Is it Time to Kill Your Blog?

In the current issue of wired magazine (yes, I know I am a geek) there is an article entitled, "Kill Your Blog" by Paul Boutin. Currently you can read it here.

As someone who spends his days on SearchWarp, I find the article extremely interesting as it explains exactly what I've been seeing.

The premise of the piece is that personal blogs have mostly become ineffective, being pushed aside by professionally managed, multi-user websites such as The Huffington Post, Engadget, and TreeHugger.  Those who do continue to maintain their personal blogs find themselves mired in the task of fighting spammers and haters through reader comments.

Of course the reason I find this interesting is because fixing this problem is what we at SearchWarp work hard at doing every day.  Our job is to manage the platform, so you can spend your efforts writing your thoughts and getting the spotlight that you deserve. 

We do have a few rules that writers must follow, but they mostly have to do with spamming and hating.  Go figure.

The article finishes by saying that many of the famous early bloggers have left their blogs to move to newer technologies used by sites like YouTube, Flikr, and Twitter.  As SearchWarp continues to grow, we'll continue to add new features and technologies too.

We welcome you to SearchWarp.  If you can follow the simple rules, we expect that we'll have a long and mutually beneficial relationship as we work tirelessly at giving your writing the promotion it deserves.

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Comments on this article:

» left by Teresa Ortiz ^(11,326)
Teresa Ortiz (356 days 5 hours ago.)

Thanks for all your behind the scenes efforts! May the continue to be fruitful for Searchwarp and all it's members. May the Lord lead you in all things :-) Love and friendship, Teresa

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» left by David Pekrul ^(3,709)
David Pekrul (356 days 4 hours ago.)

I am relatively new to Searchwarp, but am finding it a great way to read and exchange thoughts and ideas.

 

keep up the great work.

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» left by Susan Thom ^(12,058)
Susan Thom (356 days 3 hours ago.)

hi bruce,

 

this was a well written article. to bring to life a site all about words from thousands of people, and keep it interesting and growing, with warmth and support, and many options to take advantage of, is a miraculous thing. thanks for all your hard work, and all those at searchwarp whose job is to read our thoughts.

 

my best regards,

 

sue

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» left by Sandra E. Graham ^(7,636)
Sandra E. Graham (355 days 23 hours ago.)

Thanks so much, Bruce. We appreciate everything you do for us at Searchwarp. I love all the new things that have been going on over the last few months.

 

Thanks again, and keep up the good work.

 

Sandra

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» left by Melanie Vonzabuesnig ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾ (355 days 7 hours ago.)

Very nice summary. I'm new here but Search warp seems like the place to be

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» left by Jane Bullard (354 days 21 hours ago.)

Bruce, this is the sort of info that helps writers stay in touch. Thanks, and I hope you'll do more of this kind anytime..

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» left by Greg Greer ⁽⁵⁹⁾ (354 days 7 hours ago.)

This is an article that brings to life what Search Warp is doing for us.

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» left by Kathy Case ⁽³⁰⁶⁾
Kathy Case (354 days 4 hours ago.)

Oops, just left a comment but didn't get my credits. Since it brought me here again, I'll leave another.

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» left by Bobby Jensen ⁽¹²⁷⁾
Bobby Jensen (353 days 22 hours ago.)

Hi Bruce!

 

I agree and disagree. The author seems to be talking about the business end more so then personal blogging. I have my own blogs that I created within this year and have been having a ball. It has been some of the most fun I've had online. True, many bloggers are trying to make money with ads and you get the occasional, "Hey, I like your blog, come and see mine" as a ploy to gain themselves more traffic, but so what?

 

I don't even have ads on my blogs or care about traffic. I have something to say and enjoy saying it. I enjoy the commenter's because they also care about what I have to say. To say, "Thinking about launching your own blog? Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull the plug." I find ridicules and possibly self serving, although I'm not sure of a motive.

 

No, I and many other amateur bloggers will continue to blog and enjoy the experience. If Mr. Paul Boutin wants to quit blogging because he can't or won't play with the big boys, well that's his decision. I say leave the rest of us alone with the fatalistic attitude; we're doing just fine!

 

Thanks so much for bringing this article to our attention Bruce :)

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» left by Bruce Horst ⁽¹¹¹⁾
Bruce Horst (353 days 22 hours ago.)

