Content or Networking ?

Both contents and networking are important....

With my personal experience I would say content is more necessary...When i started blogging..I didnt have even one follower..None of my friends are interested in blogging.. My first few posts..didnt get any comments at all... 

This is where network plays a major role.. when you write and you dont get any feedback,then after a certain period of time you will lose interest in blogging.... 

And thankfully through Indiblogger I got lots of friends and now I have 29 followers..I dont know whether my contents are so good...

Once you have good contents then with the aid of some good sites like Indiblogger you can form a network... 

So both are important... and but the preference is given to contents.. http://ballat.blogspot.com 

Hi Shankar,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You have touched the right points. I am seeing the advantage on Indiblogger in few days.

But I am still confused about the accomplishment part. What makes a bollger satisfied in what he does?

What is the moksha ? :)

Looks like the universal question....

@Udahaati: A good feed back to his works gives blogger a self satisfaction... Inturn it will make you to write another post and inturn expect more appreciation... so it goes like a chain reaction..In the end leading to addictive blogging.. And addictive blogging is not bad(according to me).. atleast better than smoking and drinking..  ;-)

http://ballat.blogspot.com

hmmmm... there are bloggers, good bloggers and then there are great taggers. People who tag others and share awards among themselves.

Blogging in our times is distraught with people who have the networking clout of 200 followers and 40 people who comment daily on their posts. Even a post about "Why I sneezed today?" gets a lot of *wink wink*'s and bravo's.

I really envy people with so much of a loyal fan base. Why, I would give one arm and a leg for having 200 followers of my blog. But then, on second thoughts, I may not. Who the hell cares if someone likes my blog or not. Or then is it? I am confused. Udtahaathi, you owe me an apology for bringing me down this extrospection lane.

Hi Paritosh,

Can Tag bloggers be termed as Tloggers? You seem to be little pissed with 'some' bloggers.

Confused is me. Seeking the truth. Seeking the blogging Moksha.

Blogging in our times is distraught with people who have the networking clout of 200 followers and 40 people who comment daily on their posts

Does that make blogging different than networking on some social networking website wherein people receive numerous crap scraps! Comments must be qualified rather than merely quantified!

Neeraj- is'nt 'quality of comments' somewhat subjective. Theoritically it may sound good saying one good comment is better than 10 junks, but who to decide the 'good' from 'junk' here ?

Is bloggind just another form of social networking without any responsibility ?

Hi Udtahaathi! Of course there is a difference between blogging and a social networking website! The responsiblity of safeguarding the sanctity of the content (by means of the posts or the comments) rests on our own shoulders! Let us rather go for some real thoughtful comments!

Who is going to decide the 'good' from 'junk'?

Well, unfortunately, I am not aware of any Internationally recognized quality standards like the ISO ones for blogging ... But it is the community who should proactively take this responsiblity! It's all about you, me and our fellow bloggers!

Cheers!

@ Neeraj: The responsiblity of safeguarding the sanctity of the content (by means of the posts or the comments) rests on our own shoulders

I know a veteran blogger who's comment policy says- I am in no ways liable for anything that is in the comment space. The opinions mentioned in the comments are those of the commenters and not mine.

I know many blogs whos comment section are worse than a chat room.

I think 'cool ignore' should be the mantra for them.

regarding standards of blogging- at least is there any 'code of conduct'  like they have in forums and community sites ?

I agree with the scenario you are talking about. This is a quite common case in case the blog owner does not monitor the incoming comments, could be for the sake of increasing the comment count - which sometimes hurts the blog!

@Udtahaathi

Can Tag bloggers be termed as Tloggers? You seem to be little pissed with 'some' bloggers.

Well... I dunno. I am not used to this naming game but sure they are not essentially bloggers. I have also been tagged once or twice and have responded to the tags when I find them worthy enuf. But blogging only to justify it as a means to be tagged and tag others is not done. Anyways, I am not just pissed off with anyone in particular, in fact I am not pissed off at all. Rather I am amused at this phenomenon called tagging. :)

@Neeraj

Does that make blogging different than networking?

Blogging essentially has become a popularity game. People die for comments on their posts and so do I. Wouldn't you like people to comment on your best post?

But what is happening here is disturbing. People just comment on others' posts just to get a reply back on theirs.Which is simply not done.

