Are You A Blogger Or Just Posting Stuff Online?

Bill, thank you for you comment. Finding an audience is so important, even if you're just writing about experiences from your life. Due to everyone's differing opinions and places, those experiences will appeal to different sects of people. Granted they can be both wide and niche sets, but not every story will appeal to every person. Finding and understand who those readers are will help you grow as a writer and I'm so happy you found your audience.

Thanks so much for commenting and bringing up that great example!

Cheers!

Haha, I really appreciate your comment and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I knew that this post would get a lot of feelings on both sides of the fence, but I tried to take a serious approach while not taking it seriously, does that make sense? I wanted to leave the definition vague enough to include everyone that wanted to be included but still make the point that I think people should take it seriously.

Oh well, you can't please all the people all the time...

Cheers!

Good points and thoughts. Thanks for sharing them today.

To your points, I think I maybe wasn't clear enough. I tried to leave the definition open enough to include all people who are passionate about their writing (as you so clearly are). Nowhere in my post did I say you had to get paid or be professional to fit in. Basically all I said was that it's something you take seriously and believe in and I am by no means trying to "take that away" from anyone. A blog as an extension of your offline self is one of the best fits for the definition I posited (as I said in the post), but I'm sorry if I angered you with it.

I did want to clarify one thing you said, you said you never call yourself a blogger anymore, yet you used to be one, although you still blog regularly. Unless you were being sarcastic and I missed it, it would seem you feel almost the same way, that there is some sort of qualifying set that bloggers fall into. Did I just misunderstand you?

As for your baseball example, never did I say you can't say you blog, as you hinted with your example. I think most people would find it silly for that same weekend competitive player to answer the question "So, what do you do?" with the answer "I'm a baseball player." I'm in no way saying he can't say he plays baseball. There's a difference in the two statements and I was just saying I feel there should be a different mindset between those for whom blogging is an extension of their life and person and those who could care less about it and abandon their blogs within a month or two.

Thank you for your comment.

It definitely sparked some conversation (which I figured it would) and it's interesting because I totally agree with your last comment. I didn't mention anything about quality when I wrote the post specifically because I didn't want to lock in some "you're not as good as me" mentality. I expect different things from blogs the same way that I expect different things from authors and painters, etc.

Thanks for jumping into the discussion with good points and a willingness to converse. I think we are on similar pages and am happy we got to talk today.

Cheers!

Matt, I think you've put forth a well-formed dissenting opinion. I actually agree with most of what you wrote. I love blogging for all the same reasons: low barrier of entry, anyone can take it up, comfort levels, etc. I can also see how feeling like putting any sort of defining characteristics on it does it a disservice.

What I see happening and fear solidifying are an offshoot of something you mentioned. You said you already have a preconceived notion of what a "writer" is, yet you have no judgements towards blogging. What I fear happening is that having no thoughts or judgments is in fact a form of preconceived notions and extends far into the world of "real business" to the point where blogging is brushed aside. I know so many bloggers (not people making a living from it) that put so much effort into their craft, that ignoring what they do as "just whatever" I feel is an injustice to them and the artform.

I have no desire to raise the barrier of entry and this has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, good or otherwise, I guess this was just my way of standing up for those people who put their hearts and lives into their blogs and continually get lumped in with "those online people." This falls into the realm of the age-old argument for "What is art?" I'm not sure there is a right answer, but this was mine.

Thanks for your comment! : )

Haha, digress as you will, I have the same trepidation with that thinking. I personally don't feel that to be good at something or be taken seriously you have to be paid for it. I think it comes down to how you personally feel about the action and whether or not you take it seriously. Running is a good example of that because I can buy shoes and run but not be professional at it, but if I care enough to feel it is part of my being enough to put effort to it, that's good enough for me.

Maybe the sports analogy is flawed in that regard, but I used a wide example to try and explain my thoughts. Possibly I missed the mark on that example.

Thanks fo your comment!

Wow, thanks for the heartfelt opinion. I'll ask the same thing to you that I asked to Colin earlier, are you saying living an interesting life isn't a form of researching, if that's your focal point of writing? I would say that it is. You also say that basketball is a bad example and kills my argument, but how would you feel if you asked what someone does and they replied "I'm a basketball player" when all they ever do is throw a ball through a hoop-like object occasionally.

