I’ve been toying with a few ideas regarding the future direction of lowmag.net. The first of these ideas involves more and longer articles, and less “quickie” posts. Read on for the reasons behind my change in attitude toward weblogging.
Recently, during a discussion I had with Celeste, she commented that the “quote and article and comment” model for web-logging is dull. I can take it one further, because I think this model is not only dead, but the heart of a bigger issue. I, therefore, no longer want to run what we commonly refer to as a weblog. There are three core reasons why I no longer love the weblog.
- Weblogs limit discussion to current events, which are already history.
- They make your public face too much like every other.
- The format doesn’t encourage new avenues of thinking.
Signs of Old Age
A lot of content on lowmag.net doesn’t age well. The latest political imbroglio over <insert subject here> isn’t relevant in a week’s time. Once the noise dies down, the article is useless. Hence my new first rule:
Rule 1: Write for longevity.
Writing for longevity is paradoxically both difficult and natural. It is difficult because we are rooted in the present, and we find it difficult to think about anything but. It is natural because we are ruminators and dreamers.
In a recent post, I disagreed with an article on Anandtech’s in which they reviewed two monitors. Throughout the article, I noticed a trend: although quality and design was repeatedly mentioned as a point in favour of one product, the quantity arguments (for features, cost) won over the reviewer.
I wrote a counterpoint to the article. My post was not about sticking up for the “losing” product. My point was that quality is still more important than quantity, even in a commoditised environment. This is a point I needed to make, considering the lack of quality I see in products every day.
For the first time in a long while, I got linked to. I think this is more due to the argument itself than than the currency of the post.
Carbon Copies
The “quote-and-comment” nature of web-logging leads to repetition in one’s news reader.
I watch several Apple-related weblogs. Within that small set, I have found several redundant links to the same 4-5 pages about OS X 10.4. I was frustrated that most weblog authors didn’t bother to share their own thoughts on the subject.
If you look toward other weblogs and sites to fuel your content, you’re boring. del.icio.us and boingboing exist for a reason. I have unsubscribed from Engadget, Gizmodo, and similar sites because they were clones. This leads me to my second rule:
Rule 2: Say something else.
What does this mean to the weblog? Mainly, stay away from the news, and post what you know best.
For example, Celeste, a consummate usability geek, recently posted an article about usability “buzz-worth” and everyone’s a pseudo-expertise because it looks good on resume;. It was well written, and presented an interesting subject with anchors in her work experience. Her experience is worth more than a quoted Wired article.
Think for Yourself
If you are going to write about current events, pick a subject that is currently non-mainstream. I don’t like reading “Pope * is evil be bad because…” post. That sort of post is about as exciting as the love life of a movie star.
If I don’t want to read it, then why should I subject you, the reader to his rubbish? I don’t want to contribute to the pabulum of the blogosphere.
Rule 3: Use your unique insight.
Don’t use a popular subject as a crutch. Write what you know and exprerience. Don’t shoot for popularity, and stay away from “Done” subjects.
Conclusion
It’s the beginnning of a whole new lowmag.net, and I haven’t even got into the technical side of upcoming changes. I hope to write more on the technical side next, so stay tuned.
So what do you think about my direction so far? Was this article too obvious? Too long? Not long enough? Please write a comment and let me know what you think/feel.
Comment (1)
I think one of the content related issues of weblogging (the popular term; known as journalling a few years ago) is in part fault of the excellent CMSes available to the every day user. Before, unless you was a subscriber to a system such as LiveJournal, it was a pain in the ass to make static updates, write your own software, or find quality software to make daily updates.
Now days, it is incredibly easy to have a weblog and update it often, and I think people are so excited about this they will post anything just to use the damn things. No longer do people put the time and effort in to writing about themselves or something interesting (where the effort and content matched the work required). Instead they happily MLP anything interesting they read on Wired, even when most of their friends have already seen it.
Nik Bonaddio once said weblogs killed the WWW. I never understood what he meant until now. Its not much of a web if the content only links back to itself.