A Waste of a Blog

Every once in a while, I will google my name to see where my work is showing up in the blogosphere.

As a writer, I am thrilled to see my work being reposted on different sites. From a social media standpoint, I can’t help but think, “Another blown opportunity.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that when a fellow  blogger links back to my work and thousands more people have the chance to read it.

What bothers me is that it is such an inappropriate use of a blog.

Social media isn’t about getting as much content on your site as humanly, or electronically, possible. It’s about connecting with your audience.

The beauty of blogs is in the fact that readers can comment on what you write and engage in conversation. Their participation is what makes a blog special. But if I go visit John Doe’s blog and find three articles by Jeff Orloff in the last five posts, why would I want to comment? I’d be better off going right to the source of the article and commenting there where I can express my opinions directly to the author and hope for a response.

There are times when someone’s content may work well in one of your postings. That’s great. Link to it inside original content that you wrote. Use it like you would a reference or citation.

Oh, and a, “Hey, check out this article…” doesn’t count as original content.

No, if you are going to repost, write about it. Make it your own so that you can actively engage your readers. There are many examples out there on how people write their own content while referring back to something that has already been published.

Blogs can be great tools to bring people into your community, but at the same time, a blog for blogs sake doesn’t cut it. If the goal was to get as much keyword-rich content as possible, a simple static website will do.

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