Do you have your own blog?

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Lissla Lissar

Oh yeah- this is my blog. It's mostly interesting to me, but I agree with what another poster said (Anaamika?) knowing it's sort of public keeps me writing. It's the longest-running journal I've ever had.

Same here…there is no way I’d be up every night writing instead of sleeping if my blog wasn’t public. It’s also been stimulating me to do more photography and get more creative with it.

[Drain Bead]

I do a paleo/primal diet recipe blog, complete with terrible iPhone pictures of food.

http://www.eatevolved.com

[voguevixen]

I have a blog wherein I mostly reblog other ppl but will blurt out an opinion on occasion. Perhaps regarding Justin Bieber.

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by voguevixen

Perhaps regarding Justin Bieber.

Suggestion: expand to include One Direction.

[Ellen Cherry]

Originally Posted by Lissla Lissar

It's the longest-running journal I've ever had.

Even as a kid? I kept one from the fifth grade through college! Boy is is it an embarrassing experience to read through some of that stuff. I was so smug and self-important! Unlike now.

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Drain Bead

I do a paleo/primal diet recipe blog, complete with terrible iPhone pictures of food.

http://www.eatevolved.com

I had to check out your blog just to find out what a paleo/primal diet was! Ha! Nice site...it made me hungry!

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Ellen Cherry

Even as a kid? I kept one from the fifth grade through college! Boy is is it an embarrassing experience to read through some of that stuff. I was so smug and self-important! Unlike now.

I'm always amazed by people like you! I have never been able to keep a journal for more than a few days. Routine isn't my strong point...I tend to function in a more chaotic style. Mind you, having kids changed that to an extent. Maybe that's why I have kept my blog going for a whole 3 weeks now!

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by Drain Bead

I do a paleo/primal diet recipe blog, complete with terrible iPhone pictures of food.

http://www.eatevolved.com

You made mofongo sound good ... now THAT'S creative writing!

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

My blog, Notes From Exurbia, has been up since 2008, with as few as seven and as many as 40 posts in one year. It actually has a couple of followers (hell if I know why), but has had only a few comments in all its existence, none recently. I get a handful to no visitors per day; the total for the blog's entire existence is only (as of this moment) 3,687. That's fine; it's there for my own amusement, not to garner fame, fortune, or even mildly interested eyeballs. I like to write; I wanted a place to put the stuff I didn't want to lose; and there it is.

Well, looking at your blog, I noticed you did not use keywords. Laying a few keywords in your posts might drive more traffic to you blog, people can't read your blog if they can't find it. Frex, with your target shooting posts, use generic terms like "target shooting" but also the specific models of weapons you use. Also, the phrase "liberal with a gun" and "liberal" "gun culture" might drive visitors to your posts. Nothing wrong with your writing, you should be getting visitors.

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

I also have absolutely no interest in moderating comments, so I have that off by default. That probably turns off some people.

For what it's worth, here's a link to it, warts and all.
http://shindoisshin.wordpress.com/

I thought your analysis of the fat consumption study was really sharp and thorough, all your points were well made. And you are right, leaving comments turned off is annoying to many readers ... the Internet is by definition a two-way medium. Frex, if it weren't for the message board, The Straight Dope would be a relative ghost town.

[Purd Werfect]

Got me a art Tumblr. I'm more visual than wordy.

[Latimera]

I just received an email asking about purchasing use of some of my photos. Hmmm…now that’s interesting, the site has been up 3 weeks and might already make me some money…

[Ellen Cherry]

Wow Latimera, that's fantastic! And don't be too impressed by my dedication. I am a writer by profession after all. Fish gotta swim, writers gotta write!

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

I thought your analysis of the fat consumption study was really sharp and thorough, all your points were well made. And you are right, leaving comments turned off is annoying to many readers ... the Internet is by definition a two-way medium. Frex, if it weren't for the message board, The Straight Dope would be a relative ghost town.

I have my blog set to disable comments on posts after a month, just because I find that at that point pretty much all new comments are spam. Although Wordpress does do a pretty good job of filtering out most of the spam comments, enough get through to make it a pain in the ass if I don't set my comments up this way.

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by Latimera

I just received an email asking about purchasing use of some of my photos. Hmmm…now that’s interesting, the site has been up 3 weeks and might already make me some money…

Well yay for you!

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by Ellen Cherry

Fish gotta swim, writers gotta write!

... and bugs gotta do one disgusting thing after another!

[tellyworth]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Although Wordpress does do a pretty good job of filtering out most of the spam comments, enough get through to make it a pain in the ass if I don't set my comments up this way.

What are you using to block spam? I'd like to take a look if you don't mind posting or PM'ing a link.

