It's all about you
While reading various posts published from the bowels of Wordpress over the last few days, I happened upon a list of tips for those starting out. I used to take notice of the various tipsters, experts, and luminaries. I don't any more. I realised a blogcould be however you want it to be. If you're marketing a product, perhaps the rules are different, but that's not how blogs started – that's not what they really are.
The word “blog” is a contraction of “weblog”. It was coined in 1997, and perhaps owes most of it's fame to Pyra Labs – who created Blogger. A fair amount of credit for the continues success of blogging should also go to Dave Winer, who almost single handedly promoted the development and use of RSS – the backbone upon which the various blog aggregators and news sitesrely.
This wasn't supposed to be a lecture about the history of blogging. I'm sorry.
Perhaps I've just illustrated the point though. There are no rules to “blogging”. Sure, you can play the popularity game if you really want, but then most people will see straight through the manufactured garbage you churn out and spam in all directions, and walk away.The core of the “blogosphere” – the beating heart – is a collection of individuals around the world, writing about their day, their hopes, their dreams, their ideas, their thoughts, and their opinions. They don't follow rules, they don't follow the herd, and they don't really care what anybody thinks of the things they write. They do it for themselves.
Now go write. Empty your head.