Comments on: Bloggers Unite: Let’s Keep the Blogosphere Clean

By: Brandon Cox

Brandon Cox — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:54:20 +0000

No problem, Brad. And I had in mind to develop another idea about the sheer amount of junk on the net, which is what really provoked this post and not so much the good inspirational stuff. Point well taken, though. And I’ll think about those subdivisions… :)

By: Brandon Cox

Brandon Cox — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:52:38 +0000

Yes, I should clarify that inspirational and round-up posts aren’t all bad – I think the web would be boring without them, but like junk food, they just shouldn’t be all that we consume or produce. Enjoy Brian’s post!

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Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:26:27 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brian Cray, kunto aji. kunto aji said: RT: @briancray: Bloggers Unite: Let’s Keep the Blogosphere Clean | Fuel Your Blogging http://bit.ly/6EZRzf [...]

By: Brad Harmon

Brad Harmon — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:05:06 +0000

Brandon,

I think the adage of everything in moderation is well used on this topic.

The more I think about your cloud series the more evidence of it I see throughout my own internet usage. For example, I have no idea who any of the people this blog post are. It would be a sad thing if inspirational posts and roundups were truly left to people outside my cloud.

I find great value in your weekly BIG lists, but I click on the links because of the quality of your other posts. Your lists add to my trust in you as an author too. If you are referring me to garbage then you won’t keep my trust long. I do agree they should be smaller lists, or at least organized into subsections (hint, hint). ;)

As far as inspirational posts, I don’t find that they lose their power as time go by. I think in many ways when you rediscover them on another person’s site two months later they may take on a whole other meaning or just provide a gentle reminder of what inspired you the first time. They’re certainly not pollution in my eyes.

I agree with you though that original detailed posts should be the pillars that support your blog. They are the foundation for everything else. Without them, what’s the point?

As always, a very thought provoking post. Keep up the good work.

Brad

By: Nic Rosental

Nic Rosental — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:58:56 +0000

I agree with everything that’s been said, but as Marco points out it’s very difficult to come up with in-depth quality content, so the temptation to do round-ups and such is great in order to avoid a dry spell.
I’ve set myself the goal to write at least one weekly post this year, and it’s been extremely hard with only four weeks down. However it did make me realize that I need to grow and break off from the same tutorial posts I’m used to doing; maybe I need to bring out some of those opinions of mine.

Now off to read Brian’s original post.

By: Brandon Cox

Brandon Cox — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:25:40 +0000

Marco, here’s my own, perhaps encouraging take on this subject. Think of your inspirational posts as highly productive in the moment, but your tutorials as a lasting influence. I have literally a thousand or more tutorials bookmarked in delicious about how to hack all kinds of things. I bring them up when I need them, but I don’t do that with inspiration posts which pass my eyes only one time.

So in other words, the posts that take the hardest work probably have the lasting impact.

By: Brandon Cox

Brandon Cox — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:18:34 +0000

Thanks again, Brian, for provoking things a bit, which prods us to do some self-examination and industry scrutiny. And a little self-scrutiny never hurt any of us.

By: Marco

Marco — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:21:56 +0000

I absolutely agree with you about these points! I’m trying to do less “inspirational” posts too (more tutorials etc.), and round-ups are a “no-go” .

But, there is one huge downside. Although I agree in-depth tutorials have way higher quality than a “100 best jQuery tutorials” round-ups, the in-depth one normally take way more time to create, but get lesser response (comments / visits). So, as it seems, a “round-up” is more valuable to the “regular” folks than an in-depth tutorial…

Too bad..

By: Brian Cray

Brian Cray — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:13:39 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the favorable blog reaction to my post! Because as you put it, not everyone reacted positively, I’m sure.

The post certainly did create a stir, going to the front page of hacker news, delicious, and a few others–so creating a stir or buzz certainly gets the conversation going, as long as you’re ranting with justification. =)

I am afraid that it will take much more than me to promote change in the design blogosphere, and I applaud Brandon and Fuel Your Blogging for furthering the discussion and planting the seeds for valuable content.