Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Top Ten Tuesday - Why blogging's bad
I know alot of you who visit United Irelander have blogs of your own but a number of you who visit do not. I would certainly recommend that if you have a desire to try blogging that you do so. It can be fun. However...most of the articles I read on getting started with blogging only detail the good parts and while they give plenty of advice for newbies, they don't exactly warn of the bad side of blogging. Like everything in life blogging has a bad side and seeing as it's early in the week, I'm in the mood to get negative. So with that being said, I thought I'd give you the top ten bad things about blogging. So without further ado:
1. It's time-consuming - If you decide to take blogging seriously, you have to post regularly and regular posting can kill alot of your free time.
2. It's addictive - I think it's fair to say I'm a bit of a blogging addict. I was even worse when I first started getting into it. I even posted on Christmas Day for crying out loud! Be prepared to catch the blogging bug.
3. It can be draining - If, like me, you are a blogger who engages with the blog's readers, this eats up alot of your time as well. You can find yourself dealing with several threads which can be a hassle if debating is not your cup of tea.
4. Have to deal with criticism - If you don't take criticism well then you probably shouldn't blog. Or else if you must, set up a blog that's light-hearted but you'll still end up with critics eventually I'm sure. Not everyone will like what you write and it wouldn't be much fun if they did but if you can't deal with that, don't take up blogging.
5. You can become obsessive - As I hinted above, in my first few months I really got into blogging and tried very hard to get as many hits as I possibly could. This led to me getting fed up with blogging but I came back and managed to get over that. It's possible though that you yourself will end up obsessing over SiteMeter, Statcounter etc.!
6. You have to deal with losing a post now and then - I'm sure every blogger has experienced this terrible feeling. It's similar to the feeling you get when you're hit in the nuts. Really hard. You spend all that time working on a post, you hit 'Publish' and then boom! The thing vanishes into cyberspace. Sniff.
7. You can feel pressured on your own - It's probably best to get a partner to lighten the load. Having a blog with just one person and trying to take it seriously is far from easy and can leave you feeling burnt out.
8. You want to please your readers - If you dont have a partner and you can't post for a while, you can feel under pressure and can find yourself wanting to satisfy your readers by giving them a post to through. This can lessen your enthusiasm for blogging.
9. You think about blogging too much - If you really get into blogging, you may find yourself thinking about things that happen to you which would make a good read on your blog. In other words, the blog world and the real world become blurred. You might not want that.
10. You become immersed in the blogosphere - The term 'blogosphere' itself is probably unknown to most of those who aren't actually bloggers. If you start a blog you basically become part of a little word within the net and find yourself creating your own personal blogging faction through your links. Do you really want to become that involved in the blogging scene?
So there you have it. The top ten reasons why blogging's bad. Feel free to comment on my choices or to offer up some of your own.
Now get blogging!...or not.
1. It's time-consuming - If you decide to take blogging seriously, you have to post regularly and regular posting can kill alot of your free time.
2. It's addictive - I think it's fair to say I'm a bit of a blogging addict. I was even worse when I first started getting into it. I even posted on Christmas Day for crying out loud! Be prepared to catch the blogging bug.
3. It can be draining - If, like me, you are a blogger who engages with the blog's readers, this eats up alot of your time as well. You can find yourself dealing with several threads which can be a hassle if debating is not your cup of tea.
4. Have to deal with criticism - If you don't take criticism well then you probably shouldn't blog. Or else if you must, set up a blog that's light-hearted but you'll still end up with critics eventually I'm sure. Not everyone will like what you write and it wouldn't be much fun if they did but if you can't deal with that, don't take up blogging.
5. You can become obsessive - As I hinted above, in my first few months I really got into blogging and tried very hard to get as many hits as I possibly could. This led to me getting fed up with blogging but I came back and managed to get over that. It's possible though that you yourself will end up obsessing over SiteMeter, Statcounter etc.!
6. You have to deal with losing a post now and then - I'm sure every blogger has experienced this terrible feeling. It's similar to the feeling you get when you're hit in the nuts. Really hard. You spend all that time working on a post, you hit 'Publish' and then boom! The thing vanishes into cyberspace. Sniff.
7. You can feel pressured on your own - It's probably best to get a partner to lighten the load. Having a blog with just one person and trying to take it seriously is far from easy and can leave you feeling burnt out.
8. You want to please your readers - If you dont have a partner and you can't post for a while, you can feel under pressure and can find yourself wanting to satisfy your readers by giving them a post to through. This can lessen your enthusiasm for blogging.
9. You think about blogging too much - If you really get into blogging, you may find yourself thinking about things that happen to you which would make a good read on your blog. In other words, the blog world and the real world become blurred. You might not want that.
10. You become immersed in the blogosphere - The term 'blogosphere' itself is probably unknown to most of those who aren't actually bloggers. If you start a blog you basically become part of a little word within the net and find yourself creating your own personal blogging faction through your links. Do you really want to become that involved in the blogging scene?
So there you have it. The top ten reasons why blogging's bad. Feel free to comment on my choices or to offer up some of your own.
Now get blogging!...or not.
# posted by United Irelander @ 1:08 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