I would never discourage someone from writing, ever. I'm a very vocal proponent for wanting people to write if they have a desire for it and doing what I can to help. I agree that blogging is what it is, but what exactly is that? How would you define it? I noticed you didn't give a better definition. Is someone a blogger if they posted one thing, 4 years ago? Is someone a blogger if they steal and repost what other people write and claim it's there own? Judy mentioned it in an earlier comment that there isn't really a definition of blogging everyone accepts and I just wanted to attempt to tackle the challenge of putting a thought to it. I tried to leave it wide enough to include everyone that takes the art seriously. I have no problem with anyone posting anything that they want to online, never would I tell them to stop.

I really do appreciate your comment and dissenting opinion and if there's a better definition out there or that we can build together, I'm all for it. This was just my take on how I see it. Maybe we can do better together.

Joey, it seems that you're tying this discussion to profession and earning, but in fact, for most bloggers it should be considered a hobby, like restoring cars is a hobby. Some do it for a living. Most don't. What's the reaction supposed to be when somebody says "I'm a basketball player"? To me it's "Oh OK, what else do you do that makes you interesting?". If said person said "I'm a professional basketball player and I play for the Celtics" then I could freely and rightfully call BS.

Using the "one post every 4 years analogy" is odd to me. How many times have you ran into that person who then said they're a "blogger"? I think, for the most part, people know if they're doing it for the heck of it or not. I've never run into that situation. I have run into situations when somebody says "I'm a full-time blogger" and has an active blog to which my response is "So you're unemployed and filling up time until you can get a job?", not because I'm a dick, but because most of the time it's true. It's also a way of saying "I'm trying to stay productive and hone some skills while I get back into the workforce". Rarely do you run into the person who is paying the rent with their blog.

I don't think we need clarification or definitions here. Stupid is what stupid does and blogging is what blogging does. It's an open canvas. Grab some paint and go nucking futs.

PS - I don't think life is a form of research. Research can be a component of it's scope, but only when curiosity forces you to do it. Life should be a series of experiences that prepares you for more experiences. When I write it comes from those experiences, which is what I learned to leverage from the authors I love and respect. Writing from that place of honesty and realism, for me, makes the writing more lively and because of that you will find very little research in my pieces.

I by no means am tying this to profession and earning, but I do feel we are to the point where a general understanding should be in place. I don't earn anything from my personal blogs. I write them because I have a passion for what I talk about and a community that I'm happy to be a part of.

Saying stupid is as stupid does and blogging is what blogging does is, I feel, a lazy way out. It's ignoring that idea that many people take the art seriously and might not like being lumped into the same category as stupid. Outside of setting a clear definition for blogging (which I said many times, I'm not the final authority on), I'd like to see people get away from the idea that blogging isn't real or serious enough to be understood. As I say in the post, there's a lot of people who put a lot of heart into what they do and I feel they should be appreciated as bloggers and not just "those people that are posting stuff online."

Never would I say there's a clear set of rules for how to blog, but I do think there should be some sort of separation between the idea of blogging and "just dickin around on the web."

Thanks Judy, I missed last week so I had to come back with a bang. The simple fact that blogging is nearly impossible to define is what interested me to tackle it in some form or fashion. Even if I was completely outvoted, I knew it would lead to great discussion.

"Blogging isn’t journalism (by the strictest definition). It isn’t opinion. It isn’t an academic research paper. It isn’t a magazine article. It isn’t a diary entry. It isn’t a poem. Or a short story.

And yet it can be all of that—and more."

I love how you put that and I feel the same way. I was very careful in my definition to not box the art into a specific category of writing because I love that aspect of it. Art is what you make of it and that's what makes it beautiful. I believe blogging is an art and should be taken seriously as such.

Thanks for the awesome comment!

Most of the time, I casually read this site via RSS. This morning, however, a single line jumped right off the screen and punched me square in the chest. Stunned, I leaned back in my chair. "This post is almost identical to the one I went live with this morning, only from a different perspective."

