What do you consider to be a "REAL" blog post?

By Josh Bancroft (Intel) (69 posts) on February 26, 2008 at 2:40 pm

I had an interesting conversation with my coworker, Kevin this morning. Kevin is a wizard web developer, who writes the code that powers Intel Software Network, and is always playing with cool new Ajax/javascript ways to do thing, sharing tips and tricks he's learned, including code snippets. He's recently gotten into Twitter (he's @sourcecode over there - follow him if you're a developer, web or otherwise - he's super smart). And this morning, we had a conversation about how he could share code snippets that were larger than the 140 character limit on Twitter.

He showed me how he set up a new Google Document to contain the code snippet, then Shared that Google Doc to make it public, and included a shortened URL to the Google Doc in his Tweet. I asked him what (to me) was an obvious question, which led to an enlightening (again, to me) conversation.

The question I asked is "why don't you just post stuff longer than 140 characters on your blog, and post a link in Twitter, instead of this convoluted Google Docs approach?" His answer (I'm paraphrasing - Kevin, please feel free to correct me):

"Code snippets and the like aren't really blog posts, are they?"

I said of course they are - after all, it's your blog, and you can post whatever the heck you want there, right? What's going to happen? The blog police might come by and say "that's an illegal blog post!" People might point and laugh? ;-) I was being silly to illustrate my point, but it was at about that point that it dawned on me. I've been living in the blogging world for so long that the assumption that "a blog post can be anything you want" is something I just take for granted.

So we chatted for a bit about it. Kevin said he felt that a blog post should be something longer, more robust, and containing more substantial content than "hey, here's a cool code snippet". I can see how he'd think that - most of the blog posts he said he reads are like that. Most of the blog posts on the Intel Software Network blog are like that. Heck, most of my blog posts on TinyScreenfuls.com are like that, simply because I've been using Twitter as a low-pass noise filter for my blogging, so "smaller" stuff goes out via Twitter. But together we came up with some examples of shorter, less "substantial" blog posts that are just as valid as any other.

Kevin suggested that when I talk to people about blogging, and train new bloggers, that I make it a point to tell them that a blog post doesn't have to meet a basic set of criteria for length, "quality" (whatever that means), etc. And I'm going to do it. It's something I've always just taken for granted, but that conversation this morning made me a better blogger, a better teacher, and a better evangelist. Thanks, Kevin. :-)

Now it's your turn. What criteria, explicit or subconscious, do you apply to your blog posts? What makes a "worthy" blog post in your mind? I'm thinking mostly of how this applies to your own blog and own writing, but if you apply similar criteria to stuff you read on other places, I'd like to hear about it to. Post a comment, or write something up on your own blog and link here, so I'll see it.

If you're like me, it might be an unexpectedly revealing bit of self-assessment. :-)

(Crossposted from my blog, TinyScreenfuls.com)

Categories: Intel® Software Network 2.0

Comments (2)

February 27, 2008 1:15 AM PST


UX-admin		 Blog posts with lots of technical details, written like a walk-through. Like for example, when Jeff Bonwick of Sun/ZFS fame writes a blog entry, now that's a national holiday! Unfortunately, those only come about once or twice per year. Or anyone from the ZFS team, for that matter.

Any good, solid, technical essay is prime material for a blog. IT/CS blogs should have "meat" on them.

One thing that blogging really has revolutionized is the fact we now have direct contact with engineering. And we learn about cool new features that are cooking up, and perhaps even be able to "steer" or give useful feedback on the direction in which that product or technology should develop. After all, what good is a technology only engineers find great, but users hate? (Sun's Role Based Access Control, or "RBAC" comes to mind.)

But this can only happen if the blogs are "meaty" and contain good, solid explanations on technology and directions that technology is planned to go in.

I think a blog also has an academic obligation to a certain degree. The InterNet revolutionized the way people communicate. Blog should revolutionize the way knowledge is disseminated, and raise the overall education level of humanity as a whole.
July 22, 2008 4:42 AM PDT


Denny		 " I've been using Twitter as a low-pass noise filter for my blogging "
How long have been you use it?
i think it is a good position for you in intel software network

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