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June 26, 2003
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Since it's free, the blogosphere is inherently not a 'free
market' of ideas, creations and perspectives. There is supply and demand,
of course, but there is an oversupply of stuff that is easy to produce and
self-indulgent (no criticism intended here: the essence of a personal journal
is the prerogative of the journalist to write whatever and however much he
or she desires). There is, as a corollary, a shortage of supply of stuff
that is hard to write and might otherwise be provided in return for financial
or other reward.
The demand is hard to gauge, since it cannot readily be valued, and since
there is no established place or mechanism for capturing or assessing readers'
unmet needs.
Yet we can read between the lines and ascertain, I think, some broad blogosphere
preferences that we, as writers, might want to keep at least in the back of
our minds:
Blog readers want to see
more:
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- original research
- original, well-crafted fiction
- news not found anywhere else
- category killers: aggregators that capture the best of many
blogs/feeds, so they need not be read individually
- clever, concise political opinion consistent with the reader's
own views
- benchmarks
- stories
- insight: leading-edge thinking
- short educational pieces
- relevant "aha" graphics
- fun stuff: quizzes, self-evaluations, other interactive
content
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Blog writers want to see more:
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- constructive criticism
- 'thank you' comments
- requests for posts on specific subjects
- foundation articles: posts that they can build on
- reading lists/aggregations of material on specific, leading-edge
subjects that they can use as resource material
- wonderful examples of writing of a particular genre, that
they can learn from
- guidance on how to write in the strange world of weblogs
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Fellow bloggers, do you agree? Let me know what's missing.
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4:17:44 PM 
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© Copyright 2004
Dave Pollard.
Last update:
19/02/2004; 2:48:19 PM. |
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WHAT
THE BLOGOSPHERE WANTS MORE OF
Blog readers
want to
see
more:
|
- original
research,
surveys etc.
- original,
well-crafted
fiction
- great
finds: resources,
blogs,
essays, artistic works
- news
not found anywhere
else
- category
killers:
aggregators that
capture the best
of
many blogs/feeds, so they need not be read individually
- clever,
concise
political opinion
(most readers
prefer these consistent with their own views)
- benchmarks,
quantitative analysis
- personal
stories,
experiences,
lessons learned
- first-hand
accounts
- live
reports from events
- insight:
leading-edge thinking
&
novel
perspectives
- short
educational pieces
- relevant
"aha" graphics
- great
photos
- useful
tools and
checklists
- précis,
summaries, reviews and
other
time-savers
- fun
stuff: quizzes,
self-evaluations,
other
interactive content
|
Blog writers
want to
see
more:
|
- constructive
criticism,
reaction,
feedback
- 'thank
you' comments,
and why readers liked their
post
- requests
for future
posts on specific
subjects
- foundation
articles:
posts that
writers can build on,
on their own blogs
- reading
lists/aggregations of
material on specific,
leading-edge subjects that writers can use as resource material
- wonderful
examples of
writing of a
particular genre,
that they can learn from
- comments
that engender
lively
discussion
- guidance on
how to write in
the
strange world of
weblogs
|
|
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
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MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