You, sir, said, "There’s a difference between blogging and just posting shit online."

You called everyone out up front, while I opted to close on such a thought. I said, "In the end, gearhead clubs like these would be all about getting things done; getting our machines out into the world to do what we bought them to do."

Judy's comment on journalism also struck a chord. It's a question of context. When you, as a blogger, know your audience, and you know what you want to do for them, the rest of the pieces tend to fall into place. It's no longer a question of "What am I going to write?" But of "Where am I going to find the time to develop all these ideas?"

I could prattle on, but I leave with this thought, the things we have in common enable us to realize the potential of our differences. I'm a gearhead. I write to help gearheads build high performance machines & lives. I see what you did here, today. I respect it. I appreciate it.

Thank you for the shot in the arm.

Brian, thanks for your comment. I knew this post would do a couple of things: 1. I knew it would be punch in the arm for some. 2. I knew a lot of people would disagree/become uncomfortable with me trying to define blogging and 3. Some people would agree with me.

I appreciate your thoughts and it's interesting we would have similar thoughts go live on that same day. Thank you.

Commenting and engaging is one of the best ways I improved my writing. Knowing people would see what I wrote and form opinions about it, I took time and energy to really understand what I was saying and understood my arguments and points.

I hope your blogging journey is a great one and I hope you stick around and comment on our posts here. Happy to have you as part of the community!

Bill, thank you for you comment. Finding an audience is so important, even if you're just writing about experiences from your life. Due to everyone's differing opinions and places, those experiences will appeal to different sects of people. Granted they can be both wide and niche sets, but not every story will appeal to every person. Finding and understand who those readers are will help you grow as a writer and I'm so happy you found your audience.

Thanks so much for commenting and bringing up that great example!

Cheers!

I agree wholeheartedly. Those that write with passion and conviction are the writers I prefer as well. I think it's great that you're comfortable with how you define yourself and I feel the same way. One of the main reasons I even wrote this in the first place was to stand up for people who put so much passion into what they do and get zero recognition because they're merely seen as "just a blogger". I personally know how much work it is to consistently write, as I'm sure you do as well, I just hope one day those efforts are recognized by the wider writing communities. I think the trend is starting, this was my way of giving it a little push.

Thanks for your comment! : )

I can appreciate that, but I think that we give too much credence to what others sometimes say about blogging. My success as a blogger isn't tied into whether some people view me through the stereotype of nerd living in his mother's basement.

It is based upon my abilities to effectively market my skills and abilities. Most of us aren't very good at engaging in self promotion but the blog provides so many tools and resources for doing so. Really, I wrote the best cover letter ever and generated work for myself because they appreciated my writing.

All that being said, I am appreciative of your efforts here because it certainly can't hurt to push for better recognition.

I have no disagreement with anything you said. I've generated work through blogging as well and didn't want the piece to come off as a nerd complaining that people aren't appreciating me. I've just seen a huge upshoot in social media (being a SM consultant) and even though blogging's been around longer as an artform, it didn't really catch the same wave. I think the two digital mediums should rise together. : )

I agree wholeheartedly. Those that write with passion and conviction are the writers I prefer as well. I think it's great that you're comfortable with how you define yourself and I feel the same way. One of the main reasons I even wrote this in the first place was to stand up for people who put so much passion into what they do and get zero recognition because they're merely seen as "just a blogger". I personally know how much work it is to consistently write, as I'm sure you do as well, I just hope one day those efforts are recognized by the wider writing communities. I think the trend is starting, this was my way of giving it a little push.

Thanks for your comment! : )

I would say photo and video blogs are a perfect fit to the definition. I talked about writing in the piece some because I'm more of a writer, but the definition itself can fit anyone who is producing any kind of content for their audience. I think photo bloggers and vloggers are some of the most talented bloggers out there right now.

Awesome point and thanks for bringing it up to be clarified! : )

I enjoy starting conversations. I'm not saying there's a definite answer here, but I would like to see steps taken to amplify those that put such time and effort into their blogs and don't get the respect they deserve because of their medium. That was really the inspiration behind the idea.

