Nels Wadycki » Diatribes

Blogging is Easy

Nels — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:30:28 +0000

From a (sort of) recent Facebook status update:

While I agree for the most part with the “Tumblr > Twitter” sentiment, well, that’s kind of obvious. Twitter is definitely good for some things (mostly sharing short fleeting thoughts, but also sometimes for sharing links, and conversing with people who use Twitter as their main form of communication). I did not see “being a blog” in that list, though. And as Commenter #1 points out, you can view Twitter updates on your Tumblr dashboard while posting slightly longer commentaries on Tumblr. Of course, Commenter #1 also makes the fatal mistake of saying that he (or she) wishes they knew HTML.

I’m fairly certain that with a little practice, just about anyone could use a WordPress.com blog without knowing any HTML.

I think what’s really going on here is: People have gotten used to posting status updates and they’re cool with that, but what happens when they want to post something a little bit longer and ~~actually well thought out~~ more introspective? They secretly want to write a blog post, but are convinced that a) they need to know HTML, b) that no one will read it, c) they’ll have to keep doing it (or look like a failure), and d) it’s hard (for many reasons that probably just depend on who you’re talking to at the time).

Tumblr is building it’s popularity off of these popular misconceptions, and, well, good for them, I guess. I just wish that instead of throwing out Tumblr as the next step up from Tweeting, we could enlighten people as to how easy blogging really is.

For example (again, not to disparage what Tumblr is doing – just as a comparison): One can post text, quotes, links, and embed video in WordPress as easily as in Tumblr (plus you have Categories in addition to Tags). Posting a photo or audio file is more complicated, I can admit that, because WordPress’ media uploader requires some a little trial and error to figure out (even in its current super-simple form). That said, it’s still pretty easy, and when you want to post multiple pictures, it’s significantly easier. You can select them all from a single dialog, and then insert them individually (and select from multiple size options), or just make a gallery. Like I said, it’s not bash-your-head-in easy, but it’s got value-added at a pretty high ROI. So, the only thing that Tumblr can do much more easily than a WordPress blog is post a chat transcript. I don’t follow all that many people’s tumblr blogs, but I’ve never seen any of my friends post a chat transcript.

So, d) it’s not that hard, a) you don’t need to know HTML.

b) No one will read it?

You can have a Top 100 blog on Technorati just by picking a URL and posting photos that correspond in a somewhat ironic manner (or not at all) to that URL.

Finally… c) you’ll have to keep doing it. This is the One True Thing.

That said, you have to keep posting to your Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Anything Else or it will wither and attract tumbleweeds just like a regular old (brand new, awesome) blog.

And of course, this is also the rub. If you want people to read your blog, you have to post stuff. You have to post stuff even when it’s just your parents and the person you live with reading it. Even if your parents and the person you live with aren’t actually reading it. If you want people to look at and comment on your Tumblog or Twitter or Facebook or Anything Else, you have to put something there for them to comment on. I’ve already shown that using Tumblr doesn’t make it any easier to post content (although, it can provide the illusion that it does). But it doesn’t make you more creative or funny or insightful or emotional or powerful. That would be akin to saying “Oh, now that I can get the newspaper on my computer, I’ll actually read it.” Just because you can read it more easily on you computer without getting your fingers all dirty with ink doesn’t mean that you actually will.

Finally, if you use Tumblr, I’m pretty sure you don’t get analytics. While this is another somewhat in depth tool, you know you like checking how many people have visited your blog, and with Google Analytics it’s easy to see what people are searching for to get to your blog. I mean, how much more awesome is it when you can not just post something about vajazzling, but then also see that someone got to your post about vajazzling by looking for “how to vajazzle at home with swarovski”? Boom. Blogging FTW.

Other Stuff Like This

5 Reasons Why Feed Readers Still Rock

Nels — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:42:13 +0000

From Read/Write Web.

I just still feel like I’m missing something. I can’t get past the fact that Twitter is not a feed reader, yet people insist on using it as one. I mean, if I were following all the people whose feeds I read on Twitter instead of using Google Reader, I don’t feel like I would see even half the posts that I do now. Granted, I skip over half of them anyway, but at least I know that I’m consciously skipping things I don’t want to see instead of just losing them to a Devil’s Kettle whirlpool of information.

Here’s the Top 5 Reasons I Still Use An RSS Reader:

1. Memory – There’s no way I could remember to check 300+ web sites per day

2. Separation of Subject Matter – Even if I could follow all the sites I do in Twitter instead of an RSS Reader, Twitter just mashes everything together. I have all my feed folderized and then ordered by priority. I have my friends’ RSS feeds (for their blogs, Tumblrs, Friendfeed, Flickr Contacts Feed) up at the top. I also have categories for comics, tech/web stuff, blogs by authors and other blogs about writing, fantasy basketball, the Bulls, personal finance blogs, Getting Things Done type blogs, and probably a couple more than I can’t think of off the top of my head. If these were all in one feed it would be nearly impossible to read. If there were all in one Twitter stream, I would almost certainly miss posts. If the ones I missed were the posts from my friends (which I deem Priority 1) that would suck. Flat out. I can totally save the GTD info for some time when I actually want to read it, and I often skip the PF advice anyway, so if those things were pushing my friends out of the visible spectrum and I were using a “out of sight, out of mind” reader like Twitter, then I’m letting the blogs decide who gets my attention instead of the other way around.

