Shoemoney recently mentioned that his blog was nominated for several blog awards. In his post, Shoe said “I never considered myself a blogger and at first and even until a few weeks ago I took it as an insult when people would introduce me as a ‘blogger.’” To that I say “Really?”
I don’t understand why blogging or being a blogger should have a negative or dismissive connotation. Sure, there are plenty of superfluous MySpace and Live Journal blogs floating around the web that few people actually read or care about (I mentioned in an earlier SEOmoz post that bloggers write for attention, which irked quite a few readers), but these people enjoy blogging and writing about their day to day events, so what the hell. There are obviously different classes of blogging–a personal blog about how much you love Zac Efron from High School Musical isn’t in quite the same league as a tech blog or a business blog (I’d rate Shoe’s blog just above an I Heart Neo Pets blog, but just below a blog about toe socks. Just kidding. 
) For the sake of this post, I’m thinking more along the lines of “business-related” blogging, but if you’re really proud about your toe socks blog, more power to ya. It’s nice to be an authority on something, right?
I think blogging has drawn the upturned nose because traditional journalists poo-poo over how blogging isn’t true journalism, and that blogging should be lower on the food chain than journalism because the writing is inferior and there’s less fact checking (indeed, someone recently complained about how Rand should do more fact checking for his blog posts). I don’t know about you guys, but I always thought of blogging as opinion-based, hence no need to fact check. Of course, it depends on the post. If you’re talking about what factors you personally think affect rankings, blog to your heart’s content because it’s all stipulation and personal opinion. If, however, you present the same factors as bonafide fact, drop a few resource links so you won’t look stupid.
I’m proud to be a blogger. I’m happy to get something published and available on the web in a shorter turnaround time than a weekly column would take. I like injecting my opinion and point of view into my writing (but hell, I’m judgmental and objective writing is never as fun). I enjoy being immature in my posts every so often. Ass. Poop. And, of course, I enjoy the attention. (Hey, at least I’m honest about it.) So, for those of you who, like Shoe, feel a pang of guilt or shame at the thought of being called a “blogger,” I say it’s time for us to come out of the closet and embrace our title. We are bloggers. We’re paid (or not…) to do this for a reason, so why feel ashamed? Sure, sometimes we clutter up the tubez with blithering drivel, but so do YouTube comments, so we can’t be that detrimental to the Internet.
So, my fellow bloggers, stand up and hold your heads high. Yeah? Good. Now get back to work blogging about those toe socks. Ass. Poop.
About the author...
Rebecca Kelley – who has written 31 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Rebecca Kelley is the Director of Marketing for This or That, a user-generated comparison website. She also runs Mediocre Athlete, a hobby blog about exercising and training. In her spare time, Rebecca is a freelance blogger for hire, loves food and movies, and trains for marathons and triathlons.
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{ 70 comments… read them below or add one }
Lots of people blog these days – whether for money, fun, or otherwise – how can it be bad?
I think in a way it has a negative connotation because it is sort of a “fad” term. Also, to the outside world (non-techies) the term “blog” tends to conjure up images of college kids writing about the pizza they had last night.
I think the term “blogger” will eventually pass into internet history as a passing fad. I’m NOT saying blogs are going away- far from it.
But we will probably adopt different nomenclature for these things as times goes on. For example, I maintained a personal site about my life with almost daily updates back in 2000. It was not a “blog” just a “website” and I was a “webmaster” not a “blogger”.
Just like you won’t hear anyone saying they run a “BBS” anymore. It’s just words. Whatever floats your boat.
I dont see any reason why blogging can be bad or creates a negative impact. I blog not for money but for providing information on the niche I write. Also its blogging that has made people voice their opinion and get their voice out in public.
Blogging and Bloggers go hand in hand just as press and journalist do. And Journalism relates to articles that ar not always fact and based on myths as well so how can blogging be any different?
I don’t mind the term either, but I consider my blog just another part of my website. It’s an easy way to post my articles and to make it easy for readers to know when there’s something new on my site to read, but that’s just content management.
Maybe the most safest answer is ask jeeves?
“the term “blog” tends to conjure up images of college kids writing about the pizza they had last night.”
I agree.. I recently thought to add my “blogging” experience to my resume, but I got advised against doing it. First, because of the name of my site, then, because “blogger” is not a term that is seen favorably in the “professional” world of IT.
I think that the term “blogger” certainly carries some baggage. People perceive bloggers as being less professional and not serious writers. However, this baggage is also a positive. The “blogger” style is more informal and with that there is more freedom in how we communicate with our readers.
I agree. There is nothing negative about being a blogger or blogging. Everything you do can have a negative and positive side. Here we are talking about bloggers who like to share their personal life, opinions,advice and more with the world including professional blogs, so whats negative about it.
