Friday, October 11, 2002

Dead Trees on Blogging: Is there anyone who isn't blogging? There are about three-quarters of a million known bloggers just using the blogger.com service, which is one of several services available. Needless to say, with that kind of coverage, blogging is obviously not the most efficient road to fame and fortune.

I have never seen any stats regarding the life-expectancy but I expect it's on the short side - it's very easy and cheap to start blogging, the effort is required in keeping at it. The other thing about blogs is that only a tiny fraction have any sort of interesting content. The rest are laundry lists of what people had for lunch or how much they hate everyone in their high school and other sorts of flatulence of the mind. (No, I won't be so insulting as to give you links to such sites.) I'm convinced that, in time, the faddishness will wear-off and the quality sites will bubble to the forefront. I hope this place is one of them. In the mean time, if you're interested in putting thought and effort into your blog, you may want to get some advice on how to do it right; there are lots of guidebooks available. From where I sit the most important thing to understand is that blogging is writing - the basics of good writing apply. Clarity, conciseness, and relevance to your audience are key.