Blogging News Segment on TV
Recently, on CJOH (CTV) they had a segment that talked about blogs and blogging. Sabine told me about it the day before, so I figured I would watch it.
I expected someone pretty high up in the blogging community from Toronto or Ottawa to talk about blogging and how is changing the way people get their news, and how it is effecting communication and increasing connections between people. Instead what I saw were some women all giddy about their personal blogs, one of which is on Blogger, and another that uses a pretty stock WordPress theme, and the final one using a simple looking Moveable Type template.
I was really not impressed. It did not touch on much, and the women would not even focus on what makes their blog special, unique, or anything. When asked which blogs they recommend, they could only answer saying “check out our blogs, we have a list there…” How silly is that? They could not even think of one blog, or blogger to recommend.
The segment was only around ten or twenty minutes long, but that would be plenty of time for me to really delve into what makes blogging great. All three bloggers echoed each other so much, that the segment could have been cut down to five minutes, and we would have still got the same information.
I contacted CTV afterwards to let them know my disappointment. It looks like the traditional media still does not understand blogging or bloggers at all.
To illustrate the point even further, it just seems like they picked a blogger or two from the OttawaStart.com/blogs.php list and asked them if they’d like to be interviewed. I know my blog is not on there, but I will be fixing that soon.
I then looked at the blogs of the people they profiled, and put them through a quick Technorati test. The result? Well, my blog came out on top, with the closest other blog 20,000 positions behind me at 25,597, with mine at a comparable 5,886. The funny thing is that the blog that is at 25,597 is the one on Blogger. I will give them this though, they were able tot secure a Google Page Rank of 6 on Postcards from the Mothership (which was a big shocker to me, anyone have anything to explain this?).
I just think that they did not touch on the important things. What makes blogging so interesting? What software works well, and is easy to use? How could blogging help the average person? How could blogging help business? They couldn’t even list one blog they thought was great to read. Anyways, I guess I will end my rant for now, and hope that the next media coverage of blogging in Ontario, or even Canada is a little more on the mark.
The Blogs they Profiled:
A Peak Inside the Fish bowl
Minty Fresh
Postcards from the Mothership
6 Responses to Blogging News Segment on TV
-
DaniGirl Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 9:01 am
Sorry you didn’t like the segment. We had a lot of fun doing it.
You have a good point, that we didn’t mention half of what’s great about blogs and blogging, but I can only speak to what’s important to me… and we only had a little less than 10 minutes. I could wax rhapsodic for days and probably cover off a lot of stuff you think I missed, but I think it was a good introduction for people who have probably never heard of blogs.
So I’m curious, why are you shocked that my blog gets a page rank of 6 on google, anyhow? Blogs aren’t just about links and traffic and status, they’re about good writing and good stories and building connections and forging relationships. That’s what’s important to me, that’s why I blog, and that’s what I was trying to convey.
-
David Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 9:25 am
Hey DaniGirl,
Glad you had fun doing it. Looked like you all did. I was just expecting a bit more from the coverage.
I was not trying to convey that blogs were all about links and traffic, but links and traffic do show a blogs relative status in the blogging community.
If people like what you are saying, your traffic and links usually go up, which you should be happy about because it means that what you are writing is reaching and connecting with an audience, thus making it easier to forge relationships.
As for a good introduction, what did you introduce? You basically lead people to believe that blogging was an online diary, where some people write about politics and sports and that Blogger was the best and easiest way to get started.
A little scary to me, as I think it was a little misrepresented. Most if not all of the blogs I read are not on Blogger, and many of the ones I read are about technology, web design, news stories that are interesting, books reviews and movie reviews, and other such topics. I know you said that they can be on any topic, but by looking at the blogs sampled for the show, I think all the blogs shown are fairly similar which goes against the diversity of blogs that was mentioned.
I also think that blogs that use real domains and real hosting show that the blogger is serious about what they are doing, where Blogger is more of a little hobby type thing.
