomes a bit of pointless blogging and tired reading. With all this borrowing of content it is also worrisome that many links do not link back to the original source.
Paul Germana
February 17th, 2010 5:02 pm
We got some real dorks in here. But NOT YOU Elyse. Just accept that Blogger And Wordpress are two different types of blogs. People don’t give Blogger very much credit, but I think that in the long run they will prove to be the more foundational of the two and far more sophisticated.
I use both, but Wordpress more, because I am just not learned enough to do anything more than post to my Blogger blog and lead traffic to it. (I do have adsense set up in it though) Wordpress makes it easier because they have plug ins, widgets and such, whereas in Blogger you learn more tricks by interacting with other bloggers and attaining knowledge through direct experience.
I guess one needs to judge for themselves the greater benefit. Of course Blogger is NOT afraid of applications or plug ins, but they are selective about what kinds they allow to be implemented into the Blogger format. I for one don’t blame them at all. Wordpress is always crashing!!!
Joshua Burkhow
February 17th, 2010 5:27 pm
The biggest issue I have is that any one and thier mother can do it. It is true that the cream of the crop usually rise to the top but there are many cheap and easy ways to bypass the talented, worthy, and rightfully due. I usually spend an hour a day wading through mud just to get to “problogger.net” type of material. Grrrrr. An hour a day keeps 15 million bloggers away.
David Messmer
February 17th, 2010 6:03 pm
The biggest problem I have with blogging is the potential for abuse. It’s getting harder and harder to actually find good information on-line because there are so many bad blogs out there just trying to beat the search engines rather than provide good content.
This is frustrating for those of use who want to find good content, and is also frustrating for those of us who want to make our own quality content available. I hate when I put a lot of time and effort into a post only to see hundreds of SEO obsessed crap appear ahead of it in the search engines.
Rinaldi Syahran
February 17th, 2010 7:23 pm
The main challenge for me about blogging is time and passion to keep still consistent to blog. I have problem to do that and still search the solution.
m3 real card
February 17th, 2010 7:45 pm
This blog contains some great stuff. I read through the archives and found gem after gem. Since it’s not updated as often as some blogs, I am using rss2email to handle its feed so I get an email everytime a new post is published.
Sally Jumawid
February 17th, 2010 9:05 pm
Blogging is demanding. It demands more of your time, and of your writing and editing efforts. it needs nurturing and it can make you sad if you don’t have comments from readers. And I’ve read some bloggers apologizing …for what? I don’t see why bloggers should apologize for something they’re not bound to do. Blogging is a privilege. . . not a duty.
Paul Germana
February 17th, 2010 9:07 pm
I have a problem with people who think that blogs are just meant for “good information”. People have forgotten the true value of “free enterprise”. If you don’t wanna make money online, then which good information are you referring to? “HOW TO BROWN NOSE YOUR SUPERVISOR?”
I don’t get it with you kids today. You think you know everything. I guess we’ll see how reading poems and credibility updates pays off when the government finally takes every dime. You won’t be so smart then will you? How’s that for “problogger.net” type material?
CrisisMaven
February 17th, 2010 9:28 pm
A big frustration so far to me is that Google’s way of listing things seems opaque at best. With thousands of hits in Yahoo and hardly some in Google I’m sure something’s amiss. Now I’m not complaining, I’m not expecting Google to sort of promote my blog. But with Google getting the most search requests it’s a bit like not being listed in the phone directory or living on a road the mappers forgot to include in the street map. And one thing I don’t want to do and won’t do is thinking about “how to phrase things” only to please Google. Not only does it feel a little like a thought police, but it would clip creativityand spontaneity plus – what might then happen to the other search engines that currently paint a truer picture of the actual POTENTIAL search results at hand? So Google, when I see these discussions about PageRank and keywords, meta entries and all that, is a kind of a threat to bloggers who on one hand want to be free writers that have found THE medium for their self-expression and on the other hand, while not doing it for a living, even without ANY financial interest in most cases, still want to make themselves heard resp. read and therefore have a lively interest -no, not to impose their views and writings on others!- but to be found by exactly those people who they believe they’re writing for!