I agree with Stephanie.
A site
>>>
A blog.
Killer combo
I think the term just sounds funny, “blogger,” but otherwise the stigma is slowly going away I think. What is a journalist? Someone who writes in a journal right? I wonder if journalists felt slighted when they were first called that.
It might be like the old saying, “those who can do, those who can’t teach”. The theory that if you are really making a lot of money, why would you take the time to blog about it. Of course in Jeremy’s case, that’s not at all true. You can be successful AND a blog about it.
I found myself saying that I’m a blogger now. It sounds better to me than “I shill insurance.” Don’t you think?
I think blogging is a great way to make money, but only if you like blogging if you were not getting payed.
I have always thought of blogs as “a paid hobby”, rather than a career or job.
The term “blog” conjures up a picture of shoemoney in my mind. =p
Very true, and with a blog, you can get your personally opinion on it. I don’t think you will see someone from the new york times swear about how stupid another website is, while you can with blogs.
People just get pissed because they wish they had something to say and the motivation to say it! =) Blog on!
Some people make crap content (like scraper sites) and are all about ads, all filler no killer. People associate that with all bloggers
If you blog about your passion, success will come..
Jeremy said it in a negative way because he is more of a business man than a blogger, the people like michael arrington of techcrunch are the once who can be considered as pure bloggers.
What’s wrong of being a blogger?!!! I am a blogger and I wear it with pride.
fun follow-on fact: some savvy entrepreneur already owns poop.com but GoDaddy suggests we invest in: poopismyfriend.com for only $248. should i pass the hat around?
Haha – keep it up! I think it’s still just too trendy/nerdy/techy a thing to be considered “cool” in north america – mind you that $120k+ adsense check is pretty cool though too so I dunno!? :p
the first link “his blog was nominated for several blog awards.” is broken. you typed one “http://” to much…
Not a blogger…
If he’s not a “blogger” what is he then? What do you call this? Is Shoe trying to coin a new phrase? Is he trying to be innovative and not be pigeon-holed as a blogger? Sure he does not want the label now because the market if flooded with so-called Pro Bloggers. Yeah you don’t want to get lumped up in that crowd…OK, he’s just a blogger who got LUCKY making $120K plus with Adsense.
I’m not a geek I just like the internet, computers, web design, hacking, BUT please don’t call me a geek I never considered myself one.
As much as Im proud to be a blogger and have my company support other bloggers, there are very very very few bloggers who are in the same leagues as real journalists. Most bloggers shoot a story or two out every day while good journalists often spend weeks to months sometimes even years working on a story.
Oh, sorry. Thanks for catching that!
awesome post. i think more journalists are starting to use blogs as a means of publishing their articles. it will all be mixed up one day.
I enjoy blogging, even though I am just about the only reader for my newest blog : codeinit.com
This is the thing… Although you are the only reader but the fact that you love blogging will not let the quality of your posts go down, when a new reader will come he will find many good posts and will become a regular reader.
The one thing I do hate about blogs (being a blogger myself of course) is when people spam up your comments with keywords in their name hoping the anchor text will somehow increase their organic search listings. This blog is nofollow people! Typing your name as Blog Contents or Credit Card Offers isn’t going to help your rankings, it’s going to make your post seem like spam and cause other people to ignore what you have to say – because you’re only saying it for some misconceived notion that you’ll get extra link juice.
i like blogs, easy to use and they have lot of info for readers.This days blogs are lot better then html.
You are right we get may auto blogs scripts that make all this crap network in bulk
Late James Brown used to sing “say it loud, I’m black and Proud”. I’ll go singing “say it loud I’m a blogger and I’m proud”. Musically not perfect. I need old James to do this one for me.
I’m a blogger wannabe,I just don’t have the time to update a blog every day, or even every week. I do twitter a little, because at least then I don’t feel I have to get whole paragraphs in and can just pop in a quick sentence every now and then.
I’ve played around with blogging for about five years now. People loved my blogs when I was one of the first, then they got bored with my first blog and eventually so did I. Now I try to create blogs with value – value being subjective I guess. Blogs do have a purpose and are part of the growth of the Internet and part of how the Internet is changing the world. Blogs may be silly to some, but they are changing the world in their own way.
And you are an authority on people? I have plenty to say and plenty of motivation to say it but not on a blog where it’s about getting my 15 minutes of fame. I still think most bloggers write for attention. I get plenty of it outside of the “blog” world.
I love the “journal-ist” comment – why did I never think about that before?
When Ben Franklin was publishing his newspapers, they were much more like blogs (both facts & commentary) than current newspapers. The only real difference is in technology. Blogs are much closer to the real reason we have freedom of speech in the U.S. than some corporate news paper/site.