I, on my part, comment on some post if I like the content and then forget about it. Seems kinda cheeky but that's how it is. I am trying to live by the Geeta Saar ;).

Exactly! Agreed! No comments (look I've commented just to say - 'No comments' )

I have also noticed one phenomenon.

Some mediocre writers, over a suabstabtial period of time, continiuosly getting praised by their backscratching circle for the crap they generate, starts beleiving they are next contender for the booker prize. Some actually write a book too :-s

Such pseudo celebrities then become awesomely hilarious to read, while they think they are doing benefit to the society and blogworld at large.

Any comments?

Dude, this is a great thread. Making it sticky for a while.

I agree with you on the comments - I post a comment only when the posts inspires me to. Sometimes to appreciate, sometimes to add my own thoughts. I really don't have my own blog's traffic in mind, but I end up getting like-minded followers anyway. And isn't that we all want - like minded followers, or at the very least, people who understand what we're trying to say?

Has anyone seen my moksha?  Does anyone really have it? Seems to me the moment I find my moksha I'm looking for it again...

Somehow I think, its rude not to reply to comment. I think it's a good gesture of the reader to leave his/ her though behind and by replying the blogger is respecting  his thoughts.

I personally get discouraged to leave a comment second time if someone does'nt reply to my comments.

'like minded followers'- the term changes with time. From my experience, it does'nt take much to disintegrate the illussion of online bonding- it fails the test of time in most cases.

Thanks Renie.

Discussion dispereses clouds of obscurity ! Will love to have your review on my blog.

Hmmm... to talk about Bookers, I feel last year's one went to the most undeservable book ever to be published. "White Tiger" is the biggest bull**** I have read in a long long time. "India bashing" seems to be the flavor of the times.

What with "Slumdog" winning the Oscars, I think I shud start writing a book on the poverty and backwardness of India. Who knows, may be I get the next booker or maybe Nobel even. What say?

Wooooo... bull(crap) converted to bull****. Thats cool!! Never knew Indiblogger could be so much into censure.

Hmm.. frankly we had no idea either! I thought it was only the f-word we had censored...

There's this chap Ksh i t i j- everytime he writes his name he is converted to Kh****ij...lol

I have not read White Tiger yet so can't comment.

But Slumdog is originally written by an  Indian, feel proud that rahman got an oscar for it. regading the cinematic depiction of India, i don't think anything untrue has been shown. I have seen many dark movied on west showcasing the dark side of their society, especially the exploitation genre.

Exploitation always sells everywhere- whether it Rakhi Sawnt getting marriaed on TV or babes eating live worms for money or a movie showing how beggars are manufactured.

Have you seen the same Director's Trainspotting ? it's a movie on heroin use and youth. If you have seen that then you must know what Danny Boyle states from his movies.

Does indiBlogger censor bad words like s h i t... probably that is the reason with the name K****ij.... I like the name... It reminds me of my college festival - Horizon!!!!

That damn baby in trainspotting still gives me nightmares. I think that was the best anti-drug movie I've ever seen.

I have not seen "Trainspotting" but will see it now.

I apologise for the digression from the topic, but I never thought it to be in class with Milk or Frost/Nixon. Even The Reader was far better. Now, I am talking in terms of screenplay, acting, editing and direction. All four pillars of a good movie. According to me, the whole premise of Slumdog was flawed.

Anyways, this is a much debated and dissected topic and lets not get into this.

Hi Paritosh,

We need to continue this interesting discussion in some other forum I guess.  But am happy atleast there's a discussion :)

Well! So what is the conclusion we have here after such a long discussion?

Can someone conclude this thread in a single line... Remember - only single line!!!!

lemme try Neeraj

EVERY BLOG HAS HIS DAY, SO KEEP BARKING....

Hows this...

Build your content and a network will follow!

or,

Network is a secondary thing, remember that content is the king! :)

Man o Man! I had to read the whole thing... only to get lost in between... then to find the S**T in my name... and finally to nothingness.

We have digressed! Was there supposed to be a conclusion... or some discussions followed by obscurity?

Anyways, I am completely new to the blogging thing. I would like to share my take—request ya'll to take my take.

I think, the first and foremost step is to identify why you're blogging. What is the objective? Some do it for money, some for networking, some to prove a point (i.e they are talented), some to share their experiences, some to help others, some to spread awareness... and one more category (my most-hated) - some to tell others what they did, felt, did not, and all other things of personal memorandum...