Gina
February 17th, 2010 10:34 pm
What’s wrong with blogs is they’re not real websites. It’s a known fact that people are searching for information, and blogs are all over the place when it comes to finding something.
But what’s really wrong with it is it’s too easy to do, so it attracts every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants: 1) His fifteen minutes of fame; and 2) To make a living out of telling me what he had for breakfast; or, worse yet, 3) To make a killing out of telling me how to make a killing out of blogging.
janardhan
February 17th, 2010 11:13 pm
The constant need to keep ourself updated with the newer things is one thing that feel hard to do.
however, that is common to anything nowadays. Apart from that hitch, I love blogging.
Ben Klempner
February 17th, 2010 11:37 pm
Several days ago I wrote an article entitled, “Making Our Voices Heard” (http://www.effectivefamilycommunication.com/making-our-voices-heard/), about how the internet and blogosphere is a great place for people to hide behind the curtains of life, without having to take action, despite the negative consequences of not having meaningful relationships.
As a counselor and therapist, rather than write about my opinions, perhaps it would be more meaningful if I ask several questions on the topic of Darren’s question (from a mental health perspective of course).
1-Does interacting on the blogosphere fulfill our social needs as humans?
2-Does socializing on the blogosphere lead to isolation and withdrawal in our face-to-face relationships?
3-Is blogging an escape from reality or an extension of reality?
Dahab Hotels
February 17th, 2010 11:39 pm
blogging is good for internet growing and for the people how blog
since the blogs created the internet using have been tribbled or even more (talking about my country Egypt )
i love blogging
Paul Germana
February 18th, 2010 12:22 am
People seem to be forgetting how immense the internet really is. This isn’t your mothers blogosphere guys. It’s not a sandbox, where somebody needs to get out because the kid with the big red bucket and the metal shovel’s climbing in. A person who’s convinced he’s not listed isn’t creating content. I can do key word search in Google, Yahoo, Bing or wherever and not even understand it; and I don’t! But I know what brings results and that’s creating content.
People tend to think of the “same old things” that they hear as just catch phrases for the spammers and wannabees, until they actually try ‘creating some content’ or fashioning some “backlinks”. “Oh, that’s just too much work.” Not as much work as jabbering in a blog about how your no longer in the phone-book. Come on man! Believe me I’m a hippie musician. I love green, but I hate money. It took me over five years to change the way I think. You’ve really gotta get outside of yourself. It’s tough, but the internet is not a sandbox. There is hope….YOU :)
Andy Merrett
February 18th, 2010 12:22 am
@Gina: as soon as aI saw all those hyphens in your web URL I *knew* you were going to have a SBI web site.
Been there, tried it, got out before I got too burned (and I don’t care what Steve Pavlina says).
By nature, blogs are web sites. I disagree that people can’t find information on a blog — it depends how it’s laid out and interlinked.
It’s funny how SBI now includes a “blog” module, despite its great attempts to tear down the medium.
hokya
February 18th, 2010 12:31 am
Darren, every bloggers must have ever been got frustrated…
my question is, what will you gonna to do when you are in such condition ???
Thanks
Noumaan | Sabza
February 18th, 2010 12:32 am
On one hand the feirce competition between individual bloggers and networks is resulting into some very high quality content appearing regularly on the web. But on the other hand It is also becoming difficult for individuals to compete with networks and companies.
For example there are blogs that are actually full fledged websites. They have their own editorial staff for quality content and they outsource other tasks such as link building, SEO, article submissions, commenting, social bookmarking. It is difficult for some one new to blogsphere to beat such organized efforts.
Apart from that, I strongly feel that the blogging itself has reached a point where blogs are evolving into giant portals and news sources. I think there is a need for new terms to be introduced for blogs that evolve into something too big to be recognized as a blog.
