I have mixed feelings on them. In aggregate they are great and provide tons of inspiration, information, and entertainment for their readers. Taken individually they are a real mixed bag.
The "good" blogs provide thoughtful commentary, interesting subject matter, and periodic postings.
Some blogs are "ok" but lack one or more of the mentioned attributes. Then there are those blogs that are just "bad". The "bad" ones probably can't deliver any of the mentioned attributes or they just do it so poorly that I don't bother with them. I wish the bad blogs would just quit it with their fuzzy photography and their tedious battle reports. Seriously, if you can't tell a compelling story or take a picture in focus just hang it up!
Rating blogs can be tricky because it comes down to personal taste. If someone is providing thoughtful commentary about historical war gaming, that probably gets my interest and I would rate the blog "good". If it's fantasy I'm also interested, to a point. If the fantasy talk is very specific about a game I don't play then I am probably not interested in the commentary, however it might have interesting subject matter in the form of quality photography of miniatures so I can still rate it "good". Periodic posting is probably the least important quality but it does play into a rating. Scattered posting is more than made up for when someone posts well constructed subject matter be it excellently painted figures, an interesting report about a campaign, or skillful terrain projects.
I'd like to optimistically think this blog rests in the "ok" category but it's probably just "alright" or "meh". I've definitely scaled back on the the slim content it ever delivered. I'm not posting here in the New Year to proclaim some sort of goal or resolution, I gave that up last year. In reality I did a lot of hobby stuff last year I just didn't bother to post much of it.
I am posting today to let you know I am changing the way I am going to blog going forward. The blog is going to be more light with small updates, progress reports, and random thoughts or commentary. It's going to be more similar to how some folks have successfully used Facebook as a stream for their projects. PiersBrand's Kildare Paintworks is a favorite of mine and a great example of a when subject matter does not always align with my interests but is still compelling because of good brushwork.
You might be saying "I guess PrivateSnafu is lowering the quality of his blog." In some ways that might be true, but I request that you please think of it differently. The reason I ask you to give me the benefit of the doubt is that with the change in the Blog format I am making public my full Website!
Presenting Snafu's Miniature Machinations!
All the high quality efforts that I have tried to put into this blog will now go toward my website. The website is intended to be more of an archive or portfolio of sorts. When you visit you'll see that it is presently just an outline with the content still mostly residing here and in other locations. As time permits I'll be migrating a lot of content there. The website is going to allow me to explore a number of areas of interest I have, whereas this Blog has been mainly about World War II and Flames of War specifically.
I'll endeavor to keep the Blog going but not waste your time. I might go to a Facebook style page in the future but currently I just use a personal page for close friends and family so i'll continue on with the blog, using it to notify you of content that is added to the full site, my musings, and some progress reports on some painting and terrain work.
I'd love to here your thoughts about the change and what your initial reaction is to the website format. So please leave a comment.
Have a Merry New Year and Happy Hobbying!
Hello, thanks for the link, I have enjoyed a browse and particularly found this blog post interesting as I too have been running a website separate from the blog, each with its own function but also an overlap.
ReplyDeleteI used the blog as an article and archive based service, while my website has been more 'magaziney' and snippet based. With the closure of my blog, I now need to give the website a slight facelift as it starts to be a bit more multi-functional.
The downside with the website is that I am limited to 30 pages and 14 items per page, after which I need to re-cycle content, so unless I use Dropbox, archiving will be a thing of the past.
Good luck with your web pages.
Norm,
DeleteI have some additional thoughts to share with you. I'll be in touch. Thanks for the comments.