9 things i dislike about blogs

i am a blogger. this is my blog. i post a lot, and not always about important stuff. usually not about unimportant stuff. i am also a frequenter of blogs. and list-serves. and other websites. there's a lot that happens in cyberspace, and i thought i'd crank out a list of things i dislike about blogs (list serves, forums, etc). this is not a comprehensive list, just some things that came to mind.

1. it seems that they either echo chambers or arguments, and nothing in between. (this is obvious hyperbole.) not everything must be completely agreed with, and not every statement is intended to provoke a fight. and just because you completely agree you don't have to tell us. the same goes if you don't agree.

2. people don't know how to select when they cut and paste. it's all or nothing.

3. a few people dominate the arena. that is, there are a lot of lurkers, some casual commenters, and the two people that comment on everything. i get a daily email that's intended to stimulate creative discussion. i know there are 4 people on this list that will have at least one comment/submission/reply each day. (i realize that although not the case of that particular list, i am one of these people.)

4. automatic running things (song, video, some dumb crap that scrolls @ across the bottom, whatever). if i want to see/hear/whatever some additional content, tell me about it and give me the option. this is done by big and little sites. espn.com does it, annoys the crap out of me when some video just randomly starts playing.

5. irregular frequency of updates. i know not everyone updates as much as i do, but develop a rhythm (how ever frequent or infrequent you want) and try and stick to it. (i'm guilty of this. most of the time i'm 1-2 a day. others it's 5, and then not post for 4 days.) there's a blog is was reading that updated every tuesday. that's it. i know it. the posts were themed on it being tuesday. then they didn't update for like a month. now, i have stopped reading, even though it's been updated.

6. broken or nonexistent links. if you're telling me about a story you saw/read/etc why not give me the link? then i can read it and make an assessment rather than just trusting that your view isn't that skewed. and when you give me a link, it's really helpful that it works. i don't want to have to try and figure out what you left out, mistakenly included, etc.

7. if it's an older post or thread, you probably don't need to add a new comment. and by older, i mean 6 months to a year. especially if it was about a specific thing that has passed. we've all moved on. feel free to read it though.

8. deliver what you advertise. that is, if you title tells me that you're going to complain about blogs, go right ahead. if you say that you've got a hot story about paris hohan, bring it. but if i'm searching for something, see that you say you've got it, but really you just threw 100 terms into your labels to get hits from search engines i call foul.

9. the "if you don't like it, leave" mentality. true, it's your blog/site/whatever and i'm not forced to read. but, if i make a comment and your only comeback is, "my site, get off it if you don't like what i say," then i may tell you that, "yes, it is your blog, but unless you're going to approve only comments with those that agree, i'm also free to give input." this doesn't mean you have to change you blog, but at least be willing to engage in dialogue. or don't take comments (which is also fine).