[Sleel]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

I thought your analysis of the fat consumption study was really sharp and thorough, all your points were well made. And you are right, leaving comments turned off is annoying to many readers ... the Internet is by definition a two-way medium. Frex, if it weren't for the message board, The Straight Dope would be a relative ghost town.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

Like I said, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I do try to make everything I post professional-level. That's part of why I don't post more often; it takes me a long time to write, revise, and cite everything for those kinds of pieces.

Regarding comments, well, I'm a bit of an asshole on that issue. I don't want to moderate comments. I want to write. I have so little time to write already that if I deal with comments I won't have time to do any writing on the blog at all.

If you want to comment, I think you should write your own blog post and link to my post, post it on Facebook, tweet it, or share and comment on your preferred social site of choice. If you're not willing to make the minimal commitment of time to do any of those things, then I'm not really all that concerned about what you think. I'm not willing to take time and effort away from the things I consider important (writing, wife, kid, job) to facilitate your laziness.

All the big kids have blogs, so as far as I'm concerned that's the forum people should use for responding in depth. Social media like Facebook and Twitter can be used to make the kind of brief comments that usually show up on blog comments. If people want me to read it, I've got an email contact on the page. The higher barrier for entry keeps me from having to read stuff like, "yr n @$$whol3 & i think u stink," as an intentional bonus.

It's not like I don't want to hear from people who read my blog — I think it would be great if people read and discussed my posts — I just think that there are already enough ways to do that. Besides, commenting on your blog or another outlet is a good way to bring readers to both our sites in a way that posting comments on one of our blog pages wouldn't.

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

I have my blog set to disable comments on posts after a month, just because I find that at that point pretty much all new comments are spam. Although Wordpress does do a pretty good job of filtering out most of the spam comments, enough get through to make it a pain in the ass if I don't set my comments up this way.

I guess that is a legitimate issue. Strangely, I have very little problem with spam comments on my blog ... I get one about once every two or three months. I don't get a lot of non-spam comment either, I think because of that "secretive and grabby" approach that a lot of guys take to adult content.

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

I guess that is a legitimate issue. Strangely, I have very little problem with spam comments on my blog ... I get one about once every two or three months. I don't get a lot of non-spam comment either, I think because of that "secretive and grabby" approach that a lot of guys take to adult content.

That's astonishing and it makes me wonder if perhaps the comments are simply being filtered out for you at some point in the process. I was under the impression that blog comment spam was pretty much an unavoidable scourge.

My Wordpress installation uses Akismet for spam filtering. It's really good, and only lets through about 1/20 of spams or so.

[Silver Tyger]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

My Wordpress installation uses Akismet for spam filtering. It's really good, and only lets through about 1/20 of spams or so.

I need to set up Akismet on mine. I've gotten about 35 comments. 30 were obviously spam, one was an actual comment, and the others may or may not be spam and thus I haven't approved them. I'm not sure how to get more legitimate comments, but I've only got 15 posts so I suppose it's moot at the moment.

I didn't post a link last time because I was feeling inadequate. I've put up two good posts this week so I feel better. It's at www.CuriouslyLydean.net

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Ellen Cherry

Wow Latimera, that's fantastic! And don't be too impressed by my dedication. I am a writer by profession after all. Fish gotta swim, writers gotta write!

Thanks! Yeah...I am really more of a reluctant writer by necessity...

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

Well yay for you!

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

... and bugs gotta do one disgusting thing after another!

Hahahahaha! Wait until I get around to posting some maggot photos...

[CandidGamera]

I have three - a Livejournal for day to day minutiae, a tumblr for sporadic random things that amuse me, and a Blogger blog for nerd stuff.

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Silver Tyger

I need to set up Akismet on mine. I've gotten about 35 comments. 30 were obviously spam, one was an actual comment, and the others may or may not be spam and thus I haven't approved them. I'm not sure how to get more legitimate comments, but I've only got 15 posts so I suppose it's moot at the moment.

I didn't post a link last time because I was feeling inadequate. I've put up two good posts this week so I feel better. It's at www.CuriouslyLydean.net

The spam filter on wordpress.com (Akismet) has been doing a great job for me. So far I have received 43 legit comments and 14 spam. Only one spam message got through the filter, and it probably wasn't spam as much as a poorly thought out comment.

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by Silver Tyger

I'm not sure how to get more legitimate comments, but I've only got 15 posts so I suppose it's moot at the moment.

Publish links to your posts on your Facebook account (assuming you have one) and hope that one or two of them go viral. Then keep posting regularly to keep the traffic you got from the viral posts.

(That last part is the problem I have. Back in the day when I posted almost daily, I had quite a few blog followers. These days it's mostly just my Facebook friends.)

[Silver Tyger]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Publish links to your posts on your Facebook account (assuming you have one) and hope that one or two of them go viral. Then keep posting regularly to keep the traffic you got from the viral posts.