I think people who associate “blogging” with something negative don’t understand the true impact that they have. The number of blogs out there and the huge number of people who subscribe to and read these blogs and contribute their own opinions on a daily basis is huge. Blogs deserve much more recognition than they currently receive as a way to connect people on a different level who share interests, hobbies, or careers.
I think a lot of the negative associations are due to all the crappy blogs that exist just to make money, but don’t have anything to say.
It is the general consensus I think, that there is nothing to be ashamed of in holding a title of blogger. To me, it means freedom. Freedom to be creative, passionate about things you like or know. Most importantly it means freedom to stay at home with my kids and still get what I need financially. So there you go, that’s all I have to say for now !
Ok. So journalists are trained professionals. Right? Not all. And not all check their facts. Lets look at Jayson Blair who worked for the New York TImes and Dan Rather, who either plagiarize or did not check the facts. Or of many who have inserted their opinions, such as Peter Jennings who annouced the winner of a US election before many of the polls were closed. Professionally trained journalists do no always equat accurate news of facts.
With blogging indeed much of it will be opinions of a product, event or otherwise. Most can be paid blogs as well. Many will be crap sites. Others will be blogs of those who work in an industry that allows them to blog. 1up.com, Foxnews.com(most of the anchors and what not have one/in the Los Angeles area), CNN has bloggers as well as ABC and NBC.
Really what is the “real” difference. An education and a degree. LOL, many who do not check their facts and plagiarize. Arrogance and ignorance of those who have such attitudes.
I remember when my post carrier was shot a few years back. Like 4 major news stations were there. All reported that he was shot for welfare checks. Which was not the case. Since the county had changed over to an automated direct deposit into a ATM like card. He was shot by his estranged wifes ex-boyfriend. Some accurate reporting eh?
Point is a big poo poo on those who think traditional journalist is the “get all to end all” vs. bloggers.
Blogging can be therapy for the soul. Just as sharing a conversation with a friend, keeping a journal, or writing a letter can be a form of therapy, so can writing about something you are passionate about.
I say always I am good blogger, and people do refer to me as blogger. I am creating an image of blogger not only blog helper.
Blogging is great but some people corrupt the internet with stupid things like the following –
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=320900
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=480862
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=460378
They must be crucified
lol
LOL, Jeeves was the man back in the day
I’ve always hated that saying
I agree. wholeheartedly.
word up dog. I agree, blogging can be the best of both worlds if you know how to mesh them.
Good write up and good question.
Have to agree. Blog is a four letter word around our home – and whilst the kids may fight for access to the PC – they have to make way when ‘it’s blogging time’ . . .
Exactly. It’s not all about money. I think we sometimes get stuck on that. Shoe doesn’t need this blog to make money, but I think he does it because he enjoys it. He makes money with it too, but I think the main drive is fun.
The major networks created their own blogs as a way to combat the rouge blogs.
lol, what are you doing searching for that
Shhhh, you dont want the 9-5ers to get jealous
wow I forgot about those days. Do people still use ask?
honestly, i didn’t think about until I wrote it out just now
When you’re talking about marketing, blogging is a form of marketing… A couple years ago no one knew about Shoemoney, now he’s taken an ad network and sold it for millions. You can teach and do at the same time.
Oh, and I’ve always hated that comment too.
Nice comment spam! haha
But that’s not the fault of blogging…
Certainly not. There are great blogs like shoemoney.com who keep blogging alive and bring the sexy back
What do you consider yours?
And mine for that matter?!
Grr….
We just need to design a way to prevent splogs though its kinda hard for code to differentiate between a blog and a splog.
Spam.;)
Blogging just for money is not good… blogging should be expression of personal thoughts.
Bloggers should get the credit they deserve.Blogging is hard work when one makes it a daily task.Nice to see you bring this up.
Steven
Each blogger needs to build credibility, there shouldn`t be a sweeping statement saying it`s good or bad.
There are plenty of blogs that are not worth reading, but traditional journalists are more concerned with those that are. Without editors or owners to sensor their work, bloggers have far more freedom and are able to challenge mainstream media. And that’s pretty scary to someone who’s being paid to report the news from a corporate angle!
The real problem is that a lot of the stuff that’s not automated sucks too. Blogging has a negative connotation because it’s pitched as a “get rich quick” scheme for a lot of folks and because most bloggers don’t take what they do seriously. So many postings are pointless and poorly written. If people put more effort into creating worthwhile content and worried less about gaming revenue sources, the perception would improve.
blog / blogger somehow creates a kind of informal impression in people’s mind. when you tell people you are a webmaster and owns a website… people might think “wow”. when you say you are a blogger owning a blog… it is “ok… a personal diary online”. Many official bug sites create blogs as it is a way to make visitors to interact informally. As long as we can attract readers with our “site”(blog), we dont have to be bothered by the impression of being named as blogger.