I read personal blogs. I like to know what my friends are thinking and writing them is a great way to relieve stress. There is nothing wrong with keeping a personal blog. We can't all be journalists. Heck I'm a journalist and I keep a personal blog.
That's why I kind of get worried when I see blogs with post entries like: Why I Hate Google Calendar or Macbooks to be Released on Tuesday. What has happened to all of the personal blogs? Since when did the blogosphere become the Associated Press?
Come on! How about being original for a change? I mean isn't that what makes a personal blog personal? If you think about it, some of the most successful bloggers out there write about their personal lives. I really miss reading personal blogs and I think I'm going to start reading them again.
Once again I'm opening up the conversation.
- Do you still read personal blogs?
- Should all blogs have a personal voice?
- Is there a place for professional journalism in the blogosphere?
Side note: What's with all of the trackback spam that we've been getting lately? Update: Ah I see the akismit spam blocker is starting to adjust to the new intruders. Keep up the work.
yeah I read them, if they are interesting and well written. It can be fun to surf about, reading whatever you come across.
I totally agree. If I want to know when the MacBooks are being released, I’ll set up a feed.
However, there are still a ton of personal blogs out there - you just have to look. Check out this thing I found the other day which is (in my opinion) the most amazing thing online.
-farlane
PS: With NBA Comix and a ton of other stuff, I feel my blog is one of the best on WordPress. How about a shout out??
As an addition. Just today I was reading a blog, on blogger, and it is pretty much a simple personal blog. Of course it is the personal blog of the guy who started The Church of Ed Wood.
Anyway the post linked above is an intensely personal story about an experience of racism. You don’t get that kind of stuff from news blogs.
Personal blogs are the way to go. Its nice to hear other people’s experience amidst all the daily rigmarole. If you want news just goto the BBC webpage. I think blogging need to be more personal!
later
shashank: yes you're right. although sometimes you can get away with it if you are an expert. for instance I love to read foogaming, a gaming weblog. the writers are gamers and they know their stuff.
farlane: we'll keep an eye on you're blog, you certainly have a lot of super cool pictures
It is amazing how things went a full circle. When blog started years ago as weblog, it IS personal.
First people got bored with static personal site and started to journal online. Then weblog became so pervasive and people started to get commercial, topic focus, seeking attention. Now blog became so associated with business that “personal” had to be added to blog.
WordPress has a very high techie quotient. Scoble is here, ferinstance, and any number of other techies. There are virtually none on LiveJournal, and there were none on Diary-X when it was around. It’s just horses for courses; I, personally, don’t look to blogs for news, but neither do I look to them for billions of iterations of “I hate my parents and math is hard.” Unfortunately, that a blog is personal doesn’t mean it’s interesting.
Very true raincoaster: but I guess you could also argue that listening to angsty kids is what you do when you read a personal friend’s blog.
The point of this post was to point out the fact that some people rip their posts from the headlines blockquotes and all.
There’s no magic bullet to creating good content. Because what the heck is content? ” Content” is such a broad word that everyone likes to throw around in an attempt to define good things.
Sure a copycat blog is better than a blank page…but at least the blank blog isn’t taking up any of my bandwith.
True. It’s harder to find good personal blogs, though, because they don’t have the sort of marketing system that techie blogs do. Techie blogs are well-up on all the latest Technorati, etc, so they tend to rank higher than other blogs, so we simply rarely see the personal blogs. And of those, the barrier to entry is so low that you do have to scroll through a fair number of them to get something fresh. Can you count the number of times you’ve seen a post title like “bad day”?
So not only are personal blogs hard to find, but well, this is the only site I’m aware of that ranks blogs by content. There are a ton of rate-my-blog sites, but most of the ones I’ve seen tend to rate it on how many widgets you have and if NIN plays when you open the page, rather than what you actually put in the blog. Maybe we should have awards like Webbys? Awards bring effort, and they bring attention; we wouldn’t blog if we didn’t want attention, would we? A diary is much more private.
Oh, I should have added that there is a place for professional journalism (of all kinds, not just techie) in the blogosphere, but that, by being so limited, they essentially each become microblogospheres themselves. They don’t talk to one another.
Scoble’s “No Women on the Blog A-List” post has brought this out, too. There are plenty of A-List women bloggers, but not in the tech world. Wonkette in politics and Gawker in media were started by women, just for a couple of examples.
There are increasing numbers of blogospheres: for the media world, for politics, for gadgets, for anime, for music, for video, and the great difficulty of the blogosphere is trying to connect them so that they don’t just become circle jerks. Maybe aggregators like BoingBoing and Fark are the evolution of the Blogosphere?