3. Control of Information Flow – This is related to the previous one, and is one of the reasons listed on RWW. I prefer to decide what I read instead of having Twitter (or Facebook) do it for me. At best, I’ll get to see something interesting, at worst, I’ll check whatever alternative to the RSS Reader is at a time when a bunch of blogs I don’t care about have just posted. For example, a friend of mine posted something very funny on Facebook at 1:43am the other night. If I used only Facebook as my feed reader, a bunch of tech bloggers would have pushed out posts about the new Apple tablet on top of that, and I might have missed that gem of a moment.

4. Consolidation – In reality, while there is a ton of information available on Twitter or Facebook, most of my friends don’t use Twitter. So, in order to keep my friends as Priority 1, I’d have to use at least 2 different media (Twitter and Facebook) to track everything. In a feed reader, I can pull in Twitter feeds and my Facebook Status Update feed (which I’m not sure you can even find any more), and then I have all that info in one place. Yes, I still have to check Facebook from time to time to see photos and links that people posted, but I also get to avoid all the app and Fan Page spam that comes through to my News Feed.

5. RSS Feeds Are Unlimited – Related to the above point again, but slightly different: Almost every site has an RSS feed. Not every site has a Twitter account. Sure, most people with personal blogs also have a Twitter account, but if they’re like me, they use Twitter for stuff that they don’t post on their blog (even if they use it to announce new blog posts as well). That’s all well and good for my friends, but for other bloggers, it can dilute the feed with information that I don’t really care about (I don’t expect you to care about my Twitter stream even if you like my blog – and vice versa). If following someone on Twitter was the only option I had to get their blog posts, I would have to more careful about who I follow. But with RSS, I have a choice. I can follow their Twitter feed, or I can follow the feed for their blog. And if they aren’t on Twitter, I can still follow their blog. If they have a WordPress blog (not sure if this works on others) I can even follow individual categories or tags if I want. Yes, Twitter is simple, but RSS is almost as simple, but it’s added complexity increases the overall value so as to outweigh the cost by orders of magnitude.

Other Stuff Like This

Hulu What Now?

Nels — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:11:04 +0000

So, I know the thing on everyone’s mind is the whole Twitter Replies scandal, but really, that’s already been overdone, and it’ll be over and gone in a day anyway. But it does sort of relate to to this post in the whole K.I.S.S. #FAIL way… you see…

Not too long ago, I was watching the “Web Exclusives” (aka Deleted and Behind-The Scenes) of The Office on Hulu and I see this:

Availability Notes:
The last 14 episodes of Season 5 are available until August 8, 2009. At that time, Season 5 episodes will revert to a ‘five rolling’ schedule with five episodes available at a given time and a newer episode added weekly as an older one expires.

I’m sorry… whosinawhatnow? That Don’t Make No Sense.

As opposed to the Twitter reply scheme, which I actually understood the first time I read it and – while kind of dumb – is actually comprehensible…

Maybe it’s just the date thing that’s throwing me off. I’m assuming that new episodes don’t start until some time in September, and so the August 8th date seems sort of arbitrary. Why not August 29th, 1997 at 2:14 am?

Here I thought Hulu was going to neatly take care of the fact that I don’t have cable or a satellite dish or AT&T’s Uverse (whatever that is). But instead of being my online TiVo, it appears they’re going to be all Big Media about it and force me to watch on their schedule (at least somewhat). Maybe if, instead of “limited commercials” they went to 2 commercials per break… or 3, or even 4, like on broadcast TV? Would the users revolt? Sure… but would they get used to it if they didn’t have any other choice? I know I would.

Other Stuff Like This

Dollhouse: Unlucky 13

Nels — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:45:42 +0000

So, I’m catching up on Dollhouse tonight (thankfully/mercifully, someone had the bright idea to extend the expiration dates so I could actually keep up), and I notice this:

Availability Notes: The 13th Episode of Dollhouse will not be available for online streaming.

Back To The Stone Age

I can almost guarantee you that the person who decided not to have the season finale available on Hulu is not the same person who decided to extend the deadlines… because one was a good decision and the other, a terrible one.

Guess what FOX (or Hulu, but I’m guessing it was FOX that made the decision)? My wife and I are chaperoning her school’s prom on Friday night. So, I won’t be able to watch your Dollhouse season finale… which means I have about 3 options…

Never get to see it – this is the extreme option, and is clearly superseded by the next two
I can download it illegally
I can wait until the DVDs are on Netflix and get the last one in order to watch a single freaking episode

I wonder if any of those 3 options is going to make FOX more money than they’d get by putting it on Hulu…

A fourth option would just be to follow Eliza Dushku’s Twitter. It doesn’t really actually accomplish viewing of the episode, but it supports an actress that I like…