Update (8/17): The blogger at Media Lies gave me one of the best compliments I could ever receive as a blogger:
“But you, my dear, are a phenomenon. Unique, refreshing, stubbornly principled and amazingly fearless. I read you every day but don’t get to comment nearly as much as I should. I can count on one hand the number of bloggers who truly amaze me routinely. You are in that list.”
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I read a rather depressing post yesterday by technology writer and blogger Nicholas Carr, whose blog I read through Bloglines. In “The Great Unread,” he writes about the disillusionment “long tail” bloggers feel. Be sure to read the comments, which are more optimistic than the post.
The long tail is a statistical distribution model like the bell curve. Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson wrote an entertaining and informative book on the subject called The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. It’s a niche world out there, and the Internet is responsible for weakening the “hit” paradigm and opening up a marketplace of almost unlimited choice. Anderson’s book is a must-read, and I’m not being paid to say that.
In the context of the blogosphere, the long tail refers to the vast majority of bloggers who aren’t on the A-list and will never generate lots of links or readers. At the “head” of the curve are the Malkins, the Instapundits, the Daily Kos crew, and others. In the “tail” is everyone else. Some of these bloggers get a few thousand readers a day; others a few hundred or a few dozen.
Carr calls blogging an “innocent fraud,” a reference to a book on economics of the same name. The term is a euphemism for “lie,” and Carr believes the assertion that blogging is “open and democratic and egalitarian” and different from mainstream media is an innocent fraud.
I’m linking to the post because I think a fair number of bloggers feel this way. Speaking only for myself, blogging is open and democratic and egalitarian in the sense that starting a blog is free and non-discriminatory, and relatively painless to set up. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it, but you have to be realistic.
Bloggers who feel disillusioned with blogging are probably the ones who e-mail bigger bloggers for links but never get linked, or those who make no effort to generate interest in their blogs (by trackbacking to and commenting on other blogs, participating in blog carnivals and round-ups, communicating with other bloggers via e-mail, etc.), or who constantly compare their blogs to others.
There is no affirmative action in the blogosphere, and for that I’m glad. People link to bloggers they like, bloggers who share their views and write good posts. It’s voluntary. There are no government quotas to fill or entitlements to hand out.
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for blogging success, and success is relative anyway. Sometimes the planets are aligned just right (figure of speech, Christians!), and things come together for a fortunate few. In my case — which can be considered an example of “success” — it was a combination of an edgy writing style, unorthodox political views (because of my race), and dismantling the Christian-as-doormat stereotype. I’m not easily intimidated by detractors (particularly the ones too faint-hearted to use their real names) and loudmouths, especially intellectually, and I dare to think differently. My sex, race, and faith helped me stand out in the crowd.
Last year, Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost wrote a helpful series called How To Start a Blog: Tips and Suggestions for Launching a Successful Blog. Check it out.
Beyond that there are no guarantees. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Blog because you like/love it, not because you want to be read and linked by “A-list” bloggers or to be paid or to change the world. If you want to be linked by others, link to them. If they have a linking policy, read it and follow it.
(Good news for Blog*Spot bloggers: Blogger is finally updating and adding features.)
Addendum: Independent Conservative notes that Blogger.com still has no trackback feature. Uncool, indeed. The link back feature, or whatever it’s called, won’t cut it. What’s the deal? Blogger was one of the first platforms out there. Owned by Google now, it should be cutting edge.
Unrelated Update: Pictures that lie.
Update (8/17): Interesting response to Carr.
