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How to read a blog
There are numerous sites out there that give tips on writing blogs and how to make your blog better, however there are few, if any, on how to read a blog. You may be thinking, “well Nick, it’s simple, left to right, top to bottom”, well I am here to say there is a lot more to it. To many times people have gone to a blog and say they have read it, but they really haven’t, they skimmed it and think they know everything the person is trying to say. Here are some tips on getting the most out of your blog reading experience.
Context is everything:
When you first visit a blog there is much more to it than just the latest post the author has written, there is the context. Before you read ask yourself who, where, what, and when.
First, who wrote this? On most blogs there is an about page, the author will use this to tell you a little about him or herself, they will usually give a little background on themselves, check it out. The “about page” will give you a little insight on the authors views you are about to read.
Also ask where? Where is the author, you may not always be able to get the answer to this, but if you know what part of the world the writer is from you can get a better idea of where he is coming from as well. A person living in Chicago will have a far different outlook on the world than someone living in India.
What is the author trying to say? Read the entire post, don’t just skim for interesting words, you may miss the most important sentence. Many times if you don’t read the whole post you can end up taking things way out of context. This is what happened on my post about welfare, someone commented and thought I didn’t care about those who are homeless, and that they deserve to be poor. They missed the key statement in the post that I believe it is our duty as citizens to help the needy, not the governments. So to save you a lot of embarrassment in the end read the whole post.
When did he or she write it? What was going on when they wrote it? Things change, new information is available all the time, so when someone writes something a few weeks later it might be outdated or better information has come along, so the post is now irrelevant, it might be wise to just ignore those posts because the author probably already knows. Once again it will save embarrassment in the end.
every blogger is a potential friend and a potential ally.
Comments, a bloggers best friend:
Every blogger loves comments, it lets them know they are being heard, however commenting can either be a great thing or a complete disaster. Before you comment be sure to do all the things above, you will be sure that your comment will both make sense and it will be relevant. The worst thing someone could do is post a comment that either has nothing to do with the post or it’s a question already answered in the post.
Also, every blogger is a potential friend and a potential ally. So treat them that way. Ones blog is like there house and you are a guest in it. Imagine someone, whom you don’t know, coming into your house and criticizing everything. It is just plain rude, and you have every right to kick them out. Don’t be that person. Like I said, every blogger loves comments, even if the person disagrees with them, but if you disagree with what someone says on there own blog don’t go in swinging. They have their view and they are entitled to it, as are you. Feel free to explain to them why it is that you disagree. A lot more can be said in a calm and rational debate than in a sudden outburst of emotion. There are quite a few people who have come to my site and just started calling me names to “get their point across”, but they end up looking like the fool. On the flip side there was one person, back when I was at still blogging at Bravenet, who most defiantly did not agree with me, but he came to me in such a polite way that we became friends and stuck up for each other when we needed it. So go ahead leave comments, but remember you are a guest in someone else’s house treat them with respect.
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