Once the objective is clear.. then the answer to the question about networking or content takes different routes. I am sure all of us here agree.

At a personal level, my idea is to have very good content in the beginning (talking specifically about my first two posts)... followed by networking... and then mixing both... :)

One other thing that is important is to find the right kind of people... which you can't do... so you have to find all the people you can rope in to pay at least one visit... the right kind of ones stay and the rest run away :)

And yes, it's true that we often leave comments expecting a visit from the person... but, I dont see anything wrong in it... as long as our comments make some sense to the person.

K****ij

K****ij - Could you summarize that in a SINGLE line? I guess, that deserves to be your next blog post :)

Ksh*tij- do check th ecartoon on my post. What you have said I have probably pictorially depicted.

Btw- i can't comment on your mitti-ka-sher blog, some open ID problem it seems.

hmm, very thought provoking and interesting thread. and i agree with lots that has been debated here.

Here are my two cents : We all need to know why we blog. Some have a need to be popular,some need to be visible and some need to be heard & seen both. and some,like me,use this space as a journal of some serious writing that I would like to do and since I do not indulge in back scratching or so called"reciprocation" to appease others ,whatever visitors I get are like bonus for me ,people who are genuinely interested in reading whatever I write.

That's how I have attained my Nirvana. what do you say

Request you to read my post and check if you know some of the answers. If you can continue serious blogging and stay motivated w/o readership, hats off to you.

Also check my thory of Blogger's Life Cycle.

@ Neeraj- 'Content is the King' is not beleived by majority.

See my comment section for different views- http://udtahaathi.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/august-extrosepction/

@udtahaathi :Well,I use my blogs as a journal to store mostly my stories and poems since I can't really write about how I drank my tea in the morning and how many hours I spent convincing the boss to accept my business proposal, so yes,I have sustained myself since May 2006 in the blogosphere without really having many friends but some genuine content lover who come back to read what i write and give a feedback :)( who doesnt like being appreciated )...I tried looking at too many blog to network at one point of time to see how it works but guess what,it gave me headache,so now, I am happy writing what I love to write and few feedback that I receive are bonus points

Will surely look up your post.

When i see a lot of formal comments on a crap post it seems that content is not that powerful.  Very often a crap content attracts a lot of comments.  This happens for successful networking or some people dont want to lose their visibility.  They would not read the post proper but must leave thier signature. 

But as far as Search engine performance is concerned i dont think this kind of post fairs well.  Comments no doubt encourages a blogger or writer to write more.  It recharges the writers to churn out more quality content.  Quality content means that has got some stuff, a beautiful begining, a thoughtful body and a questioning or happy ending.  In this kind of post care is taken on grammar, syntax, proper wording, fruitful sequencing and proper credits to sources.   Before posting such content a lot of ground works are done. 

But regretably this kind of post does not seem to attract those casual readers or site hopers who leave their signatures.   That is why Rakhi Sawant, Mallika Sherawat and all crap contents of Telivison always happen to have good trp.  The Reality shows that we see are nothing but similar run of the mill contents but the demand of the time. 

Content is must.  if we are blogging for friends and relatives and our blogs are not visible in search engine then anything can be written and quality can be kicked to the back.  But when we write for community then contents should have quality and orginality.

I have a post entitled "A commentary on Comments" If fellow bloggers want to go through that here i quote the link.   http://thatlovedflower.blogspot.com/2009/08/good-post-keep-it-up-nice-post-good_01.html 

Comments obviously encourages but lack of comments should not discourage a writer.  half or more than that comments happen to be lolly pops that happen to be signatures and delicious spamming.  Quality comments happen to discuss the content from own angles and summarising the same.  Very often this kind of comment enhances the post as it gives additional materials regarding the theme.  Thank you, keep it up, Nice.  Hi hello all these are but lolly pops. 

thanks

Sudama, Very well analyzed. I guess ultimately it boils down to what the blogger wants to achieve- a close circle of few friends to create a chatroom environment or towards a larger audience showcasing his/ her talent and with solid  information and reserch based content.

I read your post on comments, very well organized. The fact is most ofthe comments are lollypop ones  and i wonder if all of them actually reads the complete posts.