What Good
Bloggers Should Do!
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| #blogging |
Some people
really think that blogging is easy and that everyone has the skills to write a
blog – and basically they’re right. Blogging is indeed pretty uncomplicated and
simple: you come home, place yourself in
your chair and start writing – whether it’s poesy or committing a crime -
nobody actually cares. That’s what basic blogging is for; it’s some kind of
your personal diary, a means for satisfying one’s urge to express them on
whatever the topic may be.
The purpose
of real blogging, however, is to attract the attention of others.
It’s okay
if you write about random topics that only you are interested in.
It’s nice if you write about topics that others
could be interested in.
BUT it’s only perfect if you manage to make the
topics of your choice interesting for others, owing to your style of writing,
your use of media , your humor, nude pictures of you or whatever makes your
posts attractive. Let them be eager for reading your blog, it must not only be
a pleasure but a compulsion to do it - your readers should become neurotics. BE
A DRUG!!!
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| #rainbow |
If your
readers are excited when you write a post about in which color your cat craps
than you are on the right way! This is, to conclude, the main principle of
every good blog (the excitement of the readers, not the crap thing). However, we have to wonder how one can make his blog posts
attractive as well as addictive.
In
linguistics we have learned about Paul Grice and his cooperative principles. Basically they describe how people interact
with each other or at least should act in a conversation to make it a good one.
I think that these principles can be used here as well, even if a little bit
modified. Let’s take a look. The four principles/maxims are:
- Maxim of quantity -> ‘Hey guys, I’ve just found this vid of Bullshit ft. Pitbull on YouTube, check it out #like #fantastic #yolo’ is NOT a good post, it is a post indeed, but if you kiss your girlfriend you don’t call it sex either, do you? No, seriously, try to put as much information as required in your post, no more, no less. I’m not satisfied if you explain the beginning of WWII by posting a Hitler meme featuring #occupypoland as well as I don’t want to read a dissertation about why you like Justin Bieber’s new haircut.
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| NOT an appropriate way to explain the beginning of WWII |
- Maxim of quality -> This starts with the right choice of topic. Honestly, who wants to know anything about what you had for lunch or what color you varnished your nails today? – NOBODY. Who wants to read an essay about globalization or global warming? – NOBODY (anymore). Secondly, you should convey the feeling that your post wasn’t written by a three-year old child in kindergarten or your dog, what you achieve by using a wider range of vocabulary and a good writing style which you might improve by looking at professional blogs.
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| A very competent ghostwriter indeed |
- Maxim of relation -> Stay with your topic! It’s as simple as that. If you write about forced child marriages in Nigeria then don’t space out in the middle of it and write about how beautiful the beaches there are and what special cocktails you can get there, that’s a little bit annoying, especially if the topic is actually interesting. Look at this for example:
“To make the perfect tiramisu, break an organic
egg and give it in a bowl. Did you by the way know that chicken at chicken
farms, which sell non-organic eggs, are hold in tiny little cages?! This is so
disgusting. Or cows for example, they are locked up in one space and can’t even
move properly and they’re always beaten. But, oh my god, I just love burgers, I
can’t do without them. I would buy organic meat though, but it’s so expensive
and I don’t have money because I’m a student. But maybe I could search for a
minor employment; does anybody know a good place to work at?”
Slightly
off the topic, am I right? Looks like an ADHD patient or someone on ecstasy wrote
this (no offence). Believe me, do your followers a favor and try to avoid this.
- Maxim of manner -> In linguistics this describes how you convey a message. According to this you should “avoid abusive speech” (oh come on, this isn’t a fucking presidential speech, this is a blog, so for fucks sake, swear when you need it - as long as it doesn't impair the quality too much, it's all fine), “avoid ambiguity” (hell NO, DO NOT avoid that, it’s too funny – spices every post), “be brief and avoid unnecessary prolixity” (well, that’s actually right) and “be orderly” (I would say, not a must but helps the reader a lot). So you see, two points are (in my opinion) absolute bullshit considering we are talking about blogs so I would modify the meaning of manner slightly and focus on the above mentioned “how to do it”. In short, use a decent amount of pictures and videos and whatever flavors your text! Also, pay attention to the design of your blog.
Is the text readable?
Does the background (color) fit?
Is it properly formatted (not too big, nor too small, not all cursive)?
Now guys,
that’s in my opinion all that a blog or a blogger needs, to make it a good
blog/blogger. One big thing I’ve forgotten to mention, though, and that’s fun.
HAVE FUN blogging around. You just have to enjoy it, otherwise the whole thing
won’t work. Having said that, I wish you great pleasure continuing and working
on your blog!
PS: To all
those, who mentioned and recommended my blog in their post –
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH!!!
It really is an honor for me and I’ll give my best to hold the work up
and improve it as much as possible.
