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July 10, 2008

Gimme more, more often

Thursday, July 10, 2008, The Hindustan Times
Blogosphere is what it is
because there are hardly
any rules; but one
would hope that there
was some way to ensure
that good bloggers post
more regularly


Good content can be like cocaine, addictive after trying it a couple of times. While unlike cocaine, good content does not burn your nasal septum, not getting your regular dose of blog stuff can be quite irritating.

Professional bloggers – those who get paid for blogging (yes it happens!) – insist a blog's not a blog till it's not updated daily. However there are others who subscribe to the I-post-at-will theory. A rule against daily updates sounds positively divine when you consider the can-cause-brain-damage blogs that are out there. A special mention goes to the umpteen broken heart blogs and boring travel blogs.

While the heartbreak blogs constantly whine about dating serial jerks (just dump the man!), there are more than enough travel bores who put up everything from their first Spanish omelet to the star-shaped rabbit poo they encountered on a guided trek.

Conversely there should be a rule that makes good bloggers post more regularly. Like Kamakaze who writes on Kakisi's World. From writing on how the Indian Home Minister's cranial powers puts US pres George Bush to shame, to calling the bluff on Shiv Sena's Maharashtra-for-Marathis campaign – "So dear Thackerays, become Thakres or sod off" – Kamakaze's posts are mostly-India-centric, caustic, incisive and make for quick, sharp reading. However, his updates are few and far between.

It's the same with Phil on The Rut. The tagline on his blog header ('masthead' atop a blog, usually displays blog name) reads, "No, I don't draw my cartoons with my feet... why does everyone keep asking that?" With a fresh, sketched perspective on things, Phil's toons are irreverent to the core. From making fun of the media's macabre love for death and disaster – corresponding cartoon is of a man reading a newspaper with blood splatters with the headline, "Man falls into newspaper printing machine" – to taking pot shots at lifestyle trends like speed dating – the toon is titled 'Speed Mating', has rabbits and the rest you can check out – Phil has a quirky, often delightfully twisted sense of humour.

Indie, the 'American living in Europe since the late 1980's' on The Synchronicity of Indeterminacy tells unusual stories, rather makes his readers tell the stories. He clicks a picture, encourages readers to share perspectives based on that picture and then puts out the real story behind the picture a few days later. He also links and posts about other cool things to do in the blog-zone. If only he'd do it somewhat oftener.

5 comments:

Vibhash Prakash Awasthi said...

good to see u have started so soon aftr reaching australia...btw have u seen desi bloggers like sidin or greatbong?

Over Rated said...

People get paid to blog???

Sign me up!!! :P ...

Also, to add to your list, blogs which are written by religious freaks. I mean in 10% of the searches, google blog search pulls up some weird blog written by some right wing looney professing the "righteousness" that is the bible.
Oh, and those weirdos who want to exchange "reciprocal" links !!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have read all your articles printed in HT. I recently got my HT subscription cancelled cause of the looks overhaul without solid writing to back it up.
I dont understand why should anyone pickup a newspaper to read frivolous musings on the edit page, more still pay to read it, while the writer laughs his/her way to the bank. Your writing so far is not worth the effort(although it is not much of an effort, but I still rue wasting it).
It feels as if the paper and the writer are complicit in trying to make the reader feel it is alright, even great, a sign of the changing times for such banalities to grace the edit page.
I might post this feeling sorry for having criticised, but it is true.

Chandini Santosh said...

How true!

Mamma mia! Me a mamma? said...

Speaking of blogs that are addictive...count yours in!