http://raw360.com/index.php?itemid=2415
The entry is titled "Ten Things I Believe Bloggers Do Wrong"
Number 6 was of particular interest to me:
6. Substitute slang for ideas. Rethuglicans, Dummocrats.
These terms add absolutely nothing to any argument presented
(even if you're "preaching to the choir") and can turn off
sympathetic folks (even those on your side). Also, while I
know it's convenient that $ is similar to the letter S and
is a convenient way to detract someone or something you think
is "all about money" it lost its originality a long time ago.Interestingly enough, I had not run across "Dummocrats" anywhere before I read the post in question, but "Rethuglicans" was extremely familiar to me. And I agree that such terms can turn off sympathetic folks. I'm sympathetic to a lot of arguments made -- but derogatory derivations of "Republicans" make me believe that the individual in question is trying to appeal more to emotion than logic, which means said individual has lost a lot of the argument up front. If you want to convince *me*, not loading words with extra emotional meaning in that manner goes a long way.
Also, there was one he didn't put very well, apparently, from what I've read of the comments:
8. Become a one-note charlie. If you're an expert in health
care or Iraq, then by all means put your expertise to work.
But there's only so many ways you can advocate a more
libertarian health care system or pulling out of Iraq before
it grows stale.Now, in the comments, he indicates that if you're an actual *expert* on the subject, then by all means, a focused blog can be a real service to the rest of us. Or collecting links on one subject, that is useful. It's if you're not an actual expert but are going on and on about one thing, that's where he draws the line.
Now, in his clarification, I was reminded of something DB discussed awhile back - hobbyists who become experts in areas that are not really *useful* in this day and age (my friends who dabbled heavily in blacksmithing for a few years come to mind), but keep these skills from falling into complete oblivion. Not sure why, but that gets the post on-topic. :)
And finally, I leave you with the song going through my head as I reflect on Whitlock's blog entry - "When the Red Red Robin Goes Blog Blog Blog Bloggin' Along".
Julia _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
