I always passed off Jakob Nielsen as simply a UI geek. No more — the man knows his stuff about blogging and writing, too. This latest essay of his is one I find very relevant in light of my own background as a blogger, and my previous considerable background as a published writer. I find it very hard to disagree with the case Jakob is making here. Reminds me of a piece I wrote a few years ago, for IDG’s Darwin Magazine, putting forth the notion that blogging was not soon going to be adopted by most mainstream businesses — which some in the blogosphere immediately (in the typical knee-jerk reaction it’s become known for) took as a negative attack on blogging. Of course, it wasn’t; for one thing, I said I felt blogging was great for certain kinds of businesses, both large and small, and gave examples.
Now, I feel an echo of sorts happening. Blogging is not a panacea, this essay also reasons — meaning blogging as most people know it: short posts that aren’t very well thought out. However, what will never go out of style, he says (and I wholeheartedly agree), is good writing. That is, lengthier articles actually based on thinking, preparation, and research — and, not unimportantly, that exhibit a real voice.
Here’s what the submitter on Digg (“spinchange”) had to say in his summary of Jakob Nielsen’s great piece….and do read the full piece if you’re at all interested in the topic of blogging :
“To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers. Warning – this is a long article, stuffed with charts and statistical concepts – like standard deviations and utility functions – it flies in the face of guidelines for web writing.”
What are your thoughts on this topic?
“We let everyone take advantage of our widgets — not just webmasters or bloggers who put the code on their pages, but any user of the widgets.” Users will receive a one-time only pop-up dialog when they confirm their vote, comment, etc., and PagePow will prompt them to log in and will briefly explain the benefits of tracking their data.
Okay, are you ready for it? Are you sure? Okay, drumroll, it’s…..“Search, Ads & Apps” !! No, I’m not kidding — that is it, friends. I know this really tugs on your emotions. But, please, try to control yourselves … from tearing up with brand euphoria.
Gee, I guess you could say the market likes it? And this after a page-one Journal story today suggesting Jobs knew more than previously reported about his company’s options backdating. To hell with that, the market seems to be saying — just keep giving us those good results.
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