Probably because the professional journalist are too busy working. Writing is a chore. Even the mainstream bloggers hardley have enough time to respond to every single comment. It’s really too bad. Perhaps things will change.
This is a subject dear to my heart. I think the best kind of blog entry moves from the personal to the general, and I always try to do that when I write. So if something happens to me, I like to analyse it to figure out what fundamental human truth lies at the bottom of it. Grubbing about in the murky pool of the human soul, that’s what I like. Other personal blogs manage very well to include their readers by inviting other people’s comments on a familiar experience. That can work well too.
Well, I think good personal blogs are good to visit: the ones which have contents about the thoughts and ideologies of the blogger too; not only about his, say, sleep apnea, break-up with his girlfriend, dog who pooped on his couch, chat on the phone with somebody, etc. And unfortunately, most of personal blogs are filled with such “raves and rants and everything in between.” They are way too personal for anyone else to be interested in. Only their best friends may have some interestin in their stuff, hardly anyone else.
Some people do write so well that I’d read a grocery list, as long as it was by them. Check out Jonathan Tu’s blog on wordpress at It’s a Definite Maybe for one such example. I know nothing about football, and care less, but he writes so compellingly that he’s the only sportswriter since Hunter S. Thompson that I read daily.
Still, if I hadn’t randomly hit “Next Blog” one day, I’d never have found him.
Raincoaster, I’m in complete agreement with this last point — I care far less about the subject than I do about the writing. I like blogs with a real voice, written by someone who’s passionate about their subject, with well thought out views. That’s “personal” enough for me — I like to know a little about who the writer is, but not too much. It’s more fun to figure that out from reading someone’s work. Since there’s no systematic way to find these great blogs, when I stumble across one, I feel like I’ve won a little lotto prize or something. And that’s fun too.
1. Yes, absolutely.
2. No, but I think even thematic blogs can benefit from some personal voice, most of the time. Mind, I do view my science blog as a “professional” tool, so I do self-censor, the same way I do at work. But that doesn’t mean I’m striving for journalistic “neutrality” (I write journalistic articles when I want to do that).
3. Yes, but I prefer them to be in the minority, and I’ve rarely seen mainstream media succeed at using blogs well.
My favorite kinds of blogs are personal blogs, cooking blogs (one can never have enough recipes, and if the cook is interesting, even better), and “journal club” blogs, where professionals (often professors) analyze academic papers and put them into a readable context for the rest of us. I also read “tips” blogs, e.g. writing market news, photography how-tos, but not for the same reasons. I think there’s room in the blogosphere (oh, how that word makes me twitch) for all kinds of blogs!
I enjoy reading personal blogs. You realize how normal your life is, maybe even boring.
Wow we get a lot of response when we do articles like this. Maybe we should do them more often.
Yep, Michael, you are right.
oh wow haha, I blogged today about my frustration of having a million drafts and keeping my blog frm turning into a “personal” blog… but I guess its high-time I got down to jotting my thoughts and blogging abt my “vibrant” social life.
Yes, I still read a bunch of personal blogs. I guess if there’s a personal touch to it, people come back to the blog for more. Atleast I know I do
what I don’t uderstand is, like you pointed out earlier - people blogging abt the latest gadgets, some computer language. For instance, I’m on Blogger and nearly ALL of their “Blogs of Note” don’t make sense to me. And I’ve seen some really good blogs on there, but never featured. All the “great” blogs talk about Java, some application, open source stuff, etc. Anyway, that was a real good short post thing… you should do it more often indeed.
Perhaps people have decided that because it is a ‘personal’ blog they decide to keep it from showing up in search engines and do just that - keep it personal. I know of several friends who use blogs to keep a journal, but they do it just for their own satisfaction rahter than wanting others to see it. Therefore we might be getting a skewed impression of what people are blogging about, a bit like an iceberg, there is a lot more happening underneath the surface.
I write a personal blog, and for the most part I only read other personal blogs, with the exeption of sites like Gawker and Wonkette.
I chose not to have a blog with ads so that I won’t be tempted to “write for attention” just to increase traffic (although I did just notice that titling my last series “the Porn Queen Chronicles” - in jest! - caused my blog traffic to triple in volume!)
I wish all the techhie blogs could be ranked separately from the personal blogs.
I keep a personal blog, a poetry blog and an interview/arts blog but it is nothing like your typical newspaper blog but stuff that I really love and I don’t even try to keep a “neutral” tone - the whole point is I post what I like there.
