That's how Jeffrey Zeldman called it around this time last year. Blahg: when blogs go blah.
Honestly, blogging has been kind of... *thinks of a word, but couldn't think of any*... blah.
Passé. Overrated. Abused. Über-commercialized. Humdrum.
With the onslaught of MFA (Made For AdSense) blogs, I hate the fact that I keep seeing tons of "problogging" blogs who blog for money (and only for money). Their designs are awful, content is scrapped off somewhere else, and the adverts dominate the whole page. I mean, do you seriously think that people would read your stolen content, marvel at your oh-so-fugly looking adverts, and--*gasp*--click on them? I thought blogging was starting to be like nouveau journalism?
Who could blame them, though? With professional blogging hotshots evangelizing the emerging feasibility of earning a sustainable income through blogging, hell yeah, it's a great idea!
However, blogging is one thing. Blahgging is another.
From my linked examples, ProBlogger's Darren Rowse, DoshDosh's Maki, and JohnChow's, uh, John Chow, became very very successful not only because they're helping so many people with their useful blogging tips. They became celebrity bloggers (and relatively richer ones, at that!) because they've tapped into the best marketing idea in the history of the Internet: how to make easy money online. Also, these probloggers are blogging about blogging--it's the best niche yet, with tons of newbie bloggers popping up each day, all eager to earn six figures right from the get-go.
No, you can't be the next Darren Rowse (not at this point, at least) even if you linkbait [and SEO "blackhat"] your way to tons of traffic for your sub-standard blog. Blogs like these--the Cut/Copy+Paste variety--rarely survive. Only a few have been successful, and they have been successful because they're built on communites. Do you think that this would be sustainable? No, it won't be. I've seen tons of blogs go down to sub-standard splog quality, which is the typical route of the typical MFA (Made for AdSense) blog.
It's so easy to put up a blog. Get good hosting (like Frihost!), download and install WordPress, slap on a bunch of AdSense adverts on it, and subscribe to the popular feeds and post an excerpt from popular items that the world has talked about that day and voila: instant blog, and you don't have to think! (Just add hot water! Or something.)
Because of its simplicity, it's been so common now. Too common, in fact, that they're all starting to sound/read/look like each other, it's almost funny.
O where art thou, originality?
I just want nice blogs to read with owners who blog because they also like doing it and they care about their readers. Is that too much to ask for?
PS: Of course, there's this thing called community blogging--which is exactly what we have here on Frihost--but that's another issue for another blog entry.
Honestly, blogging has been kind of... *thinks of a word, but couldn't think of any*... blah.
Passé. Overrated. Abused. Über-commercialized. Humdrum.
With the onslaught of MFA (Made For AdSense) blogs, I hate the fact that I keep seeing tons of "problogging" blogs who blog for money (and only for money). Their designs are awful, content is scrapped off somewhere else, and the adverts dominate the whole page. I mean, do you seriously think that people would read your stolen content, marvel at your oh-so-fugly looking adverts, and--*gasp*--click on them? I thought blogging was starting to be like nouveau journalism?
Who could blame them, though? With professional blogging hotshots evangelizing the emerging feasibility of earning a sustainable income through blogging, hell yeah, it's a great idea!
However, blogging is one thing. Blahgging is another.
From my linked examples, ProBlogger's Darren Rowse, DoshDosh's Maki, and JohnChow's, uh, John Chow, became very very successful not only because they're helping so many people with their useful blogging tips. They became celebrity bloggers (and relatively richer ones, at that!) because they've tapped into the best marketing idea in the history of the Internet: how to make easy money online. Also, these probloggers are blogging about blogging--it's the best niche yet, with tons of newbie bloggers popping up each day, all eager to earn six figures right from the get-go.
No, you can't be the next Darren Rowse (not at this point, at least) even if you linkbait [and SEO "blackhat"] your way to tons of traffic for your sub-standard blog. Blogs like these--the Cut/Copy+Paste variety--rarely survive. Only a few have been successful, and they have been successful because they're built on communites. Do you think that this would be sustainable? No, it won't be. I've seen tons of blogs go down to sub-standard splog quality, which is the typical route of the typical MFA (Made for AdSense) blog.
It's so easy to put up a blog. Get good hosting (like Frihost!), download and install WordPress, slap on a bunch of AdSense adverts on it, and subscribe to the popular feeds and post an excerpt from popular items that the world has talked about that day and voila: instant blog, and you don't have to think! (Just add hot water! Or something.)
Because of its simplicity, it's been so common now. Too common, in fact, that they're all starting to sound/read/look like each other, it's almost funny.
O where art thou, originality?
I just want nice blogs to read with owners who blog because they also like doing it and they care about their readers. Is that too much to ask for?
PS: Of course, there's this thing called community blogging--which is exactly what we have here on Frihost--but that's another issue for another blog entry.
I'm loving it! 