Flame and Fortune
today i note the nominations for the 2005 Bloggies.
i wonder, how do it work? what weird combination of content and community makes a blog world famous?
how does a dooce go from being some woman who knows mormons to being a word in the dictionary? how does a personal life spread like melted butter across the fake crab that is the bloggosphere?
how, from the millions, do a few rise to the top?
i've been blogging for a while. there have been times when i've been concerned about building a readership. there have been times when i've wanted to achieve some specific goal with my writing. i've wanted to be funny. i've wanted to be engaging. i've wanted people to comment. i've wanted a pony.
now, i think i've written some decent posts. i'm not wonkette or anything, but...
i guess i see it like this. there are some blogs like wonkette, or defamer, or stereogum that provide a service. they offer news/gossip about a particular field be it politics, hollywood or music which a savvy audience can tap into. they collect this info from their readers and then spawn it on their blog. i suppose they needed to create that initial reader base and then either quit their job or have a job that allows them to blog full time. perhaps they're pros? i guess ad revenue off wonkette could be enough to live on? (anyone know?)
then there are personal blogs, like dooce. this is a very strange phenomenon to me. i used to read dooce, then she had herself committed and it was just a little dark for me. her writing is good and her site design is nifty, but what makes her life more interesting than anyone elses? what is it that makes dooce known world wide vs. say, mostlymeat? ajax is funny. he writes about interesting things. the whole pink kitten thing is kind of tired, but i enjoy his blog as much as i liked dooce's. even more so because i've actually met ajax.
and ajax's blog? it's not that much (if any) better then the others i read. i just picked him 'cause he's been blogging for longer and seems to have devoted readers.
so whyfor art thou bloggio?
what would it take to make mostlymeat or troublonia the next dooce?
consistency? i don't think so. dooce isn't always funny or always interesting. i think there's something about critical mass. i think there's something American, or perhaps even human, about wanting to know about the things that other people know about. that people like to read dooce because they know other people read dooce. it's good, sure, but part of its extra-goodness is knowing that you can talk about dooce when she comes up on the monorail.
i've noticed this with films, too. this year, Sideways is the best movie because a lot of people said so because other people said so and there's safety in numbers. Sideways was a fine movie. it was about half as good as About Schmidt and a third as good as Election. (all three directed by Alexander Payne.) people just like to like what other people like. people like to know what other people know.
i think another "critical mass" factor is pressure. once you realize that your blog is being read by a large number of people, there is a lot more hot poker in the arse to make what you post worth their time. if your grandma and that one guy in finance read your blog, your content is not so critical. you can slack off for a few weeks and they'll probably forgive you.
there's another blog i've been into recently, Query Letters I Love. i've been reading this blog since its afterbirth sodden appearance. i've been commenting on it a lot. i've also stepped up to create the first place prize in the Query Letter of the Year contest which appears to not really exist. since i started posting on that blog, i've noticed my blog traffic jump. from about 100 daily readers to 200. i understand Query Letters just got mentioned in Harper's.
will my stats jump again? will i get even more pass-thru readers? do i want them?
i guess i don't know. i started blogging as a brain-purge excercise. lately i've been blogging as a habit. and i've made my site all purty and i'm keen on the new look even if i haven't quite figured out how to connect the new name with the content.
will Troublonia ever be a highly touristed land? how would it change if it was?
there'd be longer lines for the bathroom, certainly. and even though you'd have confirmed your rental car reservation, they wouldn't have a car for you. they'd point you towards a fourteen year old kid with a motorized scooter and a bad case of the hiccoughs saying, "that kid, my friend? he will take you. in this traffic? very fast that kid. very good for you."
i'm curious: what's your favorite blog and why?
also: will you buy me a pony?
well then fuck you, charlie. no pony. no lap dance.
i feel like there is some lesson in here in malcom gladwell's book the tipping point, but i forget what it is.
huh. you sure sound like you want more readers.
i don't read dooce because other people read dooce...i don't even talk to anyone else who reads dooce (despite my best efforts to get people into her site). i read dooce because she talks about what it's like for a young, smart hipster to get married and have a baby. she's often funny, but she's also insightful and honest. i love that she talked about getting committed--it was dark, life is dark, most people don't talk about the dark, and it's comforting to hear just how normal the dark is. maybe someday i'll get committed, but i'll still have a family who loves me and is patient with me and understands (although i probably won't have the boatloads of strangers understanding me too).
