Your Blog - Is It Worth Reading or Following...and Why

Friends, followers, fellow bloggers ~ I had a few minutes and decided to scroll through our FAA member blogs to see what's new! Thoroughly enjoyed those knowing what the heck they're doing & saying, but others, hmm, not so much? A 'blog' is defined as a journal or diary written for public viewing on a website, consisting typically of personal reflections, commentary on current events or self-promotion, sometimes containing imagery, and arranged chronologically. So, I'm not exactly sure 'why' some are posting, other than the site offers us the opportunity? Seeing there's a wealth of information readily available on the subject, 'Blogging Basics 101', for example, there's no good reason not to be in-the-know.

Here's what I see: [1] a handful of members creating insightful blogs w-corresponding images that are fabulous; [2] several who like posting just their on-site contest placement[s] and/or sales updates; [3] a few preferring to promote a new collection or plug an upcoming or on-going exhibit; [4] others sending out 10 posts in a row, for some odd reason, all re different topics, but not a lot of content; [5] a couple members thinking that annoying, strange and obnoxious posts are cool; and, [6] still others choosing to share a link to another of their web blog[s] or an image from their gallery, sometimes w-little-to-no explanation, just a link, that may or may not be active. It's a problem when someone wanting to see more has to, first of all, know to go to our Pixels site and find our 'Blogs' buried under 'Info' in order to access the live link..or not. Unfortunately, we also can no longer share active image links in our Profile blog comment section either. Double trouble. We can, however, post a relevant image in the upper left-hand side and direct traffic to our Profile or Artist Website or, like mine here, add something just for fun, in this case a selfie-selfie.

Interestingly, only fellow members or those w-accounts can leave a comment, so it's difficult to garner an off-site following. Also, we must remember to check on our blogs ourselves to see if someone replies, since we do not receive a notification in our 'Activity' re. Maybe higher-ups could be coaxed into making some welcomed changes for those of us choosing to use this tool...and, perhaps, more members would use it!?

In any event, it's obvious that folks are interested in venturing out into the blogosphere, so maybe I can help w-a little friendly advice? I do have quite a lot of experience under my belt, as a writer, editor, photographer, designer & visual artist of 40+ years. Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't, lol, but, nonetheless, here we go:

[1] Spell check, everyone! It doesn't look or 'sound' good when the simplest of words are misspelled;
[2] Use the proper punctuation! Seeing that some of you share only a sentence or two, make 'it' work, so we don't have to;
[3] Tell a story, even if it's a short one! Personality & humor go a long way. Most people are attracted to warmth & creativity, as well as something visually stimulating, like pictures to aid the story-line;
[4] Be professional! Prepare a blog that YOU yourself would want to read...and follow;
[5] Pace yourself! Timing [and content!] is everything. Less IS actually more, sometimes. If you want people to take you seriously, posting every so often seems 'healthy', while posting 5 or 10 in a row every other day looks a little OCD;
[6] Tit-for-tat can work. If you want someone to respond to your blog, then respond to theirs! Should you find it helpful, interesting, educational and/or funny, let them know. It keeps a blog circulating;
[7] Think before you post!

That's it for now. Yes, you are welcome to share your thoughts below...and to check out my Profile, as well!

~Brooks