Official blog of Clark's Blogging for Journalists class, Mass Communication department

Thursday, February 11, 2016

When blogging becomes a slog

Read this New York Times article

Comment below by 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15.

1. What did you learn about blogging from this article?
2. What is the importance of passion and love in blogging?
3. Your suggestions on how could the problem be avoided? 

14 comments:

  1. 1. I learned that blogging, like any creative field, can be difficult to do as a full-time job. When being creative becomes a job, it can be just as draining as a regular office job. When your life depends on it, it takes a lot of the fun out of it.

    2. You need to stay passionate about your blog, because if you don't your content will suffer, as evidenced by the bloggers in this article.

    3. I'm not sure if you can avoid being drained completely. It's something all creatives go through, especially when they start families and have all sorts of behind the scenes drama to contend with. My advice would be to limit your blog entries to about once a week. Do something else you love to reinvigorate your creativity.

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  2. 1. I learned about creating a seperate space to blog. They specifically mentioned a studio (which I can in no way afford), but I think it is really helpful to set up a creative space to write your blog/take pictures in.
    2. Passion is so important in blogging. You have to love what you're writing about otherwise no one else will want to read it.
    3. I think the problem could be avoided by picking topics you enjoy. I LOVE DIY and plan to one day post DIY/interior decorating pictures on my blog so that's something I love and am passionate about.

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  3. 1. I think my biggest takeaway is how quickly blogging can turn from hobby into a chore if you don't change and adapt. You have to keep things fresh not only for the readers, but for yourself.
    2. The importance of passion and love in blogging is that those things are the reason you started blogging in the first place. You can't forget why you started something, and may sometimes have to remind yourself.
    3. This really comes from the first two answers- Remember why you started the blog, and keep things fresh. When you're getting burned out, think of something funny or entertaining to write, like maybe a series, and get it started.

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  4. I think if I learned anything at all, I would say it is most important to keep your readers at the top of your list. Make sure to treat their loyalty as a priority. People don't have to be reading your blog, this is true, so I want to make sure that I always think about them in the writing process.

    It's important to be passionate about anything you want to share with the world but just because that is true doesn't mean you should forget about WHY you fell in love with it in the first place. Passion can not be mimicked or recreated, to keep your passion about something, is a way to make someone else passionate about that very same thing.

    I'm not entirely sure it can be avoided altogether but maybe if I try to remind myself why I think it's important that other people are reading my content, that seems like a good enough reason to keep sharing knowledge. If there is one thing I know I will always be passionate about, its learning and teaching what we know among like-minded people.

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  5. 1. I learned to not overload your blog post with promotions and sponsorships.
    2. It is important to stay passionate about your blog because without passion, it is harder to come up with creative content.
    3. I think you can avoid this problem by inviting guest bloggers and getting involved with people who share passions as you are to create new posts!

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  6. 1. I learned that just like any career, blogging can turn from a fun hobby into tedious work.
    2. Having passion is important in blogging to keep you from getting burned out, but more importantly I think it's important to be passionate about what you're writing. If your topic is truly important to you, you won't get bored as easily.
    3. I think staying active in the blogging community might help. For example, reading other people's blogs could give you ideas to piggyback off of and help keep you from getting too bored.

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  7. I think the most important thing I learned is to keep your readers' trust as a priority. I think it is really important not to get caught up in sponsorships and ads just to make a few extra dollars because you will lose followers when they get frustrated with how many ads begin to take over your page.

    It is important to stay passionate about your blog and content because if it seems forced, everything will begin to suffer from it, including your followers and your content. Your posts will seem less real, your followers will begin to realize it, and you will just feel like it is a job instead of the love and passion you started with.

    I think one idea to avoid the problem is to really pace your blog. Even though you might be really eager and excited when you start to gain more followers, don't overdo it so that when you come to a point where you slow down, it is noticeable. Also having a team of bloggers would help.

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  8. 1. Have a good balance of sponsorships and you actually blog about.
    2. Doing a blog for a living can be draining.
    3. Try not to lose track of why you started blogging in the first place.

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  9. 1. Any job whether it's blogging or a 9-5 office job is going to consume your life. It can become overwhelming. So many things like YouTube and blogging start off as hobbies. They slowly become a job and you start to enjoy time away from it.
    2. To keep at it. Switch things up. Be creative. Don't drain yourself and become uninspired. Make sure that you continue to love your hobby/job.
    3.Like I said, try to switch things up. Try different platforms or forms of media to link up to the blog. Maybe try new segments that you can regularly write about. Try a new hobby and write about that rather than what you were originally writing about. Get yourself inspired.

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  10. 1) I learned that although blogging can be an enjoyable hobby, too much of anything can make you weary.

    2) Blogging about something you truly have a passion for is important. Like most things in life, if you do not enjoy it it won't be successful.

    3) Find one, solid subject you truly enjoy to blog about. However, having one subject does not mean you have to blog the same way every time. Experiment with your blog and never become complacent.

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  11. 1.) I learned that what started as a hobby could turn into a business. A business where people are constantly relying on you to do daily posts which could be overwhelming at points. The lack of information can cause the lack of readers too.
    2.) I think that the importance of blogging is blogging about what you are passionate about and keeping it interesting as well. Pretty much don’t post about something you don’t really care about because it will be noticed in your writing.
    3.) Well going back to the questions before, I suggest to blog about something you find interesting. No need to stress about it because than you are just over doing it, it’s a hobby so chill and go with it.

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  12. I learned that your hobby could turn into a great business for blogging.
    If you don't have passion for what you are blogging about it could be hard to come up with content as well as get viewers
    I think it helps to blog about stuff you are interested in as well as maybe see about getting guest bloggers or collaborating with other blogs similar to yours.

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  13. 1. A major lesson I took out of this article is the importance of admitting when something isn't working and taking a break or stepping away from it.

    2. That ties in with passion and originality in blogging. It important for the quality of content and for engaging and retaining readers, because people catch on to things like loss of interest.

    3. I think the problem can be avoided by staying flexible, keeping a open mind and allowing changes in interest to let the blog evolve and morph.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 1. A major lesson I took out of this article is the importance of admitting when something isn't working and taking a break or stepping away from it.

    2. That ties in with passion and originality in blogging. It important for the quality of content and for engaging and retaining readers, because people catch on to things like loss of interest.

    3. I think the problem can be avoided by staying flexible, keeping a open mind and allowing changes in interest to let the blog evolve and morph.

    ReplyDelete