Do you read any blogs?

[nigel99 150]

I am curious I see a fair amount of literature on people reading and subscribing to blogs. Marketing people push them as the ultimate sales tool and yet I personally don't subscribe to any blogs.

I have found that most of the time if I click on an RSS feed I just get the raw XML as the browser doesn't respond properly.

I am not sure that I have ever even found a blog that is worth subscribing to either. So what are other peoples experiences?

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[NWFlyer 2]

I read quite a few, through RSS. A very small percentage of them are corporate blogs that could be considered a form of advertising; the rest are written by friends or other people/organizations whose writing I find interesting. I skim a lot - there's very few where I'll read all entries every day.

As for RSS, I usually just copy the blog's main address over to the "Add a Subscription" box in my blog reader (Google reader).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Shotgun 1]

I will occasionally read an entry in a blog if it comes up in a search or if someone posts a link, but I don't have any that I've subscribed to or that I check regularly.

[quade 3]

I read a couple of professional blogs. These are people in my field of business with viewpoints about very specific subjects not frequently covered in timely fashion by trade papers.

That said, there's no way I can tolerate reading anyone's public diary of their private drama. That just seems silly to me.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[1969912 0]

Reading http://hackaday.com/ now.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[nigel99 150]

Quote

I read quite a few, through RSS. A very small percentage of them are corporate blogs that could be considered a form of advertising; the rest are written by friends or other people/organizations whose writing I find interesting. I skim a lot - there's very few where I'll read all entries every day.

As for RSS, I usually just copy the blog's main address over to the "Add a Subscription" box in my blog reader (Google reader).

Interesting thanks. I work in technology and you here people talking about blogs but then nobody seems to read them. I agree about the advertising angle but I have yet to find a quality blog worth following - the only exception to this is Robert Peston the BBC Business editor which I read most days.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[nigel99 150]

Quote

I read a couple of professional blogs. These are people in my field of business with viewpoints about very specific subjects not frequently covered in timely fashion by trade papers.

That said, there's no way I can tolerate reading anyone's public diary of their private drama. That just seems silly to me.

Yup who wants to read the diary of the desperate housewife (actual title from our local papers website)

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[MikeJD 0]

Quote

Quote

I read a couple of professional blogs. These are people in my field of business with viewpoints about very specific subjects not frequently covered in timely fashion by trade papers.

That said, there's no way I can tolerate reading anyone's public diary of their private drama. That just seems silly to me.

Yup who wants to read the diary of the desperate housewife (actual title from our local papers website)

A few bloggers are really worth reading - interesting or funny. Most of them of course are self-obsessed, tedious and often incredibly indiscreet. I think in general it's a mistake to encourage people to 'open up' on the web
Most personal blogs seem to fizzle out after a short time as well - their owners realise (usually long after their readers did) that they didn't really have anything to tell the world after all! And it is very hard work to keep coming up with things worth posting.

I'd be interested to see a chart of typical blog update activity. I reckon it'd look something like:
1) Early flurry of posts
2) Gradual decline
3) Long gap
4) A post that says, sorry I haven't posted lately, but I'm about to start again.
5) No more posts ever.

[4000m 0]

Hi,
yeah I read a lot of blogs on a daily base. About 15 or so about my work (IT security) and ~40 of other stuff from totally different areas. I think it's a good way of consuming information in addition to reading traditional media. Many many papers get their stuff straight from news agencies like Reuters and then just change a few lines or add a comment which caused a conformity of opinions. Blogs add a few shades of grey to the traditional black and white communicated in the mainstream media. I usually read blogs via RSS, but click on the link to the website if I want to get access to comments etc.

There lots of BS floating around in the blogosphere and it takes a while to collect a few bookmarks that are worth reading over a longer period of time.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4000meter
Youtube Favorites: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnVsp4Epra-PRDETgrF3M04B3X86X1eh

[nigel99 150]

Quote

A few bloggers are really worth reading - interesting or funny. Most of them of course are self-obsessed, tedious and often incredibly indiscreet. I think in general it's a mistake to encourage people to 'open up' on the web
Most personal blogs seem to fizzle out after a short time as well - their owners realise (usually long after their readers did) that they didn't really have anything to tell the world after all! And it is very hard work to keep coming up with things worth posting.

I'd be interested to see a chart of typical blog update activity. I reckon it'd look something like:
1) Early flurry of posts
2) Gradual decline
3) Long gap
4) A post that says, sorry I haven't posted lately, but I'm about to start again.
5) No more posts ever.

I agree and to be honest I mean't business or work related blogs.

The only non-business/technical blog that I have ever been even slightly interested in is "The secret diary of a call girl" but I only heard about that through the news.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[metalslug 31]

Well, someone was gonna post it...