LadyExinor
February 18th, 2010 12:34 am
The only thing that is wrong with it, is the fact that once whatever you write is out there, you can’t take it back. For instance, with personal blogs, a post that is an expression of one’s disdain for a particular, person, place or thing….the person writes as form of venting….they feel better, but wait they wish they can take it back………..but they can’t.
Adam Smith
February 18th, 2010 1:18 am
Blogging to have a national or regional impact is simply too difficult for many to do right. Public writing and speaking are enormously difficult tasks for most people. Add website creation, hosting, SEO, swapping links, crashing sites, placement on other sites, the Google sandbox and endless other issues and it makes the process a slog.
Blogging is the best thing since nickel beer. It’s liberating and empowering. There are a ton of people who “could” add their voice for the public good but don’t when told what they are up against.
Successful bolgging is not necessary talent dependant; it’s a matter of who is willing to do everything necessary to make it a success. “Everything necessary” means an enormous amount of work. Crime in America.Net
Venkat
February 18th, 2010 2:01 am
Thanks for posting this Darren. It is invaluable market research for those of us who are working on improving blogging technology!
It is interesting that most commenters are taking the technology as an unchangeable foundation and talking mostly about problems at the business, creative and content levels.
This is a good thing, though it does make it harder for people like me to analyze and get to those root causes that can be addressed by technical solutions, as opposed to those that require self-improvement efforts by bloggers or the community at large :)
I am also curious to find out more about the views of the people who are NOT blogging. Are they shying away because of problems that the adopters are not seeing?
Venkat
(project manager of Trailmeme, a technology suite that includes the Trailmeme for Wordpress plugin.)
EF Cussins
February 18th, 2010 2:07 am
First, I give you the permission an eternal optimist. I see everything in a positive light.
I love blogging. I find it is a great avenue of expression. I get better, reaction from people when I tell them I am a blogger, as opposed to one of my many other hats.
I usually don’t drag someones mud through the streets. I would rather talk about what is good and positive. The Shopping Nazi is more, “here what you should know, before going out and buying this item”.
John
February 18th, 2010 2:23 am
I loathe the fact that approximately 80% of my visitors stay less than 30 seconds. I take pride in what I write and believe I have content that can make a difference in people’s lives. Of course, it will have no impact if they don’t read it.
Mark Price
February 18th, 2010 3:08 am
Darren:
What I find wrong with blogging has to do with the composition of the reading audience — specifically what I do not know about my audience. I would like to be able to apply marketing analytic to readership, and understand how many readers come from companies, what their roles/titles are, and how often specific readers come to my blog.
As the leader of a consulting firm, I want to engage my target audience — I just do not know if I am or not!
ChrisB
February 18th, 2010 3:11 am
Any written communication has the potential for misunderstanding because tone and body language cannot be transmitted.
With blogging, the tendency to rush in the creation of posts makes this more common. And then there is the rapid-fire exchange of comments. Feelings get hurt needlessly in exchanges that wouldn’t have occurred face-to-face.
charlotte
February 18th, 2010 3:53 am
One problem with blogging is that unless you have a topic with lots of news, at one point you have said everything you have to say, but you still need to create new content.
John Wilson
February 18th, 2010 4:19 am
My problem is that people who feel they are the most Web 2.0 and social media guru’s tend to think they are better than everyone else. Here is a perfect example from a comment in this post (above):
“My biggest gripe about the medium is that the quality of writing can be so POOR. Since it’s easy to self publish and blog, most bloggers don’t take the time to develop any skill in writing or even revising before hitting the publish button. Most don’t know how to structure a thoughtful post, develop themes and narrative, or know how to self-edit. “
Cate
February 18th, 2010 4:20 am
I am a professional musician and music educator, and I think that blogging often suffers from the same banalities that the music world does–in an age that has given the average person incredible tools, everyone has jumped on the band wagon to produce a product without the years of work that go into establishing and AUTHENTIC voice.
I am a woman in my 50’s who can not stand the ME ME ME voice of most bloggers. Where are the people trying to work through their own voice, their own originality?? It’s all the same, and boring as hell.