If you want to write good stories, and build connections, then shouldn’t you get your own domain and hosting? It’s kind of like going to a formal dinner party in sweats. It also shows lack of pride in what you have done and a lack of respect for your readers, as hosting and domains for blogs can run as little as $50-$100 a year.
As for the page rank shock, that is because I thought that a site on blogspot, would not be able to attain such a high rank. There are things like Search Engine Optimization, and keyword density and all of the other search engine friendly things that I have worked hard to do for my Blog and I will hopefully be going to a Page Rank of 6 in this next Google Update. Kudos for you on being able to though.
I don’t know if you read, but I did get a response from CJOH, so don’t be surprised if they at some point call you all back or get another group together for something a bit more detailed and informative rather than an off the cuff, short news segment.
-
DaniGirl Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 10:13 am
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one, I think.
I’m trying to be open-minded, but I find the pettiness of your remarks a little distasteful. To imply that I don’t have respect for my writing or my readers because I choose to use a free, popular and easy to use Web interface rather than spend money on a domain and hosting dances dangerously close to an ad hominem attack - too much so for my comfort, to be honest.
You may be a ‘professional’ blogger, and congratulations to you for that. I’d love to be paid to blog. But I’m very proud of what I have done, and of the community I’ve built. I’m also very proud of what Robyn and Andrea have done with their blogs. What we’ve done, both with our blogs and in the CJOH segment, may not be to your taste - but that doesn’t give you the right to dump all over it.
-
David Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 10:55 am
I am so sorry. I was just voicing my opinion, and past experience in relation to bloggers and blogs. I was not directing it as a personal attack, but more of a question.
I am not saying that a blog on a blogging service such as Blogger can’t be respected, but I am saying is that it is more likely to be respected. With Blog Networks like 9rules (http://www.9rules.com), I would not expect to see a blog listed there that was using such a service.
It is just a matter of professionalism, and while writing can be fun, and interactive, which would be easier for your users? If you were momm-eh.com or momm-eh.blogspot.com?
I am not trying to dump on what CJOH has done, and I think there are a large segment of people would would actually like the segment, and find it very useful, but I think that if many people take that short show as the be all and end all of blogging, then people like myself will never be taken seriously, and that affects me and what I do.
By the way, I have looked over the blogs, and they are great personal journals, and you should be very proud of everything you have done, and to be found by traditional media and be asked to bring Blogging into the forefront a little more is great, and you should be commended for that. I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea, that’s all.
-
DaniGirl Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 11:14 am
Fair enough. As I said, I think we can agree to disagree. We come to blogging from very different perspectives, which is ironically one of the things that I love best about blogging.
To respond to your point about ease of use - the blog addy is so irrelevant to me as to be off my radar screen. Maybe some day I’ll look into it, but for now everybody who matters knows where to find me and that’s all that counts to me. It depends, I guess, on why you blog - and I’d rather be known as a blogger who tells a really great story with an amazing turn of phrase than a blogger who knows how to maximize my search engine optimization. Not, to steal a line from Seinfeld, that there’s anything wrong with that. But as you asserted in your original posts, the world of blogging is wide, and I think there’s plenty of room for both of us.
It’s been an interesting discussion. Thanks. And by the way, it’s “that Affects me”, not “Effects me”. Cuz the writing matters, too!
-
David Said,
January 27, 2006 @ 11:20 am
Thanks for the word correction. I totally agree that the blogosphere is big and wide and there is plenty of room for both of us. Thanks for being so understanding, and I hope to post a mirror of the story on this blog for the world to have a look at it.
And as long as you are happy with what you are doing, and what you have, I guess I can’t impose my views on what I think a blog should be, especially with such a decent ranking in the search engines that you have with your current sub-domain on blogspot.
Going back to what I said in my last comment, I am just happy that traditional media is looking at blogging at all. It is the best way to express oneself.Good luck with your blog!
David
RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI
