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Bored. That is what us bloggers must be. Why? Because we seem to be so preoccupied recently (a phenomenon that has coincided with some interesting arrivals of late) with who is who and doing what and how often in our wondrously massive local blogging community.
Those who are mentioned “seem to not care” but care enough to blog about themselves being blogged about. I have been mentioned a fair amount and I am now partaking in my own condemnation (oh the irony). I am blogging about blogs by bloggers on blogging and bloggers and who’s the bestest of the best and whose daddy is bigger than whose mommy and who has the nicest fanciest shmanciest housiest home or rather, blog, and who is more influential than who and how often they influence those that influence others.
Can I just chime in here and say that I actually think it’s a load of rubbish. In spite of my participation in Mandy’s “Top Ten bloggers” post over at MoneyWeb I honestly think it’s irrelevant. Mandy asked on twitter yesterday: “Who has more influece?” and listed three bloggers for others to compare. Link. Bait. It’s link baiting. Not journalism. It’s irrelevant in my opinion (and only in my opinion). What does matter is that its time we refocus our energy on relevant content for the every day reader. Not the bloggers who blog about blogging.
Has content become so drab and non existent that we have turned to each other, looked one another in the blog and decided that we are the only content relevant enough to blog about? Are you kidding me?
I reiterate that I grasp the fact that I am doing the same thing right now that I am condemning, do not point it out in the comments, I get it, I know that I am doing it but occasionally it is unavoidable.
What I am getting at is that people like to stir the pot, we like to back rub, we like to have our backs rubbed, we all do and we all know it, we just can’t help ourselves. It’s the old adage that people like to see themselves on TV, look at America’s Funniest Home Videos. That show has never gone away and it’s because there are regular people focusing on people like themselves. That doesn’t make it good content though. It just makes it long-lasting.
Maybe it’s time I shift my focus to writing for readers, not bloggers. Writing for people and writing about things that people like to read. In my opinion readers don’t like to read about bloggers blogging about blogs and other bloggers egos and ranks and pages and pageranks and technorati and lists and links… see I’m bored already.
This, slayed me. For two reasons:
1. It completely eradicates the *readers* and makes them feel insignificant- they honestly don’t care about which blogger is more “influential” in my opinion. They read blogs for info, insight and occasionally either a laugh or a cry! And,
2. “Writing for people and writing about things that people like to read.” When I’m not writing for myself alone on my blog, this is the moral fiber I like to see in any blog. Yes, even the embarrassing bits that has apparently become my “niche”.
In a completely random nothing-to-do with this particular rant, I do have a competition running for bloggers, but ultimately the result will be for the reader, in order to get them to understand us bloggers a little more. I would love it if you took part. It could be a way of you kick-starting your new philosophy, perhaps.
Sorry, am an insomniac idiot - I cut off the first half of my comment.
It is supposed to start like this:
Omg Nic, I actually couldn’t agree with you any more:
“Has content become so drab and non existent that we have turned to each other, looked one another in the blog and decided that we are the only content relevant enough to blog about? Are you kidding me?”
I am so glad you wrote this Nic! Like SheBee, I couldn’t agree with you more.
I am so bored with bloggers blogging about the blogs that blogged about them. I really don’t give a toss.
Seeing people so far up each other’s (and their own) a$$es is such a turn off. I want the content that attracted me to the blog in the first place!
I find the best answer to this is to ignore it. It’s not as if there’s anyone dictating what I have to blog about, and a quick look at my archives will reveal that.
I figure that blogging about something that everyone else is already aware of is pointless, maybe even unproductive. Especially De Waal’s latest attempts to draw traffic to Artificial Intelligence/Moneyweb. We all know about it - why bother wasting energy on blogging it?
~ Wogan
The question for me is not so much blogging about blogging, it’s about using the influence you’ve got to drive traffic to your stories, to make them seem more respected, to get more work/advertising. I guess that bloggers are in it to be read, as are journalists, but I struggle to decide whether Mandy’s blogging about her blog and her websites, tweeting about articles before, during and after their construction, is building clever hype, or whether it’s just self-promotion to boost her hits to make herself seem more popular online etc. Not sure. Don’t think anyone’s put etiquette in place about these things - or if it’s so old media to get offended by them…
more waffle.
You hit the nail on the head here - many times.
But especially when you say that you will write for “readers, not bloggers”. Actually, most blogs are written for the WRITER, not the reader. We enjoy getting things off our chest, as you have done here, and if some others read it and comment, so much the better.
That is why there are no “influential” bloggers out here. Our goal is not to affect, but to be heard. There is a big difference, and an essential one.
There should be no onus on us to write something profound, life-changing, radical or great. We should just write. And if we write well, the audience will find us. And if not, then not.
But the idea that we need to be “influential” as bloggers goes, in my opinion, against the very grain of what blogging is. If you want to be influential, you have to BE influential - and blogs are just a tool, not a means.
So yes, as a blogger for my own blog, or for Thought Leader, I write about what I want to write about. I never think that this is going to get a lot of page views, or start a heated debate, or whatever. I use the blogs as a platform for my views, which I would have whether I was blogging or not.
And of course, it feels GREAT when people respond, one way or the other. But rather than mould writing to fit an audience profile, a blogger should change their audience if it does not gel with their opinions or writing styles.
There is just too much expectations placed on the whole blogging platform: just let us continue to write for ourselves, share our views, and let the rest take care of itself.
(Which, incidentally, is why most successful blogs are NOT written by professional journalists).
Gmk - exactly.
Kerry - I agree with you. I think Mandy has done a phenomenal job of placing herself smack bang in the middle of the storm and stirred it up.
I grow tiresome though.
Eve - 100% agree with you and I think it’s a very hard balance for writers. To balance content for yourself, your readers, your advertisers, income, etc etc. It’s hard to know where the line is and when you’ve crossed it. I think I’ve crossed it and have gone over to the dark side.
justbcoz & Shebee - thanks dudes!! Glad you agree, it’s nice for a change and yes, I know that I am writing boring banter for the blogging people out there, i know!
Look, I’d like to address Kerry’s point for a sec.
While I understand what you’re getting at, I think of twittering links as this:
If you as a blogger were to replace it by, say, being a Restaurant owner, I’d liken twittering links to saying to your average customer “please come again, tell all your friends”.
I personally don’t see anything wrong with linking to one of your articles via Twitter, with a bi line of what it is to give users the choice whether to click or not.
Its generating hits from people who choose to click or not. Ultimately, we can’t really be coy about wanting traffic on our sites. Everyone wants their say to be heard.
Sorry if this makes little sense, I’ve had two hours sleep in as many days and a really hectic night behind me.
I couldn’t agree more. I have read a number of articles lately, including Mandy’s, where she talks about all the “bloggers” and you’re spot on.. it’s not journalism, it’s merely listing the bloggers and backlinking to attract traffic, that’s it, no substance at all!
I’m getting sick of all of this as well and have moved myself aside for a while and will watch from afar and see if some relevant material comes into play and not this continual circle jerking.
Great article Nic!
Very encouraging post, there is hope for our SA blogosphere yet
Am especially glad that Mandy’s malicious stirring has been exposed for the cheap linkbaiting that it is, reminds me of a shrill old shrew who insists on forcing her way into conversations at parties, pathetic!
Hi Nic,
I share your weariness on the matter. I irks me to no end when I go on someone’s blog, and read about them writing about some other blogger. The worst is when they communicate to one another via blog posts (characterised by comments littered with
or 
at the end) or make use of personal in-jokes that I don’t get.
But yes, the constant references and write-ups about other local bloggers and the things they are up to just perpetuates the whole “circle jerk” mentality and reputation that the local SA blogging community unfortunately still has.
Fantastic article Nic. You’ve managed to put into words what I’ve been feeling for a while.
I believe that the problem has a number of sides, each of which could fill a post and 500 comments! Three quick points.
1. Advertising. Put paid ads on your side and you will naturally go overboard on the self promotion bit. Every click counts so push it as hard as you can.
2. Fame. The blogging scene in SA seems to have more than its fair share of fame seekers. Too many people want to be influential, famous, the latest and greatest.
3. Closed circle. In my opinion, much of the SA blogosphere is a closed circle of bloggers linking to each other (great for SEO) and pumping up each other’s egos.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of paid ads on blogs. That’s not why you blog (or is it?). If it is, I’m very unlikely to bother reading your content because I know you’re writing to get as much audience as you can and to please your advertisers.
