This is not just a status update on the site, but also an editorial on what I think about blogging and what I think is best practice (which is far from the “best”). Basically, I’m going to rant and whine about something I’m finding hard to get noticed at. More than just a rant, the main purpose of this post is for me to wrap my head around the things that are making this whole content creation thing hard for me. Also, I hope to get feedback from those who may care even a bit about what I do, if there are any.
Recently, I read this post by a local blogger, and it’s quite the critical piece. It talks much about the current state of blogging in the Philippines—the monetizing kind—and much of what makes it eyebrow-raising. Whenever I join a blogging group on Facebook, it’s mostly lifestyle bloggers and such, so I usually feel out of place.
NOTE: The following statements are my own opinions as of this writing. It can possibly not represent what I may believe in the future. Reader discretion is advised.
My Thoughts on Common Blogging Practices
What really makes me scratch my head is what I’ve been seeing in some blogs—blogging practices that may seem acceptable at large, but seems questionable elsewhere. I’m not saying blogging for money or fame is a bad thing; that would make me a bit of a hypocrite. In anything related to the publishing of writing of any kind, being known for what you write about is the aim.
However, I do have a gripe with how the seemingly-unsubstantial get more attention than the informationally-dense. It’s posting for the sake of posting, and I don’t wish to partake in the same for this blog as it makes me both uncomfortable and ashamed. It’s not out of any higher sense of integrity (this is blogging, not scientific publishing), but it’s just not what I wish for this blog. I’ve even taken out advertisements due to an incident that may jeopardize my Google AdSense account, which had been terminated before.
Advertorials and other sponsored content are the most prevalent things I’ve encountered in modern blogging, and they’ve been a common source of revenue for many blogs. I’ve been getting offers from outfits to post some for them, and I’ve permitted guest posting here before. However, as explained in this post about something similar, a lot of the guests posts (which I chose not to delete) are sub-par in quality and goes against the standards of this blog.
I wouldn’t be adverse to posting advertorials, but I would want them to be of a reasonably high standard. The “Tupperware bloggers” mentioned in the link at the beginning of this post are an example of the kind of blogger I wish to not become, and my policy statement reflects this.
Journalistic Gaslighting
There is a certain local online publication within a niche I’ve recently become a contributing part of that has been making me furrow my brow. If you look at my recent posts, you’ll get a good idea of what niche that is.
I don’t tend to get flustered by biased journalism as I’ve looked into a bit of the history of yellow journalism, including the life and career of William Randolph Hearst. If you wish to learn more about this topic, just look into what Hearst tried to do to the film Citizen Kane, which was based on his life.
That blog stands for everything I don’t want my blog to become. They do have a sizable audience and wields a good bit of influence within that niche, and they use that influence for their own agenda beyond that of standard journalism. “Bias” is a word that gets thrown around too much, but their use of “journalistic gaslighting”, as I like to call it, does make it obvious that they have something against our organization within said niche.
We are the secondary organization in that niche, with the first having established itself quite well before we started to do our own thing in public. What that blog has been doing is passive-aggressively downplay us in various ways and even consistently report erroneous details about our efforts. Perhaps you can say they’re not doing it deliberately, and I wish to believe that too in accordance to Hanlon’s Razor, but that is a lot of homework they’re skipping in order to report about us so lackadaisically like that.
The fact that I’ve mentioned their activities here, however vaguely, means it does bother me a bit. It’s not enough to make me angry at them, but they do enough on their end for us to know they don’t really care for us beyond our (unfortunate) existence. That’s another thing I should avoid as a blogger.
While I’m not winning any Pulitzer Prizes for this, it doesn’t mean I should make such a mess either.
Why I’m Slow in Blogging
I barely write on this blog due to life and laziness getting in the way. I have much to say, but a lot of hard work goes into saying it in a coherent and thorough manner. Perhaps I can adopt the way other people express their thoughts in order to churn content out faster, but I can never bring myself to do that. I can’t play other people’s game as it will only keep me back.
I don’t want to do exactly what they do. It’s not because I’m better than them—far from it. I simply have my own thing, and all I really have to do is to make more of my thing while I still have the breath in me to do it. All I really have to do is to make more of my thing and have more people who care know about it.
Perhaps some people may read that and think I’m a loser for thinking so, ignoring the accepted standards of the industry. However, my aim here is to write blog posts about things I’m interested in that people can find informative even after many years down the line. I’m looking for long term value and not just a massive bunch of news posts that have become long irrelevant and outdated.
If that means the blog doesn’t get as many views or will never earn a cent, I’m fine with it. I just want it to be substantial, and I’ve decided that I shall do more for just that.
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