radiopeter

The funny thing about the blogosphere, unlike old media, is that the content can pretty much dry up at any given time. A prolific blogger can suddenly goes postless. A photo blog, pictureless. A podcaster (myself included) stops producing podcasts.

There is nothing wrong with a lapse in content. Life gets in the way at times. And in my book, blogging shouldn’t ever feel like work. It should be a joyful thing that enhances the world around you. Sadly, so many blogs I formerly read have lost that spark.

I spent an hour before the sun rose today cleaning out my Google Reader. My eye wasn’t on the posters that stopped producing, but instead on those that lacked smart content. I’ve discussed this many times, both on my own podcast and elsewhere, and it’s a concept I stick to.

Out with the old, tired, I-blog-therefore-I’m-cool sites. I was surprised how many of them I actually subscribed to. No, I don’t need to see an excess of flesh-laden pictures. No, I don’t need to read about what you ate at McDonalds. No, I don’t care about your morning coffee thoughts anymore. No, your lesbian perspective on the world is neither lesbian, nor a perspective. And who are you kidding by thinking your podcast is anything more than a PR machine trying to make money? Seriously, it’s reality check time.

I’d still read those blogs (or listen to the podcasts) if the writers actually had anything to say. But where there is no smart content, there is no interest from Peter Mavrik. Sad, because filling the internets for the sake of filling the internets is rather Sisyphean.

I do love to tell my blog about my problems, thoughts, and the world around me, trying to keep enough smart content embedded in the posts to make them worthwhile. And if nothing else, I’ll toss you a picture or two that’ll make you think.

But think about it. What do you read on the internets regularly, and why? What exactly keeps you coming back for more? If you do like those pictures, or reading what someone ate at McDonalds, or someone else’s morning coffe thoughts, there isn’t anything wrong with that. But what is it doing for you?

I leave you with a quote from the character of Mame Dennis played beautifully by Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame:

Life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!

Amen Mame. Amen.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 and is filed under blogpost. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.