Fame. This is plain ridiculous. Anyone who’s blogging in order to get themselves known is in it for the wrong reasons and gets a -1 vote from me.
Very rarely do I see any interesting content on a local blog. There are a few recent posts that come to mind, but certainly a very small portion when compared to how many “well known” SA bloggers there are. It’s a shame really.
This is the reason why I continue to read a large number of offshore blogs. http://www.randsinrepose.com and http://www.kottke.org being my top 2 for about 5 years now.
Guys, open your eyes to the bigger picture, understand what your readers are actually interested in and please, stop whoring yourselves out to the highest bidder.
[...] boet Nic. I see you are getting a little fedup around people blogging about blogging. I have long since realised the bloody exact same thing. Why do you oldschoolers out there think I [...]
Thanks for the post Nic. It is a simple trick: blog about bloggers and people will read it and link to it. There is nothing more to what Mandy is doing on Moneyweb and ITWeb and because of the narcissistic nature of bloggers it works exactly as expected.
[...] I the only one who find it supremely ironic that Nic’s rant against meta-blogging is supposed to be read by other [...]
I guess I didn’t make my points clear enough.
Sometimes our audience is other bloggers. So what?
Who cares if we decide to back rub, foot rub, nose rub, rub rub, or navel gaze?
It’s a free (attention) market, my boy.
If people want to read, they will read. If we insult them enough by posting things they don’t want to read, they will stop reading.
My other point is that yes, this is ironic. It’s funny too.
It takes some cajones to say: “Hey, don’t do what I’m doing right now. Stop it. I know I’m doing it, so don’t tell me I’m doing it. You should stop it regardless. Sometimes it unavoidable. But don’t do it. Do as I say, not as I do.”
I could say “Show, don’t tell” or “Be a living example”, but that would be like saying “I told you so”.
By the way, I told you so.
Ah!! Gustav!!
My mistake, I get you now!
I see your point. And yes, sometimes bloggers are readers too, alot of the time in fact. But when you start writing posts about who’s a better blogger, more influential, top ten, bottom ten, no ten, fifteen etc etc. It get’s to be too much and readers lose out in the end.
Meh. What is this? First rule about blogging is dont’ talk about blogging? Bollocks. Everyone loves a little link love. And I’m sorry to say, but if you look at all the mooootual smooozing, back rubbing and link lovin’ going on in the top tens of Mandy’s post on MoneyWeb, maybe you might think she’s makin’ a little point. Or something.
Mind you, I’m just bitter I didn’t get a mention. Or asked to quote my top 10.
Note to self: Must get better at back rubbing. Must post less about hangovers and French Toast. Must be more influencial.
Dolce - uhu, I hear you. Hence my blog post. And I didn’t say rules, no rules, just my opinion. no rules and ruling, im not influential enough to make rules for the “sphere”.
Well, all I can say, is at least “photography” makes a nice big appearance in your tag cloud, or you’d be in trouble laddie!
Hahahaha - phew! One saving grace!!
When I read Mandy’s question yesterday on twitter, first thing that came on my mind was, stupid question but you beat me to it.
Eve says it right that most popular blogs aren’t written by proffessional journalists and there is a reason for this, the old characteristic of journalism grab the headlines by whatever means even if it means enganging in inane stuff.
In this it doesn’t seem clear who Mandy’s audience is!
Hey Nic,
Nice post. I agree with everything, and to be honest after Mandy’s tweet yesterday I stopped following her.
I guess some people just don’t understand the whole “Web2.0TwitterBloggingFacebookSocialMedia” frenzy that is happening, and just climb on the bandwagon.
Oh well, at least I don’t have to hear the “noise” anymore
Now it would be very easy to jump in here and agree with everyone’s sentiments just to make sure I please the crowd. But that wouldn’t be entirely honest.
You see, I get mentioned often enough and Mandy chose to write a thingy about me, and I was one of the three “influence” names in the Twitter fiasco. Honestly - I love the attention. It’s good for my brand, does wonders for my rather large ego and even results in business. I am, on occasion, driven by many of the characteristics that Conrad lists in his response to this post: Self-entitlement, Self-righteousness, Egotistical, Egomaniac, Choirpreaching… I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a fact.
