Blogs are so 1990s - can we do better?

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by Target9000

The way it went from one to the other is that someone came into a thread about blogs and posted a complaint about how threads aren't specific enough. Again, the irony. I am dying over here.

PS Canibul, I enjoy your blog.

Thanks, I missed your comment on it. Not so much a sailing blog, though.

[impi]

Originally Posted by Canibul

Thanks, I missed your comment on it. Not so much a sailing blog, though.

Yeah Canibul ... we also love your blog

[zboss]

I almost hate reading blogs now because its taking away from our sense of journey and excitement that goes along with it. So many blogs have been written that you could make a street map of every destination complete with little notations where each local will be standing and what they will be selling.

Thats not to say we don't have one but its really for our own remembrances.

[impi]

Originally Posted by zboss

I almost hate reading blogs now because its taking away from our sense of journey and excitement that goes along with it. So many blogs have been written that you could make a street map of every destination complete with little notations where each local will be standing and what they will be selling.

Thats not to say we don't have one but its really for our own remembrances.

That is so Zboss - but for us it sets the challenge to find new and exciting things on our world visits which we more than often most certainly do. Thanks to a number of blogs we read, we get to do the 'regular stuff' quickly and some descriptions of where the customs offices are and so on has saved us time! Exactly what you are saying has pushed our boundaries to discover more! I guess in well travelled places like the Atlantic it could be hard to do, but I still think places like Cuba and so on must be full of possibilities to write more? In the Tuamotu Archipelago, we read the popular blogs on where to go and what to do, but then we did different places to those ... too! One example of cruising the 'unknown' or rather 'less travelled' was when we sailed up a river system off Brazil below the Amazon ... a place called Ihla Dos Lencois (spelling?) - had the locals taking photos of us saying they had only ever once before spotted a sailing vessel in there ... sailors have written to ask us all about it and we know for a fact many since have followed our trail and no doubt done more ...

[thinwater]

Books and literature are so 1600s; let's move on. Pretty silly, huh?

Many use a blog in the way writers have used journals for centuries; as a way of sorting thoughts and practicing. In may cases they simply don't care if it is read by anyone, beyond a few friends. It is also a clean record, under their control, of whatever they chose. Comments are allowed, if desired.

A blog can be set up as a store. I did that for a time, it worked well, and was dead easy.

There is additional functionality, up to the skill and interest of the user. But it will still be a blog, not designed to chase after masses and create interaction.

For my part, Facebook and it's ilk are of no interest; too much noise. So these are clearly all different things; chose that which serves your purpose best.

[impi]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Books and literature are so 1600s; let's move on. Pretty silly, huh?

Many use a blog in the way writers have used journals for centuries; as a way of sorting thoughts and practicing. In may cases they simply don't care if it is read by anyone, beyond a few friends. It is also a clean record, under their control, of whatever they chose. Comments are allowed, if desired.

A blog can be set up as a store. I did that for a time, it worked well, and was dead easy.

There is additional functionality, up to the skill and interest of the user. But it will still be a blog, not designed to chase after masses and create interaction.

For my part, Facebook and it's ilk are of no interest; too much noise. So these are clearly all different things; chose that which serves your purpose best.

I like the practical techniques you guys share on your blog ... this is what is so nice about reading different blogs ... everyone has 'their thing' ... I love that about blogs!

[bletso]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I think it is possible to see the comments/discussions as an optional part of a good blog.

The value of a good blog is the quality of its original content. The blogger may, additionally, aim to use the feedback and/or, in some cases, to respond, on the blog, to some comments.

b.

In my case, I have been able to meet some interesting people, learn some tricks and help a few others with similar problems. Blogs can be useful as well as some of the forums.

Sure we have to sort out the fluff from time to time, but then don't we do that everyday in a sense when doing such mundane tasks as shopping for a pair of shoes?

[rwidman]

For me, the problem with "blogs" is that they read backwards. That is, the latest day is at the top, the beginning of the adventure is at the bottom. So to read about an adventure you go to the bottom, read down, then go up one entry and read down etc. It's difficult and confusing. Fine for someone following along day to day, not for someone trying to read about and adventure months or years later.

That said, when we cruise I post on facebook to my friends (I don't want strangers to know I will be away from home for an extended period) each day but I write in MS Word and copy just that day's entry to facebook. At the end of the trip I use my MS Word file to compile a "booklet" with photos and post it in PDF format on the Internet for anyone who cares to read. It reads like a book from the start of the trip to the end.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Books and literature are so 1600s; let's move on. Pretty silly, huh?.........

I agree but ................... I got an ad from amazon.com for a "book" on cruising the Great Loop. I probably won't do that but it's still an interesting read. When I went to amazon.com to buy the "book" I find it's only available as a Kindle file not an actual book with covers and pages in between with writing and photos on them.

Is that really a "book"?

[zboss]

Also, many blogs I have seen take different formats than the traditional blog, or are aggregates of many types of blogs, or merge styles. For example, we read Laho Wind, which combines a regular type journal with a photographic journal.

We also watch "White Spot Pirates" on youtube which is a video journal.

So when you say "do something better", its my opinion that blogging has evolved.

[jalmberg]

Originally Posted by Tessellate

I kind of want to start a sailing blog at some point, but I'm not sure a blog is the best way to communicate. Let's be honest, blogs are so 1999 - antiquated technology. I work as a software engineer, so web development is not a problem - I'm willing to code up something better, within reason (time constraints).

Blogs are great for posting photos and reaching an audience outside the sailing community, but I've noticed many don't get much interaction - even the well written ones. I don't want to start a blog and have it feel like the writing effort is for naught - like talking to an empty room.

Don't underestimate the reach of a blog... I started mine just to keep in touch with kids and family, but after awhile, I realized that other people had found it... eventually had about 1500 regular readers (and lots more random traffic.)

Mine is very irregular... hardly did any posting this summer because of work demands, but I'm looking forward to posting about this winter's projects, especially building a new bowsprit for the one I chopped the end off of on my way up the ICW a few years ago. Just random stuff!

[David M]

Blogs have to be very entertaining to catch my attention and the vast majority of them are boring. There are too many people writing about things that at least 100 people have done and written about before.

There are also too many people trying to create their own fame by writing blogs.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by David M

Blogs have to be very entertaining to catch my attention and the vast majority of them are boring. There are too many people writing about things that at least 100 people have done and written about before.

There are also too many people trying to create their own fame by writing blogs.

The same can be said about web forums.

Some of us write for family and friends, not for strangers we have never met. It's a bit like long long ago when we would get back from a trip and invite our friends and family over to watch a slide show. The difference is, everybody doesn't have to meet at the same place or time.

[jalmberg]

Originally Posted by David M

There are too many people writing about things that at least 100 people have done and written about before.

Gosh, you have such high standards. Mr. Shakespeare would have been humbled.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by jalmberg

Gosh, you have such high standards. Mr. Shakespeare would have been humbled.