How Personal Do Bloggers Need To Be?
October 15, 2006 – 7:00 amby Darren
I’ve noticed that some of the most popular blogs get into great detail about the author’s life. I mean, they pour over every possible personality quirk, as the author examines herself. I find I don’t want to blog like that. I’m not at all interested in delving into every possible detail of my emotions and psyche at every possible second. Instead, I think of blogging as more of a professional medium where you maintain a “game face”, rather than reveal all of yourself.
Obviously, there’s no right or wrong answer for how to approach your blogging
I’m sure it’s basically a matter of personal preference, but I’m sure there are some stylistic concerns, as well. I can’t imagine the audience not getting bored at some point, though, if the basic conversation centers around the writer’s attitudes and emotions. I’ve read a number of highly successful blogs lately that seemed to get into most minute details of every day life, and to shine a light on the blogger’s every thought. But I just can’t bring myself to blog this way.
Blogging started off as a personal media
I’m sure some of what I’m witnessing is a result of “how blogs used to be” before more corporations and professional bloggers got into the job. The original weblogs were online journals where the people were expected to chronicle their feelings daily. Now most blogs have gone well beyond that function. They’re more than just a personal journal. Many blogs now are multi-author and cover subjects that don’t allow for a ton of sentimentality. Business bloggers, in particular, are probably more likely to “stick to business” and not involve too much of their emotional landscape with their writings.
How personal is your blog? How much of your personality do you bring to your writing?
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6 Responses to “How Personal Do Bloggers Need To Be?”
Funny, I posted on the other side of this subject just the other day:
http://mutation.co.nz/2006/10/14/stop-being-so-damned-self-centered-or-not
My take on it, is that blogging is not journalism. That said, it should be focussed.
If I’m writing a blog on photography, firstly, I need to get out, and take some photos (or have done so a lot in the past). I need to have experiences, so I can write about experiences.
If I’m not writing from personal experience, I’m either making things up, and crafting link-posts.
That said, my friends (unless I was taking photos with oro of them), my saturday night out drinking, and what I had for breakfast aren’t relevant to that blog.
Myself, I run multiple blogs (and a journal) these days - the blogs are on a variety of subjects, the journal is really just another blog, but I’m the subject.
By Andrew on Oct 16, 2006
It really depends on the purpose of the blog. If you purpose is to promote yourself, talk about yourself. If your purpose is to help others, talk about things that help others. If your purpose is to promote your product, talk about your product.
That said, we have found that the blog on our website that is focused on helping others in the urgent care industry has been a wonderful showcase of our company philosophy, i.e., “We will help you succeed beyond your wildest imagination, and we will help you so much that you would be crazy not to use our products.” Urgent care professionals read it, believe it, and then experience it when they buy our product.
People come up to me at conventions all over the country and want to discuss the VelociDoc Urgent Care Blog. We have found that he blog is a wonderful opportunity to showcase what our company is really all about–helping urgent care centers succeed.
By Urgent Care Doc on Oct 16, 2006
I guess it depends on the subject and the writer.
Our blog is a personal blog… all us, all the time. If I was focused on only sharing a specific aspect of our lives, remodeling our house for example, then I would still feel obliged to share the personal aspect of the subject matter.
If I were writing a blog about new gadgets or gizmos, then no, I wouldn’t feel that personalizing it is a must. But because that is the kind of writer I am, I would still write about the gadget from the POV of how it would fit in my life.
I have a hard time reading blogs that aren’t that personal.
By mrscrumley on Oct 18, 2006