Also, it's fun to ruffle feathers every now and again. : )

I enjoy starting conversations. I'm not saying there's a definite answer here, but I would like to see steps taken to amplify those that put such time and effort into their blogs and don't get the respect they deserve because of their medium. That was really the inspiration behind the idea.

Also, it's fun to ruffle feathers every now and again. : )

Haha, I really appreciate your comment and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I knew that this post would get a lot of feelings on both sides of the fence, but I tried to take a serious approach while not taking it seriously, does that make sense? I wanted to leave the definition vague enough to include everyone that wanted to be included but still make the point that I think people should take it seriously.

Oh well, you can't please all the people all the time...

Cheers!

Good points and thoughts. Thanks for sharing them today.

To your points, I think I maybe wasn't clear enough. I tried to leave the definition open enough to include all people who are passionate about their writing (as you so clearly are). Nowhere in my post did I say you had to get paid or be professional to fit in. Basically all I said was that it's something you take seriously and believe in and I am by no means trying to "take that away" from anyone. A blog as an extension of your offline self is one of the best fits for the definition I posited (as I said in the post), but I'm sorry if I angered you with it.

I did want to clarify one thing you said, you said you never call yourself a blogger anymore, yet you used to be one, although you still blog regularly. Unless you were being sarcastic and I missed it, it would seem you feel almost the same way, that there is some sort of qualifying set that bloggers fall into. Did I just misunderstand you?

As for your baseball example, never did I say you can't say you blog, as you hinted with your example. I think most people would find it silly for that same weekend competitive player to answer the question "So, what do you do?" with the answer "I'm a baseball player." I'm in no way saying he can't say he plays baseball. There's a difference in the two statements and I was just saying I feel there should be a different mindset between those for whom blogging is an extension of their life and person and those who could care less about it and abandon their blogs within a month or two.

Thank you for your comment.

It definitely sparked some conversation (which I figured it would) and it's interesting because I totally agree with your last comment. I didn't mention anything about quality when I wrote the post specifically because I didn't want to lock in some "you're not as good as me" mentality. I expect different things from blogs the same way that I expect different things from authors and painters, etc.

Thanks for jumping into the discussion with good points and a willingness to converse. I think we are on similar pages and am happy we got to talk today.

Cheers!

Hi Matt,

I like your ideas, and have been toying with introducing a feature here where we have contributors posting daily alongside the main authors.

These contributors would be from blogs that you describe - serious effort, real value, real people, etc - but who may hot have the spotlight they deserve. Hopefully by doing this - and sharing through our own networks as well as the FBBB ones - we'd give them more eyeballs.

Thanks for your comments, mate, appreciated the back and forth. :)

Glynis, thanks for the comment. I think it was either in the post itself or one of the comments I talked about the importance of noting that most "professional" writing is in one way or another, an opinion-based writing.

I think it's important to note too.

Thanks!

Glynis, thanks for the comment. I think it was either in the post itself or one of the comments I talked about the importance of noting that most "professional" writing is in one way or another, an opinion-based writing.

I think it's important to note too.

Thanks!

Matt, I think you've put forth a well-formed dissenting opinion. I actually agree with most of what you wrote. I love blogging for all the same reasons: low barrier of entry, anyone can take it up, comfort levels, etc. I can also see how feeling like putting any sort of defining characteristics on it does it a disservice.

What I see happening and fear solidifying are an offshoot of something you mentioned. You said you already have a preconceived notion of what a "writer" is, yet you have no judgements towards blogging. What I fear happening is that having no thoughts or judgments is in fact a form of preconceived notions and extends far into the world of "real business" to the point where blogging is brushed aside. I know so many bloggers (not people making a living from it) that put so much effort into their craft, that ignoring what they do as "just whatever" I feel is an injustice to them and the artform.

I have no desire to raise the barrier of entry and this has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, good or otherwise, I guess this was just my way of standing up for those people who put their hearts and lives into their blogs and continually get lumped in with "those online people." This falls into the realm of the age-old argument for "What is art?" I'm not sure there is a right answer, but this was mine.

Thanks for your comment! : )