Yes, I agree Bobby.  The original purpose of a blog is to be a web-log.. a chronological list of events, posted by the owner of the blog.  There are many personal benefits to this and for these purposes, blogging is and probably always will be alive and well.
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» left by Leah ^(12,571)
Leah (341 days 3 hours ago.)

You are a great blogger Bobby and your blogs as a result get the positive attention they rightly deserve. I agree with your comments whole heartedly.

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» left by James Bond ⁽²²³⁾
James Bond (351 days 14 hours ago.)

Thanks, I am enjoying this place very much. It reminds me of a music forum that I use to call home back in the day.

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» left by Bill Davis ^(1,673) (281 days ago.)

The best personal blogs don't seem "home grown" anymore, that's for sure. They are professionally slick and well-written, with some awesome designs. However, it's hard to tell now because blog templates, even the free ones, are just simply beautiful and pretty easy to work with.

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» left by Bruce Horst ⁽¹¹¹⁾
Bruce Horst (280 days 23 hours ago.)

Yep, you are correct...  it's hard to compete in looks with the mass-produced designs.  Fortunately looks have little to do with the popularity of a blog.

Thanks for your comments!

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» left by Tex Norman ^(4,200)
Tex Norman (255 days 9 hours ago.)

The urge to be mean is a strong urge within humans. Yesterday, on NPR I heard them read some listener letters on the air. NPR had done a story on the psychological wounds people have endured after being laid off from their job. Several comments were blasting NPR for putting the stories on the air. They called NPR tabloid radio as if they were like the National Inquirer of the air waves. Several letters stated that they wanted positive stories and proceeded to eviscerate NPR for daring to put on stories that, for some reason, @#$@#&*ed them off. To me it sounded like mean spirited negative letters about stories they found too negative.

 

When the world started exploiting space it is interesting that we got communication devices in earth orbit and focused them not on outer space, so much, but mostly focused on the earth itself. When we got our first TV back in 1956 there were three stations and they all went off at midnight. Now, we have hundreds of stations and we are able to create stations aimed at a smaller audience and still make the programing economically sound. There are golf channels, and home remodeling stations that certainly do not appeal to the masses, yet they do have strong appeal to lots of folk. With the ability to promulgate so many points of view, so many interests, why can't we just let each other alone? It seems as if one of the big hobbies among humans is busting the chops of everyone else. It is as if some people cannot feel good about themselves without making sure that they have made everyone else feel bad about themselves.

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» left by Bruce Horst ⁽¹¹¹⁾
Bruce Horst (255 days 7 hours ago.)

I agree with you Tex. It seems that it is human nature for some people to feel like it is their job to be mean to others who are not like them. I think it probably has to do with insecurities or maybe just trying to deflect the pain that they feel onto someone else. As it's been said many times: hurt people hurt people. In the current political climate there is a lot of polarization going on, and this adds to the meanness too. Probably more so than I've ever seen any other time in my life.

 

I'm sure there are other reasons why people are mean, but I keep coming back to the fact that I can't do anything to change anyone but myself, so I work hard at not letting my hurt and insecurities negatively affect how I treat others.

 

I like your analogy of expanded communications and niche publications. The benefit is that no matter how narrow my interests, I can always find others with the same interests. A while back I worked on some software that I figured only 6 people in the world understood. Only two of them (including myself) lived in the United States, and I was able to befriend and communicate with all of them. So as the World gets bigger, it also gets smaller.

 

To your point, this also opens up a world of possibilities for new ways to spread hatred. Here again, we can only change what we have control over. I don't know if you can take solace in that or not, but I do think that there are more people like us than are not. It's just that by nature, hatred is more aggressive than kindness.

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» left by Ronyae ^(4,779)
Ronyae (242 days 4 hours ago.)

Bruce,

 

Thanks for all that you do here on the Warp. Your welcoming write does just that - makes me feel welcomed.

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» left by Rodney Bird ⁽¹⁴⁾ (227 days 9 hours ago.)

HI

 

Nice article and it answers some of my questions.

 

I just recently found searchwarp and find it very interesting and I appreciate the articles and information. Keep up the good work!

 

Rod

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» left by Glen Averill ⁽⁸²⁾
Glen Averill (100 days 22 hours ago.)

We appreciate all you are doing through Searchwarp. Thanks and God bless and keep you.

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» left by Bruce Horst ⁽¹¹¹⁾
Bruce Horst (100 days 2 hours ago.)

Thanks Glen!
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