Yeah, I've been doing that, and crossposting to my livejournal and dreamwidth journal. I know a couple of people have read stuff, but no one comments. I suppose if I keep up the posting rate I've done this week it would help.

[Shadez]

Originally Posted by Silver Tyger

Yeah, I've been doing that, and crossposting to my livejournal and dreamwidth journal. I know a couple of people have read stuff, but no one comments. I suppose if I keep up the posting rate I've done this week it would help.

It really helps if you read, follow and comment on other WordPress blogs. I have 188 posts and about 400 comments from others. Not the best, but it works for now. Some posts get no comments, some get 4, 5 or 6 total.

[Antigen]

Originally Posted by Silver Tyger

Yeah, I've been doing that, and crossposting to my livejournal and dreamwidth journal. I know a couple of people have read stuff, but no one comments. I suppose if I keep up the posting rate I've done this week it would help.

I don't get a whole lot of comments on mine either. I've tried not to let it bug me. I find that people will comment on Facebook instead of on the blog itself.

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by Antigen

I don't get a whole lot of comments on mine either. I've tried not to let it bug me. I find that people will comment on Facebook instead of on the blog itself.

I concur with Shadez. If you post comments on other blogs, they have a tendency to comment on yours. I have 20 posts up and have received 45 comments so far. I make a point of commenting on the blog of any blogger that “likes” my site. Seems to be working…

[moejoe]

I had a blog and I enjoyed posting to it, but then I got busy and ignored it for a while and now I can't figure out how to log back in. If I could I would just log back in and rename it I am a dork.

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by moejoe

I had a blog and I enjoyed posting to it, but then I got busy and ignored it for a while and now I can't figure out how to log back in. If I could I would just log back in and rename it I am a dork.

Hahahahahaha! Good thing I wasn't drinking when I read that!!!

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

I hadn't updated the look of my blog since I established it in 2008, but yesterday I got to noodling around with it, trying out some new templates. I'd been wanting to add a link-list of some of my better posts in the sidebar, and with the new setup I found a way to do it.

It took a few hours of trying this, resetting that, compiling stuff, previewing and tweaking, but at last I wound up with something to be reasonably happy with. I prefer a simple look, no eye-dazzling backgrounds, aggressive fonts, and so forth, and the template chosen gave me what I had in mind. There are a couple of other things I might do with it, but for now....

Ta-DAAAA!

[Latimera]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

I hadn't updated the look of my blog since I established it in 2008, but yesterday I got to noodling around with it, trying out some new templates. I'd been wanting to add a link-list of some of my better posts in the sidebar, and with the new setup I found a way to do it.

It took a few hours of trying this, resetting that, compiling stuff, previewing and tweaking, but at last I wound up with something to be reasonably happy with. I prefer a simple look, no eye-dazzling backgrounds, aggressive fonts, and so forth, and the template chosen gave me what I had in mind. There are a couple of other things I might do with it, but for now....

Ta-DAAAA!

It looks great! Nice work!

[Ashley Pomeroy]

Originally Posted by Latimera

But once I started talking to my friends about it I realized that none of them have ever blogged. In retrospect that seems odd considering how long blogging has been around.

There comes a point in life when you move away from your circle of university buddies, and enter The Real World; it's jarring how little The Real World resembles Wired magazine. You start to realise that you're vastly outnumbered by them. People who have never gigged with a laptop. People who don't go to Starbucks because it's too dear. People who don't listen to music. Talk to them about dirty projectors and they think you're talking about, you know, dirty projectors. At the local cinema.

It's a band, see. No, I hadn't heard of them either. They're American. There's a stereotype of the modern woman circa 2007 who had a blog about parenting or moving home that they successfully translated into a book deal, and millions upon millions of people who had blogs that went nowhere. I surmise that if you took all of those people and spaced them evenly across the globe the population density would be very faint. A network of teeny-tiny glow-worms beaming their light straight up into the endless blackness of space. Never illuminating each other. So faint you'd have to look askance to see them. I always think of that photograph of the python that burst whilst trying to eat an alligator. It killed the alligator and then burst and died. Imagine it swallowing the alligator, and then - rip - it splits open.

I have a blog, here, although it had an awkward gestation. I've been on the internet since 1995 at least - back when Gary Numan wasn't trendy, and everything was Usenet, mailing lists and, er, scans of those sexy robots by Hajime Sorayama - and in that time I've had a couple of radical career changes, working as an actual bone fide professional writer for a few years. Over time I've had (a) a website (b) a blog (c) a wiki (d) and finally another blog, which is about photography. I decided to pick one topic and stick with it. You know, I can remember when Doom had a swastika in it. Just one topic. Need to work out which one. Photography as a whole is too broad; modern photographic equipment is too small, too trivial. I've got a huge brush, baby, I want to wave it about. There are loads of photographers who are really just photographic equipment enthusiasts. Golgafrincham B Ark people. Debating which pigment to use whilst Ugg was pondering the inevitability of physical decay and death.

