Spill It! Is Ego a Good Thing for a Blogger?
Ego. Blogging. The two are synonymous in the minds of critics of our craft. We do see plenty of bragging, some justified in the name of teaching others, some simply grandstanding among the competition.
My question is, is ego a good thing for a blogger to possess? Does it empower us? Does it force us to be more bold? Or does it ultimately harm our credibility? I have plenty of opinions, but I want to hear from you. I’ll weigh in later in the comments.
Fire away! Spill it – is ego ever a good thing for a blogger?
In addition to serving as Editor of Fuel Your Blogging, Brandon is also a Pastor at Saddleback Church and Online Community Coordinator for Pastors.com. He’s also a web designer, blogger, and church communications consultant. Catch him on his own blog or on Twitter.
I would think it harms credibility.
I saw a tweet the other day that said something like…look at this post…10,000+ views. It made me not want to check it out.
I know this probably sounds bad, but that’s how it made me feel. This is something that I’ve wrestled with because I don’t want to appear that I have one myself.
Michael, I tend to agree rather strongly.
To be honest, I think having a big ego will harm a blogger in the long run. Even if one writes mostly at an “expert” point of view, bragging and being egotistical only makes the reader uncomfortable and question whether it’s just a lot of B.S. I mean, you have to give your readers more credit, they can see if you’re using extravagance to prove a point or just to stroke your ego. Ego does not equate to expertise or credibility.
I think for this case it’s being confident in what you write about that matters. I read blogs because the personas behind it exude self-confidence. They may have occasional self-doubt but you know that their character is air-tight. They don’t have to be perfect for me to read them and believe in them. Just the fact that they’re real and honest already works.
Sure one may use ego sometimes if it’s to illustrate a point and to parody. Otherwise, we all just end up losing our readers.
Good point about losing readers, which are sort of important to bloggers.
Ego is good! You have a point of view, it makes your content your own. It makes it unique. Bragging,Grandstanding is just a form of insecurity and doesn’t show maturity. We shouldn’t be looking at ego in the negative sense.
An ego is needed for a blogger, else you become boring!
Good perspective, Shane. You link ego to confidence instead of arrogance.
I am bothered by the ego thing too in blogging. I am to much of a behind the scenes person.
I recently started a new personal blog and I began with the about page. I believe in being honest but I don’t believe in stretching the truth.
I would rather reflect the person I am rather than what I can do or grandstanding about how many people are following or reading my blog etc.
Ego can kill the whole atmosphere and environment of a blog I believe.
Grace, trust is a huge issue and you’re smart to raise it!
In my opinion, having the sort of ego that makes you think ‘I’m awesome, I can never fail!’ is a good mindset to have as although to some you might seem like a bit of an idiot, it’s a very optimistic look to have on things and provided you don’t go all ‘Kanye West’ on your readers, a little bit of ego in moderation is good, I think.
“Moderation” is probably a very good word to use in this conversation.