This isn’t just limited to blogging though. It seemes to be in any field where tools have made it possible for the masses to express.
Jannie Funster
February 18th, 2010 8:09 am
Lack of physical activity as we spend hours and hours on computer growing our blogs, is wrong.
So.. after I submit this, then finish and publish the post I’m working on, I’m taking the dogs for a walk – for at least 20 minutes! Whoo-hoo.
Gennyca
February 18th, 2010 8:20 am
Starting a Blog is like programming the VCR. I know…what’s a VCR?
My point is I want to blog. I have things to say. So my research begins; widgets, tags, links, posts & pages, del.icio.us, flickr, Meebo, RSS, gravatar, stats, tracking, HTML, CSS…aaahhhhhhh!
I just want to share stuff about an Island called Roatan. With the help of ProBlogger and others, I’ve actually managed to post a few stories at;
Life & Writing, on Roatan – Living on a Tropical Island – When not Independently Wealthy or Old Enough to Retire. http://gennyca.wordpress.com
Oh yah, at least I now know the difference between http:// and http://www…I think.
Salivanth
February 18th, 2010 8:32 am
I know this kind of thing has been mentioned before, but I’ll mention it again anyway:
Blogging has a very high barrier to mastery, and a very low barrier to entry. This causes most people to give up after months, weeks, or days, and also ensures that it’s not a “If you build it, they will come” thing (Though that’s probably also why people give up).
People need to seriously consider two things, I reckon:
A) What do I have that’s unique to say? Everyone has something unique, but your cat’s new sweater ain’t it. Don’t sell yourself short. I tried to write a blog that wasn’t about a niche that I was good at because I thought it wouldn’t work. I got literally 50x the traffic on a blog that I knew what I was talking about.
B) Do I have the dedication to continue with a blog, or am I willing to let it fail after a few months? Everyone can start a blog, but not everyone can WRITE a blog. The blogs that last for 8 months and have less than a dozen posts, I will never understand. If you’re going to blog, BLOG.
Just my two cents. Oh, and spelling and grammar are important too, but as mentioned, English isn’t everyone’s first language. Using ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ and stuff like that is unacceptable though. Nobody was raised on 1337speak as a kid.
Website Builder
February 18th, 2010 8:52 am
I think what’s wrong with most blogging these days is the lack of quality content, and the lack of passion in what they are doing. I think some of them just do it to get it done and over with. Blogger should be more inspired in what they’re writing. That’s what makes a blog nice to read.
Amy Cameron
BuildMySiteforFree.com
Curtis Chappell
February 18th, 2010 11:16 am
As a blogger you can’t choose your audience….Google chooses it for you to some extent.
yes, you can guest post, link to carnivals, have a presence in forums, record mp3’s, make videos etc, but you can’t really decide who reads your stuff.
This problem translates to high bounce rates, low comments and the myriad of abandoned bogs which litter the net.
Another issue is if you don’t blog, you probably don’t know about blogging, so a large portion of people you would want to read your blog don’t even know what the medium is!
I’ve recently read some posts about offline marketing, and while at first that didn’t make sense to me, as I start to promote my blog to non-bloggers, my site is getting more ’sticky’.
I would love to know what everyone’s bounce rate is…currently mine is 72%…ouch…but it’s better than 73%…;)
Write On!
mk akan
February 18th, 2010 11:26 am
it can take all your time,,,,it is time intensive
Wendy Kinney
February 18th, 2010 12:33 pm
The problem with blogging is the lack of reciprocity.
Life is give and get.
Blogging does not require anything of the reader.
The writer gives–and the reader is welcome–without any reciprocal responsibility to applaud or participate.
