Attacking people personaly in your blog

[brainshrub]

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Today's topic: Attacking people on your blog.

We've all been there - A conservative has personally attacked you on a forum or blog. He said you are an evil, LIEberal. He said that your girlfriend is a thespian. He said your feet smell!

You think to yourself: "That's not true! My feet smell just great!"

You want to write a blistering response! Your honor demands it! You drink a few beers and you start working like this little guy:



Stop right there blogga! What are you doing?

Yes, writing a blistering response is cathartic... but in the long term you will regret it. Here's why:

• From an SEO standpoint, snark only increases traffic temporarily.
  
• From an admin standpoint, attacking people attracts trolls. (Nothing wastes more time than trolls)
  
• From a maturity standpoint, you have lowered yourself to the level of the conservative.
  
• From the readers standpoint, attacking people is boring!
  

Don't believe me on that last point?

Check out this blog: http://www.googlejerk.com/jerkstore/

After the third post, this blog ceases to be entertaining. Okay already... I get it! You don't like Google! GoogleJerk doesn't tell us anything new.

The only blogger I know who consistently writes quality snark is http://maddox.xmission.com/

So unless you are Maddox, I suggest you follow these simple rules:

1) Do not write while upset.
2) Do not write while drunk.
3) Do not write pure snark.
4) Do not write about your sex life or personal issues.

Remember, never publish anything you would not want a future employer to read. Search engines have a funny way of indexing sites. Information has a way of biting you on the butt if your not careful.

If you are personally attacked, take the high road. The more polite you are to someone who writes something mean to you, the better you look. No matter how tempting, do not personally attack anyone.

Here is an example of a good response to someone who has wronged you:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/01/23/how-not-to-launch-a-blog-the-story-of-an-amateur-blogger/

Note how Darren was respectful and non-threatening. Notice how he waited a few weeks before responding, and attempted to work out the situation away from the public eye first.

Or put another way: A writer that focuses on attacking people is only hurting themselves in the long-term.

Remember Norton Downey Junior?

You probably don’t… but back in the 80s he had a top-rated talk show that drew in ratings by offending people and creating controversy. Downey lived to regret his crass behavior and he died in obscurity.

Do you know who Oprah Oprah Winfrey is?

Of course you do! She also started a talk show in the 80s, but she focused on positive values and today she is still going as strong as ever!

Whose career would you rather have?

I am going to refer to Problogger.net a lot in this series. Anyone who wants to be a serious blogger should read his site daily. I don't even have ads on my site, and I've never left ProBlogger without learning something new.

[AlCzervik]

1. does this seem like a personal attack?

http://wicked-stupid.blogspot.com/2005/12/merry-christmas-cokehead.html

my sister told me it was but i told her to f*ck herself.:D

[brainshrub]

2. No, it looks like a report on an event.

It's when you get on your blog and you do something like talk about a persons family, or gossip about someone.

You sister was kidding, right?

[AlCzervik]

3. oh yeah she was kidding, she works next to republican and she

tells him when i update and she says he actually enjoys it.

[Staph]

4. This isn't snark . . . ,

Just a simple correction. The talk show host's name was Morton Downey, Jr. (And you're right for thinking that I have entirely too much worthless trivia stashed away in my brain!)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

5. I just don't understand blogging. To me it is just mental masturbation.

I enjoy reading opinions in discussion threads, in fact I spend hours doing just that, but I can't for the life of me understand why people would want to read pages and pages of blather by someone who just likes to hear himself talk.

:rant:

[brainshrub]

6. Look at this this way:

For all intents and purposes, there are an infinite number of people on the internet at any given time. (Yes, I know it's finite - but the number is so high that from the perspective of any one individual the number may as well be infinite.)

In an infinite universe, there is bound to be hundreds of thousands of people who want to read your material... even if what you are writing is pure crap. What is blather to you, is pure wisdom to another.