To make the poetry blog more personal I like to sometimes write about things that bug me about the themes of poetry and I am trying to develop it into a notebook resource as I have seen some other really neat poet notebook blogs.
I love personal blogs like this which kind of bridge between personal and people’s occupations or great loves and passions like casseroles, or snowboarding - you learn a lot about their fields and not just their personalities.
Like most people I don’t like any SPAM - if I want to visit your blog, or site I will please don’t send me any more advertising from dodgy emails … dodgy advertising blogs….
Thanks for the kind words, raincoaster.
I like personal blogs and here I hope I see the best ones. And my language get better to read those blogs. I’m exactly from Holland and I try to write my blog in English. Its hard and I don’t know if I spell something wrong or that I make a wrong sanitise. Anyway to add more blogs on your blog try a sign up method. Whit a form to put them in the ride categories. Then you don’t need to find them, but check them. Making a compatison between all blogs… But then comes you need to promote it. That will be nice for every personal blog. To give them a change to show them self and not only the news blogs etc. They are easy to find something out, but it isn’t fun to ride.
Let me know what you think about this.
Greets Dennis and keep up the good work.
Glad to know someone thinks personal blogs are interesting, because mine is a personal blog. I started it as a travel diary when I went on a trip to the northern hemisphere, and I’ve kept it up since because I enjoy it, and I especially enjoy getting comments from readers.
Maybe we should create a personal blog network?
Yes I have a persoanl blog, and I find it helpful. I tend to write articles and post some of my poetry. No rants, I am a political moron, so try not to put my foot into that too much.
I don’t visit other blogs all that much. I just feel a need at this time of my life; I am 58, to write and then to send out.
Peace
Mark
What makes a good (personal) blog? I think that nobody has a dull story to tell. Its easy though to tell your story in a dull way. Supposedly we are all unique. And thats what you want to write about. What is it that makes you different to everyone else?
If you are hate your parents and find math hard fine, but put your own thoughts and views as well. Maybe its the fact that you are the local tiddlywinks champion that is the most important thing about you? Or maybe its that you have a collection of all sorts of different pins? (OK I stole the last idea from Terry Pratchett.). Even if you are not very good at writing it down you can get away with a lot if what you are writing about is interesting. After all your own peculiar brand of nerdiness/deviation from ‘normal’ is a million times more interesting than reading about Victoria Beckham.
[...]About your third question. Is there a place for professional journalism in the Blogosphere? I Have feel sometimes there’s a lingering question: Is there a place for the Blogosphere in professional journalism? Some people seem to be so concerned with correct style, that it seems to be the question from their vantage viewpoint. Unfortunately, the matter seems to raise more questions than answers. What am I blogging for? To get some attention? (some people are worried more about ratings and “Google Juice”). Do you mind if I do it just to get it out of my miserable system? (Again I risk some people considering this post offensive or politicaly incorrect).
Me, I’ll just go on blogging as long as I have the guts. O.K…Call
me a liberal. I’ll still take the chance.[...]
Original content and a fresh perspective in a blog is valuable to me. I like posts that make me think. Laugh. Surprise me. Give me a view I might not find on my own. Keep it short and sweet. Sometimes personal can get too personal. I don’t think readers are interested to know how many cups of coffee I had this morning. The intent of my blog is to spread a bit of light.
In reference to your quesions:
1. There is always something you can learn from others, their experience and expertise, feelings… Depending on your profession you can find peoples needs,desires and satisfy them.
2. If there was no personal vioce in your blog why should you or anyone write them - we could use computers and software instead that can accomplish anything in seconds automaticaly.
3. In the blogsphere there is some speace for everyone, however there should be solutions to separete good journalism from 5 years old blogger. I advice good services which recommend only good blogs in specified field.
Well, that’s my few lines along my feelings…
I love personal blogs! Its like a voyeuristic way to see what other people are thinking, doing and feeling. Reading up about technical things arent very fun. And why shouldnt blogs have a personal voice?
I am fairly new at blogging, and as fun as it is, its also a reminder of how hard it is to write. But I must say, if I am in the mood to write, it is quite an experience to share something personal with complete strangers.
I’ve had the same thought. I am actually a trained journalist and I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from a Big Ten college to prove it. But I have to say, I really hated being a reporter.
Anyway, I now blog, daily. And I have been trying to find top notch personal blogs to read, as well. I actually found you through a Google search of best personal blogs.
I’m going to check out your blog roll, you seem to have the same goal in mind that I have — finding good personal blogs to read.
Don’t get me wrong I have a stable of favorites, but I’d like to find some new stuff.