All performers need feedback from their audience. All leaders know it’s their responsibility to start the applause. We need to teach readers that they are leaders and owe a comment {“great post” does not qualify as a comment} as their part of the deal.
mydiabetes
February 18th, 2010 1:15 pm
I think there is nothing wrong with blogging but there are things we need to look at the making by providing accurate information to readers.
adrienne
February 18th, 2010 1:50 pm
@Paul Germana The problem isn’t that Blogger is different than Wordpress. It’s that Blogger is so far behind. Blogger just implemented static pages on 2/3/10. Something so basic.
chandan
February 18th, 2010 4:39 pm
Why you think that blogging is wrong, I think blogging is the best way to provide the latest information, if blogging or bloggers not come to the internet marketing then internet revolution perhaps go back to the one or 2 years. So I never thinks anything wrong with blogging.
ashok
February 18th, 2010 5:30 pm
Jan Oda’s comment is all too true: you really do want the best English possible even thought it’s not strictly necessary, and that discriminates against some very, very talented authors. I should say that a friend has blogged in German, Dutch and English all at once depending on what he feels comfortable talking in, and if you produce enough content, it can work to a degree. I think part of the frustration might be that you want really awesome posts you’re satisfied with – I looked through ergofiction and you’re a seriously talented writer, and the work is paying off. A post or two for your friends once in a while might not hurt, esp. if you feel comfortable writing it.
Jason Anderson
February 18th, 2010 6:02 pm
The biggest problem with the medium is also it’s greatest strength:
#1 – Lack of accountability…people can write anything they want, but that doesn’t necessarily make it true. When others come along and read that information, it can be misinterpreted as valid simply because the information is not verified.
The only other problem I see is lack of really good documentation for plugins. So often a developer may be a coding guru, but their sense of documentation for others that aren’t as fluent in coding is poor, at best and it takes other coders to decipher their horrible efforts and explain it out.
The same goes for Wordpress as a platform – while flexible and malleable, there is really no good “tutorial” or “instructiona”l set to give people a grasp of the fundamentals of what is involved in building a blog’s foundation.
Janice Clark
February 18th, 2010 9:30 pm
I guess one thing i found wrong in blogging is when you unload all your emotions in your post and looking for advice, some people will comment bad things about you. It can really bring you down emotionally.
Jan Oda
February 18th, 2010 11:09 pm
First a quick reply to those whor responded to my initial comment:
@Gunnar Gällmo
– “How I wish that Esperanto would have worked, so we could really connect without language barriers and the like.” F. Y. I., it _does_ work, for those who study it! See http://sv.lernu.net/ –
What I meant was, how I wish everybody had studied Esperanto, so we could all be equally bad / good at a language. However, I blog about fiction, so in reality I’d probably hate that situation, because so much richness of language would get lost.
@ashok
- Jan Oda’s comment is all too true: you really do want the best English possible even thought it’s not strictly necessary, and that discriminates against some very, very talented authors.
I think part of the frustration might be that you want really awesome posts you’re satisfied with.
A post or two for your friends once in a while might not hurt, esp. if you feel comfortable writing it. -
The biggest problem is that because of limited knowledge of the language, I lack the power to delve deep into topics. To really go beyond the surface of topics, I think you need to be a native speaker of the language you’re blogging in, or have enough time on your hands.
Since I’m writing for an almost 100% English speaking niche, this often frustrates me.
As for the writing for my friends, one of the main reasons I turned to blogging was that my real-life network isn’t interested in this topic, and I needed a place where I could discuss it with people who are.
And thanks for the compliment.
—
Second, after going through the comments, it seems there are 2 kinds of answers being made. What’s wrong with blogging, and what’s wrong with the blogosphere (Oh, how I hate that word), which are entirely different things.
On the technical side, I think that the people commenting on the chronological issues of blogging and the archive system are definitely on to something. I think there is a need for a CMS that steps away from chronology all together, or at least makes this easier.
I don’t think I agree with the people commenting about the lack of quality due to overproduction, and the ‘average joe’s’ being a problem of blogging.
I think that at it’s core blogging is about commenting and opinions. Some blogs step away from this and become informative, but for me this doesn’t have to be the case.
I think the rise of the blog is highly due to these ‘Average Joe’s’, because it turned out that people don’t need to be a payed journalist to be interesting, so I find it a bit strange to find them the lesser part of blogging now.
Ben
February 18th, 2010 11:31 pm
At some point in time, we begin to repeat ourselves.
