Content Writing & Copywriting Blog

This is How a Good Idea Goes Bad

Dec 29, 2006 1 Comment »

A few days ago Seth Godin had started a a Z List on Squidoo as opposed to the much-hyped A-list where he wanted to bring to fore blogs that are good (hint, hint) but don’t get the deserved exposure. This somehow got changed into a meme and many bloggers added, subtracted and re-arranged the list and published their own versions on their blogs. I came across this list for the first time on Brian’s Copyblogger blog. After that I noticed the list had appeared on many blogs.

Seth has written an update on the whole issue and he is so worried about the manipulation that he has decided to get the list moderated. Bloggers have been promoting their own links and they’ve been pushing the other bloggers’ list towards the bottom and for this they are even collaborating with “friendly” bloggers. This totally defeats the original idea behind the list, and this is a perfect example of how even a good idea can turn into a bad idea if it gets in the hands of wrong people.

Another extremely deplorable thing was, nobody included my name in the list :-).

Technorati Tags: zlist, zlist bloggers, seth godin, blogging meme

Writing Well Still Counts

Dec 29, 2006 4 Comments »

With the advent of email, text messaging and instant messaging, language has taken a turn for the worst, and the scary part is, it is considered fashionable to write in silly language. I’ve always had this conflict in various writers’ forums — they insist these days that it’s the message that’s important, not how you deliver it, and a bit of wrong language brings you closer to the reader. My only reaction was, “bullshit.”

Your language is as important as your message. Even if you are authoring a blog, correct usage manifests your respect for your readers. Reading good language — and by good language I don’t mean using superfluous words and labyrinthine sentences — is always a pleasure. The Copywriting Maven talks about why spelling and grammar still matter and I totally agree. As a writer I love the tool I use to express myself: the language. I respect it, and I always strive to improve it and every writer should do the same.

Technorati Tags: writing well, copywriting, content writing, spelling, grammar

Not Everything Is A Blog

Dec 29, 2006 1 Comment »

And I totally agree. There are many “blogs” around here that are not blogs. Just because you are using a blogging software doesn’t make you a blog. An article in The Inquirer exclaims: Stop calling everything blogs! A blog, by definition, is a web log, that started with the concept of “personal log”. A blog is, when you share you thoughts with a community of readers. For instance, I’m sharing my thoughts with you on this link I just found through the 901am blog. I’m not merely feeding you with a link; I’m also sharing with you what I think about this idea of calling everything a blog. The author rightly says:

If there are more than one person writing for the ‘blog’, especially if they get paid, it is a site. The INQ has a staff of many, as does Boing Boing, CNet and Slashdot. Just because you read it on a browser (that little blue ‘e’ that brings spyware in for the local news crews reading this) and it does not have an associated cable channel does not make it a blog. Really. Not a blog.

Technorati Tags: blogging, what is blogging, blogging explained

Is Google Blog Search Getting Ahead of Technorati?

Dec 28, 2006 2 Comments »

Just when I have started getting 1 or 2 odd visitors from Technorati I get this news from Gigaom that Google Blog Search Passes Technorati and the sad part is I get no traffic from Google Blog Search. The Google blog feeds send me blog notifications from obscurest blogging resources, but somehow, the crawler fails to notice my humble posts :-).

Technorati Tags: technorati, google blog search

You Are a Proud Publisher

Dec 28, 2006 No Comments »

Scott Karp at The Blog Herald writes that he hates the expression “user-generated content” that is so ubiquitous on social media websites such as YouTube and MySpace. I totally agree. I think it’s quite condescending. Scott writes:

The problem is that “users” are defined in opposition to “publishers” — as if people who create “blogs” are still in some lesser, “other” category, below and apart from traditional publishers like, uh, Yahoo.

It’s very convenient actually. Terming people who create content as “users” rather than publishers psychologically legitimizes the sense of superiority of conventional publishers.

Technorati Tags: users, publishers, content creators, blog publishing