Sometimes I wonder about this blog.
General consensus of things I’ve read is that to have a successful blog, you need a niche, and you need to write about something you know, not just whatever random topic you pull out of hat that day.
I got to thinking about this more after reading Mindy McAdams post this morning about blogs, and subsequently Pat Thorton’s views.
People tell me they like my blog because the level of candor and informality (and the pictures, I hope). I try to keep things informal and give readers a picture of who I am, other than just the face hidden by the camera. Photographers can be a weird group of people and I think pretty often people can get skewed ideas about some of us, so I don’t think this is necessarily a bad idea.
What this photo / photojournalism blog hangs on somewhat is that I’m a photojournalism student, which I think gives it a slightly different angle. I’m not really even in the race yet, I’m just trying to figure out how to get my damn gate door open. I wonder though what’ll happen when I’m no longer a student.
I guess in light of necessity I’ll find a slightly different angle that works. Or I’ll just go live in my parents attic and take pictures of my feet and my shadow all the time and work on perfecting my artistic selective coloring. BLAH.
So where I’m going with all this… This has no place in this blog whatsoever, really, but I just have to vent, and it isn’t even worth busting out the macro lens and grossing everyone out, but…
… There is a booger on our TV.
Someone. Put. A. Booger. On. Our. Television. Set.
Zack discovered it last night. I cannot even begin to describe how baffled I am by this. I think this is worse than that little dog down the street crapping on my freshly delivered newspaper.
This is totally unnecessary! Why would someone do that? You know the last time I wiped a booger on something that was not made specifically as a booger receptacle? Like, first grade. C’mon guys.
There are so many better, alternative places to put a booger. Granted I guess if I didn’t like someone and felt the need to stoop so low as to wipe my boogers on their material possessions, a TV would be a good place to start.
And there is no chance this is an eye booger, either. It’s absolutely without a doubt a nose booger.
I mean… AGH… what a week. Illness, broken lenses, spilt perfume, boogers. Where does it end?
..
Oh, and of course, any feedback or constructive criticism about the blog or any content therein is always welcome.
Cheers,
Lindy
1 response so far ↓
Pat Thornton // October 2, 2007 at 4:33 pm |
Lindy, I think we have to define what is successful when talking about blogs. My post was advice strictly for newspapers, and what works and doesn’t work for them.
I don’t think newspapers should be involved in random blogs. That’s how a paper hurts its credibility. Having a niche is a great way to focus a blog, and a great way to attract readers. When people know what to expect, they’ll keep coming back.
I do think having a niche is a good idea for anyone, but it is by no means a necessity. Some people have popular blogs because of the shear will of their personalities, while others have popular blogs because they are such good writers.
It certainly is harder to be successful without a niche because you won’t be focused. But if you aren’t trying to make money and you aren’t working for a company with your blog, what exactly does success mean to you?
Success might mean keeping your family and friends informed. Success might mean just learning how to use WordPress and a CMS. Success just might be having fun.
I’m very pleased to see a journalism student like yourself with a blog. To me that is success, because you, unlike most students, will understand blogs on a much deeper level. You’ll also understand how to use a CMS because that is essentially what WordPress is. Plus, it clearly demonstrates that you are not Web-phobic like a lot of your peers.
I like your blog. Keep up the good work.