Cathy McKelvey
February 19th, 2010 1:43 am
As an artist I think there is a danger in writing too much about your ideas. If you work out your creative ideas by writing about them I can imagine it would be possible to lose the drive to work out your ideas visually.
On the other hand writing helps clarify them.
http://www.cathymckelvey.com
Nathan Lilya
February 19th, 2010 4:05 am
I have two problems with blogging. First of all, I feel that there are way too many blogs out there that are opinion only that portray themselves as factual. I think there needs to be some sort of accountability in media so as to differentiate between the “fluff” and the facts.
Secondly, as a new blogger myself, I find it very frustrating with all the promotional hoops you have to jump through for all the different search engines, etc. I wish this process could be simplified. I’ve worked in computers for awhile, so I don’t find it too daunting, but for someone that LOVES writing and has never worked with computers before, this stage could very well be an overwhelming task.
Nathan
Science and Medicine – For The Rest Of Us
http://therestofus.everlinkweb.com
Herman G. Morgan III
February 19th, 2010 4:51 am
My problem with blogging is the slowness of developing an audience. My first “serious” blogging effort was on a BlogSpot blog, and it took months, (and luring readers from a friend’s Blog) before I gained a single subscriber or follower.
I am by nature a “people-pleaser”, and in my 38-year long career as a Chef and Restaurant Manager, I had daily feedback on my ideas and my cooking skills, so maybe that’s why I need more feedback than the average Blogger ?
Another negative thing about Blogging, is the development of one’s own Niche. While I am an expert, and have written extensively about the training of Cooks and Managers in my former business, there are way too many Food Blogs, and really, My interests lie more towards Social and Political subjects than they do about Recipes, Techniques, and Product promotions.
About a year ago, I signed up with a blogging network, and thought that as the “Blogatize” network grew, I would have another Political writer to exchange ideas with, and hopefully have some areas of disagreement to argue about, and develop some “Buzz”. That Blog was good enough to be picked up by Kindle, for their blog subscription service, but the other political writer on my network was a close-minded bigot, and never responded to anything I posted about his articles and philosophy. It’s hard to have a meaningful discourse, when the other guy is just spewing canned “Bumper-Sticker” ideas he stole from right-wing radio jerks.
I know Darren asked us Not to say anything Good about Blogging, But, I have to take a second to say that until I discovered Darren’s Photography Blog, and then Pro-Blogger, I felt that the whole blogging universe was just a chaotic jumble of Dog-Eat-Dog competition, or was something that you had to pay to have decent promotion, or to have any help. “31 Days to a Better Blog” changed my entire approach to my Blog, and Blogging in general, and I refer back to it on a weekly basis, and do an exercise when I’m out of ideas or inspiration !
MLM Relationships
February 19th, 2010 5:51 am
I don’t like the fact that it takes ages of work and dedication to get popular, and to get regular users that visit your blog daily.
Nick@Subject2.com
February 19th, 2010 12:57 pm
My biggest beef is that its turning into the next Internet Marketing platform. I don’t believe traditional squeeze pages are as effective but rather having a blog for the sole purpose of thinking its the best, easiest and quickest way to make a fortune.
The blogs are going to get saturated with crappy IM’ers and lose its significance.
Martin
February 19th, 2010 4:39 pm
Darren, hi,
An interesting exercise, finding deficiencies in something you’re passionate about!
I wrote a follow on article:
http://www.wealthydragon.com/blog/2010/02/18/problems-with-blogging/
Cheers,
Martin.
Barbsawyers
February 20th, 2010 2:21 am
Where to begin? My biggest complaint is bloggers who provide long lists instead of analysing the topic and focusing on what’s important. My second biggest is the pressure to post every day. Where did this rule come from?
Paul Germana
February 20th, 2010 2:26 am
Pro Blogger ROCKS
Aglolink
February 20th, 2010 2:48 am
For me, I use blogging as an aspiration and desire of life that has not materialized, no more than what the objectives and interests.
abercrombie clothing
February 20th, 2010 4:12 am
there’s nothing wrong with blogging, i think.