check out the comments on her blog--they're mainly from 20-40-year-old women who identify with her. it makes perfect sense that you wouldn't. but please don't assume that we're all sheep just 'cuz you don't understand the attraction!
there aren't many other women out there who are our age and our generation who are voicing our thoughts so well and so consistently. you expect us to rely on bridget jones for literary companionship?
i'm curious why some blogs are aswamp with readers. maybe i want more readers here. i'm not sure.
you're awfully defensive about reading dooce. i just used her as an example. i do believe there is slightly more choice out there than a) dooce or b) bridget jones.
after all, how did you hear about dooce? or bridget jones? that's what i'm interested in. 'cause while you prefer dooce and some prefer bridget jones, i suggest that neither is necessarily the best at what they do -- just the most popular.
are you asking how i heard about dooce or why i keep reading her? of course i heard about her because other people like her...but i've heard of plenty of other websites that other people liked, and i don't read those as often (or at all) because i don't like them as much.
i'm trying to explain that dooce does offer a particular service, like wonkette--it's just not a service that you need. just like a blog offering commentary on football games wouldn't offer a service that i need. yes, there are other choices of things to read beyond dooce and bridget jones, but there aren't many that offer this particular service.
you asked what it would take to make troubolonia the next dooce (which does make me think you want more readers here), and you asked what made dooce rise to the top, and i'm trying to answer your questions. i disagree with your explanation that "people like to read dooce because they know other people read dooce," and sure, it makes me a little defensive--you're calling me a sheep. besides, liking dooce is kinda the opposite of cool around here. have you ever tried to convince a friend that a woman who writes about her baby is interesting?
so i think dooce's popularity is well earned. you think it isn't, which is fine, but it seems strange to me that you don't accept the explanation that a) other people do think she's that good and b) she's offering something kinda unique that people want. who's the defensive one around here, mister?
dear lord, please tell me how to get a typekey identity so that it doesn't take forever to post a comment here! why do spammers ruin everything?
hurf. uh.
actually, i'm not sure how we ended up talking about dooce specifically. i was trying to think out loud about the flow of blog readers and just used her as an example. i mean i read dooce for quite some time and found her to be a talented writer with interesting things to say and a good design. i drifted on, but that isn't so relevent to anything we're discussing. i also liked the movie sideways.
so i'm a little surprised that you felt i called you a sheep. not my intention. i read all the blogs i mention in that blog post every stinkin' day. i read wonkette and defamer and fark and many many others. so i'm sheepish if anyone.
in this post i'm trying to ask a question about how WE operate, not you specifically or dooce readers specificially. that's why i'm surprised to find you defending your interest in dooce.
of course it's interesting. i never said it wasn't. you say you read it because it's good. i asked: of all the good things, how do some transcend small, personal readerships to capture international readerships?
that's it. just curious. you don't like my theory -- whatever. not bothered. it isn't a particularly great theory. but "it's good" isn't much better. 'cause while dooce is good, i read a ton of good blogs. and while dooce does speak to the hipster moms, that's just one demographic and she's read by a lot more than hipster moms (or wanna-moms). i speak to the melancholy engaged travelers stuck at desk jobs -- an even smaller demographic, and one that does not apparently nominate sites for Bloggies.
perhaps we should discuss something other than dooce, since that has a personal meaning to you?
on the MUNI in this morning i was thinking about your comment (which i read at home on my way in) and was thinking, "well. maybe em is right. maybe dooce (and others) are just GOOD. then i looked down and saw a woman reading Sideways the Book!
so no. there is definitely something else going on. 'cause Sideways the Book? that's like Dooce the Pop Anthem.
p.s. THANK YOU for asking about TypeKey. just click the "sign in" link and there's a register link on the page you're forwarded to. it takes about two minutes and then your comments will autopost.
Dooce is annoying.
My blogg rules, thanks for the what ups, I can't believe I am not getting awards for this stuff because it is hell of bald.
1. Kittens are getting old? What? Tired kittens?
2. Sideways was a book first, duh.
3. Thanks for reading my blogg.
2. um. my bad. but really. people weren't jumping up and down about Sideways the book until there was hoopla about Sideways the movie. the cover of this book was the movie poster.