Kennett pal Everett Mobley started blogging recently. He’s still finding his rhythm but is off to a great start. The blog is primarily a companion to the website for his veterinary practice and I predict it will be very popular if he keeps posting useful and interesting information like today’s on dental care for dogs. If you have pets, you’ll want to visit and subscribe to Your Pet’s Best Friend.
Category Archives: Blogging
Seth Godin on comments
“I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.”
— Seth Godin blog post
Blogging for president
I’m sorry, but radio and TV has completely fucked up the way we elect the leaders of our country. Think about it. We elect presidents and senators and governors and damned near everybody based on:
* :30 TV spots
* Debates that aren’t
* Speeches the candidate didn’t write
* Yard signs (that’s a small town thing but it’s universal. The guy with the most yard signs wins)
Do any of these reveal anything about the ideas or intelligence of the candidate. No way. You know what would? A blog. A blog written 100% by the candidate (not sure how you could keep the bastards from cheating and you know they’d try).
Make every candidate blog during the year leading up to the election. They can post as often as they like… about any topic they like.
This has the added benefit of requiring the American voter to get more involved than watching some mindless network television salted with attack ads.
“Wait a minute, smays. Leadership requires courage and values (like mine) and a bunch of other qualities that have nothing to do with how well you express your ideas in writing.”
Horse shit. If you can’t think… you can’t lead. At least not well. And I want to measure the quality of your ideas. Not the ideas of your campaign manager, or your PR firm… your ideas.
If you’re hung up on the writing thing… let’s throw a podcast into the mix. Every candidate produces a weekly, fifteen minute podcast. Any topic, any format. But the candidate must produce it him or herself (they go into a glass walled studio, put it together and upload it).
Imagine reading blogs written by George W. Bush; Bill Clinton (or Hillary Clinton); Al Gore; John Kerry; John McCain; Al Sharpton; Dick Cheney; Ralph Nader… you get the idea. Can you honestly say you wouldn’t have a better feel for who these people are and what they really believe? Of course they’d try to scam and bullshit you. But it would be so much harder to do.
I can fool you for 30 seconds at a time. Especially if you’ re not paying much attention. But if you’re reading what I say every day, for a year… you’re gonna learn some things about me. Good and bad.
And here’s the proof of this pot of pudding: Regular readers of smays.com have NO doubt that I would make a really bad (fill in the elective office).
Feedback: LeAnn says the tone of this post lacks “the same effervescent, entertaining qualities of your other posts. I am concerned someone pissed you way the “f” off on Thursday.” Nope, Thursday was a very nice day. But the post does read “angry,” doesn’t it. I should really stay away from politics.
I had to look up the definition of “effervescent” (vivacious; gay; lively; sparkling). I think I can sparkle but vivacious will be a stretch.
Blogs: CB Radio with permalinks
Brian Noggle at KansasCity.com compares blogs to CB radio fad:
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it until I’m proven otherwise: Blogs are CB radio with permalinks. And we know how much CB changed the face of citizen media in the 1970s. It spawned a number of books, three “Smokey and the Bandit” movies and “Convoy.” Some of its slang lives on, but you don’t see many cars with the antennae on their roofs anymore, do you?”
Say what you will about the staying power or significance of blogs… that’s a pretty lame knock for a Big City Newspaper Guy. And I’m not sure how to reconcile his view with with his well-tended blog.
I dropped Brian a line and asked for clarification on what might serve as “proven otherwise” for him. I offered some possible bench-marks:
- More than three movies about blogging
- Blogs help sway a presidential election (I don’t think CB’s did that)
- There are more profitable blogs than major daily newspapers
As far as I know, none of those things have happened. I’m not sure the second two would prove much. but four movies on blogging…whoa! Thanks to Mj Reports for the pointer.
Update: Received a nice email and comment from Brian in which he points out he has no connection to the Kansas City Star. I don’t think KansasCity.com made that clear and my apologies to Brian. And he makes some very solid points on the true impact –or lack thereof– of blogging.
Robert Scoble: The value of “influencers”
“I’ll tell you what executives from big companies (like Kraft, Procter and Gamble, GM, and others) who were at MSN’s OWN ADVERTISING CONFERENCE told me. An influencer is worth THOUSANDS of times more than a non-influencer (influencer is someone who tells other people stuff, which is why blogging is getting so much advertising attention lately). That’s why Google is charging more per click than MSN is (Google has more influential users).”
— Robert Scoble via Gaping Void