Nerdy Amateurish Navelgazer
February 20th, 2010 11:13 pm
It’s still seen by the masses as nerdy, navel gazing and amateurish.
I’m not saying it is by any means, but that’s how the average man or woman on the street sees it.
Samantha M.
February 21st, 2010 10:17 am
I agree with a lot of the comments here, it would be nice if blogging software/applications was easier to master, I want to write words not code..
I compare it to using a microwave, I know how to make it do the things I want it to do ie heat food I don’t need to know how the heck it makes microwaves and does whatever it does to food atoms to make the food hot. Yet with blogging it feels like you have to master so much extraneous information before you can make your blog look visually appealing and get it on Google.
Another problem I have is with some peoples attitudes online. So many people feel compelled to hammer down the nails that stick up. If someone does well with a blog, someone somewhere will start some sort of big old hate campaign against them. Its as if people online feel on persons success somehow takes away from them and as blogs and blogging has become more about money and marketing it seems to me its gotten worse.
Ithamar Fenerson
February 22nd, 2010 12:54 am
There is nothing wrong with blogging as a medium.
People are social creatures, so blogging is a great opportunity for people to express themselves, to be heard, to feel appreciated, to make a difference, to grow and learn.
The most fascinating aspect of blogging is that no matter what you write about, you will a lot of people who think like you do.
The problem boils down to why people blog.
Blogging used to be pure in the sense that people started a blog to just be able to communicate with others, to share ideas, information, and expose themselves to new ideas, philosophies and cultures.
We are now seeing a rise in the commercial, monetization aspect of it. You can’t help but notice the millions of rags to riches stories of how people were out of work, struggling, in debt and now they are living their dream life only working a few hours a week.
With the world’s economy in turmoil, these stories are like catnip to a cat. Who doesn’t want to make more money?
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the above posts where people were complaining about traffic, bad info, millions of blogs, mass marketing, but put links to their sites at the end.
Two reasons for our present situation:
1) People wanting all the rewards without none of the responsibility. We want the millions of dollars, but don’t want to put in the millions of hours. So people try to take shortcuts, deceive, and manipulate to see results quicker.Making money on the Internet is a business and that alone translates into hard work. You have to love this business or you will fail. Like any business, you must build it a piece at a time. Those who have ever played RPG’s (Role-Playing-Games) like World of Warcraft should quickly see the similarity: You must create a character and make it stronger one level, one adventure, one kill at a time. There is no way around it. You have to pay your dues and be willing to commit the time, energy, and effort it takes to achieve monetary success blogging – and it takes all three.
2) Those who achieved a certain degree of success taking advantage of those wanting to make money. How many systems are there for making money? Literally thousands! Now I’m all for a person making money on the Internet, writing books on how to make money on the Internet and selling them on their website or blog. But to charge thousands of dollars for information you can find for free, charging other people to market your product with the promise of getting future residual income from it, then sending them a letter telling them not to complain about paying the thousands of dollars is just plain exploitation (the above actually happened to me). But people are doing it on the Internet every day.
Have you noticed that 99% of the complaints above all have to do with some way to make money faster?
If you blog because you have a passion and want to reach others with that same passion, it will stand the test of time and regulate itself. Your numbers will steadily increase over time and you will be rewarded for your efforts.
But if you are in it JUST for the money, then you will fall by the wayside like all the other ones before you.
That’s whats really wrong with blogging.
neonon
February 22nd, 2010 11:10 am
Most blogs are vague and bland and don’t actually offer any useful information. Then, in the comments section, people post generic ass-kissing one liners just to get their websites linked.
No offense, but even ProBlogger lacks in really telling what we want to know. For example, I was just reading a post about getting advertisers… of course you didn’t talk about how much a new blog should think about charging. Sure, anyone can say that’s because it’s all variable and depends on the blog, but that’s just a cop-out.
In short, blogs have become another form of unauthentic BS. Especially blogging blogs. AND ESPECIALLY blogs that simply make “lists” every post.