But I'm driven by conflicting impulses. I don't want to follow the example of those technology review sites where they review boxes. Except that they don't really review anything, they describe photographs of boxes... they republish advertising images of boxes in order to fill up their quota of daily posts. If you want to be a successful blogger you have to be an absolutely relentless sociopath, the kind of person who views all personal interactions as a means of publicising his or her blog. And the world of photo-blogs is packed with awful Thomas Kinkade-type characters who pump out the same mediocre rubbish with conviction; but no doubt the same is true of dentistry blogs, real estate blogs, etc blogs. I don't want to be an awful man. And I have my brush.

And there's the Britain thing. On a practical level I'm in the wrong time zone. Everything that happened on the internet happened fifteen hours ago. The British internet scene has always been a bit pants; insular in a self-conscious way, built on an ingrained and surprisingly persistent foundation of affected effortlessness, affected disinterest. I can't fit in with that. And yet American writing comes across as sentimental, literal, unimaginative, fundamentally humourless. But that's probably because my only experience of American writing comes from... actual Americans probably aren't like that. And the rest of the world, they don't speak English, so what use are words?

[Latimera]

Looks like this thread is losing steam...thanks to all for contributing, it has been really interesting. Clearly dopers are more savvy about blogs than the folks I usually hang around with...

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

I hadn't updated the look of my blog since I established it in 2008, but yesterday I got to noodling around with it, trying out some new templates. I'd been wanting to add a link-list of some of my better posts in the sidebar, and with the new setup I found a way to do it.

It took a few hours of trying this, resetting that, compiling stuff, previewing and tweaking, but at last I wound up with something to be reasonably happy with. I prefer a simple look, no eye-dazzling backgrounds, aggressive fonts, and so forth, and the template chosen gave me what I had in mind. There are a couple of other things I might do with it, but for now....

Ta-DAAAA!

A huge improvement over your old blog in terms of organization. Congrats!

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

A huge improvement over your old blog in terms of organization. Congrats!

Thank you! It took a fair amount of time and work (plus some annoying false starts) to get what I wanted; glad to hear that the effort was worth it. I don't ever expect to have a wide readership but I'd like to make the visit enjoyable for whatever scattered readers do stumble upon it.

[Foxy40]

I had a blog a few years ago but it became too much work. It was a relationship humor blog and got popular really fast. After that, it became an obligation to post and I am not great at being creative on demand. After three years, I bid adieu and let it go. I don't miss it.

[UntouchedTakeaway]

I have a blog about redecorating my home (French-ish shabby - DIY stuff). I have 28 followers - I don't know whether to be pleased or embarrassed.

I would probably have more followers if I my photos didn't stink.

UT~

[Tom Scud]

Contributed at one point to a group blog on the Middle East & related subjects (among the authors were some other dopers and at least one notable ex-doper - was not myself on the straight dope at the time). I haven't posted there in more than 5 years, basically since I left Lebanon; the blog itself was briefly revived during the excitement in Egypt but at this moment the most recent post is from March of this year.

[Evil Captor]

Originally Posted by UntouchedTakeaway

I have a blog about redecorating my home (French-ish shabby - DIY stuff). I have 28 followers - I don't know whether to be pleased or embarrassed.

I would probably have more followers if I my photos didn't stink.

UT~

Come now, creating Web images that have any odor at all is an achievement!

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Originally Posted by Evil Captor

Come now, creating Web images that have any odor at all is an achievement!

Seriously, though. I dropped my primary camera & now the pictures come out weird. I have a 2nd camera I won at an art show - I have to get a memory chip for it and that will solve the issue, I think. I just need to find the time.

UT~

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by UntouchedTakeaway

I have a blog about redecorating my home (French-ish shabby - DIY stuff). I have 28 followers - I don't know whether to be pleased or embarrassed.

I would probably have more followers if I my photos didn't stink.

UT~

I wouldn't mind seeing it - I like French-ish

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I wouldn't mind seeing it - I like French-ish

pennsylvaniafrench.blogspot.com

Caveat - I'm in the *very* early stages of doing stuff. Teaching myself furniture painting and copying things I've seen on other blogs. And as indicated above - photos stink

UT~

[JackieLikesVariety]

beautiful!

love the photos, whatchu talkin' bout?

[Art Rock]

I have an art blog (fine arts, photography, music, etc) and a more mixed type blog, often for things that may put a smile on your face. Both are updated daily.

Art for Art's Sake.
Art's Potpourri.

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

beautiful!

love the photos, whatchu talkin' bout?

Jackie:

You're a kind soul - thank you!

UT~

[hiki]

I blog on making famous costumes using affordable and attainable items (i.e. Amazon). New costumes posted daily.

http://carboncostume.com