But I honestly believe too that I add some value to this community and the one who thinks we’re all weird. That is my contribution - translation. The mediator between geeks and ordinary humans.
Bottom line - I agree and disagree. There is without a doubt too much navel-gazing and circle-jerking in the South African blogosphere. It can be pathetic at times. But some of it is human nature, and not the nature of the SA blogosphere.
On the other hand, I think exceptional words, thoughts and deeds should be highlighted by the community. There’s a reason Robert Scoble is who he is. It’s not for his looks. Do we condemn him because he features on every ‘Web celebrity’ and ‘power blogger’ list. Do we hate him because he has a higher Technorati ranking than us? I think not.
This is not an ‘either or’ discussion. It’s a ‘both and’. The key is balance. A balanced view on the view, a balanced approach to content and a balanced view of who’s influential and who isn’t.
If I am ‘influential’ in a blogosphere that spans no more than 500 people in the shade, and that makes me think I am a special human being - well then that’s sad. There’s more to life than my Feedburner count, trust me.
That’s not going to stop me showing it off though
“A balanced view on the view” should read something else, but sadly I can’t remember what…
Great article.
It totally annoys when people do that.
Now days if you read on twitter or blogs everyone seems to be a media strategist.
Just look on Amatomu all the bloggers register there, then we can see who blogs and who does not.
People we have places like Afrigator as well which is great.
Lets use those things and stop telling who’s biggest and best. Look at the stats. If someone really is that great it will show for itself.
Cheers.
LoL, Just looking at your tags there
I was just thinking about all of this today. Blogging about blogging. The fact is, what Mandy is doing is working because here we are, discussing her. Her Google Alert must be driving her insane.
[...] about blogging and change the wwworld Categories: Africa skip to comments Hey, why are we blogging about blogging about blogging when we can use the platforms at our fingertips to change the [...]
Mike - “Don’t bite the hand that feeds” pops in to my mind for some reason!!
I see your point and I’m really glad you commented and were honest. In fact I don’t think that you are going against the grain on this one, it’s just a few people who have an opinion that moves against the opinions of late (last month or two) so it seems like everyone agrees.
Hell I don’t agree all the time with what I’ve written, Im a large part of the “circle-jerk” and I know that. I wont deny it, I’ve benefited from and hope that Mandy will do a write up on me someday soon! But that doesn’t mean that I can’t have an opinion about it you know?
You’re so right, I couldn’t agree more!!!
South African bloggers think they are so cutting edge, but instead of bringing cutting edge news, they just waffle on about themselves. It’s like a roomful of nerds talking about how great they are, when in actual fact there is a whole other world out there to which they are oblivious.
THANK you for pointing this out.
In all honestly I feel that there are a few bloggers who have come to dominate the arena to a point where it almost becomes impossible for other bloggers to become ‘relevant.’ I mean when last was there a significant change in the Amatomu or Technorati rankings for example?
It almost seems like a case of the rich getting richer where those who have (in all fairness) generated a loyal following CAN blog about bloggers blogging about blogs that concern blogging (etc) and still get the most attention…
Glory hallelujah!
Top post! I didn’t enjoy that Moneyweb article and thought it was seriously pointless.
It would have been far more valuable if you had asked the clever okes like Mike HOW they got it right, WHY they are a success and HOW they turn these skills into $$$
[...] btw… Nic has a very interesting post about bloggers all blogging about blogging. [...]
What was the question again?
Go Nic you biscuit!
Hahahaha, traps, you crack me up. See you still blogging like a man possessed on the Leaders! Great stuff, keep it going, loving your stuff.
Nics soon launching a huge site not competing with TL and you will be invited.
To join in not to read my buddy. Good men are hard to find.
This will be my 5th site but TL will always be my first love.
Hmmm Traps - That sounds extremely interesting. Let me know what I can do and I’m there!!
Drop me a call sometime, let’s do lunch.
Will do in the next few days.
Try and behave in the meantime….
[...] Nic Haralambous (try saying that three times quick) told us we blogged too much about blogging, people fell over themselves to [...]