Darren Rowse
February 22nd, 2010 2:41 pm
neonon – sorry you didn’t find the information you wanted – the problem is that on your very question there ARE in fact many variables. Ad rates vary so much from niche to niche.
I personally would look at what you can earn from an ad network from AdSense in an ad position and then double it as your starting point for how much to charge and then work up from there.
neonon
February 22nd, 2010 2:46 pm
I have to say you are pretty cool for replying to my comment so quickly. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
That still doesn’t change “what’s wrong with blogging”, which is too many BS posts and BS comments without substance just so the authors can work their way to a higher PR or subscriber list. The worst are the “Great site” comments with the ubiquitous return link, lmao.
This very thing has made blogging so boring over the years.
Laurie Fowler
February 23rd, 2010 8:04 am
I wrote a post after reading Scott McLeod’s post on his blog about this topic. http://lauriefowler.blogspot.com/2010/02/whats-wrong-with-educational.html
Laurie Fowler
Tuscaloosa, AL
mackie
February 23rd, 2010 11:26 am
First, I have a art nude photography blog. I’m adding how-I-shoot articles and videos for starters.
I would like to find a successful blogger (money-wise) to review my blog and content then make suggestions on how to improve and grow it the next level.
Also, without charging $2500 to spend an hour or two doing a personal review. If I could afford those high fees, I wouldn’t need someone to do a review.
As far as the wordpress script, I’ve been searching for a decent gallery that is a plugin, has a plain interface and standard features such as Coppermine. I personally dislike all the lightbox type features or having to login to separate scripts just to view images.
mackie – figureshooter.com – nudes of modern women
Paul Germana
February 24th, 2010 2:50 pm
Anyone should be able to bring traffic to their website, blog or affiliate page simply by getting out and visiting other blogs, commenting on those blogs and leaving their link as they go. This creates more & more back links as they progress on. Unfortunately, just hopping from blog to blog defies relevancy when you come across other blogs that are not related to your niche, (affiliate marketing, cooking, auto repair, etc.) Therefore keyword research is absolutely necessary in order to pinpoint numerous blogs where you can identify and create interactive link popularity. I am happy to share this with anyone, anytime.
Jean Tower
February 25th, 2010 1:00 pm
What’s wrong with blogging? Those local news blogs that allow anonymous comments and those commenting who hide behind their anonymity to post nasty, vitriolic opinions. These local news blogs happen all over the country with similar nasty comments. These give blogging a bad name.
CrisisMaven
February 25th, 2010 2:17 pm
I totally agree, the blog phenomenon is probably a technical platform for what people used to rant about in their local pub about, however, doing it under the shroud of anonymity they can use much fouler language than if they must fear being overheard by their local church members …
vanzari auto
March 5th, 2010 3:29 pm
Not bad blogging itself. It is bad what some of us mean by bloging. Our news is read by many people and they should be well informed not misinformed.
NM Windshield Repair
March 11th, 2010 5:40 pm
Hi – I really needed to say thank you since you shared your personal thoughts with us all. After reading through your post, I’d personally like to know your feelings regarding the latest around the globe. I’d like
Rossana Picozzi
March 25th, 2010 2:59 am
Hi – It’s good to find such interesting stuff on the Internet as I have been able to discover here. I agree with much of what is written here and I’ll be coming back to this site again. Thanks again for posting such great reading material!!
Joanna
April 21st, 2010 10:23 pm
Hrmm that was weird, my comment got eaten. Anyway I wanted to say that it’s nice to know that someone else also mentioned this as I had trouble finding the same info elsewhere. This was the first place that told me the answer. Thanks.
vegas
May 15th, 2010 6:01 pm
I’ve got this inter-school environmental speaking competition. My school’s taking part, and I’m the key speaker. I’m alright with speaking, but I’m soooo nervous >< I'm worried I won't learn it right because when I make a mistake I tend to say words that shouldn't be heard over the microphone in front of 50 other schools and 4 judges =X!
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