Discussions
Sensationalism, Cynicism and Blogging
Posted by ThriftShopRomantic • 9/24/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogging, Cynicism, Marketing, media, sensationalism
Do you think we, as bloggers, have a tendency to be cynical or suspicious about sensationalism and marketing in general because we have to market ourselves?
Has having to be analytical about your own writing helped you cut away to the heart of a marketing message more easily?
User Comments
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Possibly. I think of that in terms of (some) bloggers marketing strategies on occasion. But there's not much in my writing that is analytical now that I think about it.-
You don't analyze in the best way to position your humor stories? I think your syrup debate was a good example of achieving a balance on that.
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Well...I guess I do put some thought into them... perhaps not always the most coherent though. I was thinking more along the lines of people who do more serious posts though. I can see where more analytical thinking would have to go into their posts.
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I think that happened to me in college writing and history classes.
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Thanks for that flashback, stoneman!
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I can see that. I know even once I started my screenwriting classes, it was almost impossible to enjoy a movie. I kept seeing it as the sum of its parts.
So you guys think that becoming more in-depth with writing itself leads to analyzing messaging elsewhere?-
From my personal experience, yes.
Just as a carpenter will be more aware of structural details in a house than most people, a wordsmith will be more aware of structural details in written works. -
Yes.
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A decade as an advertising copywriter, following a couple of decades in and out of liberal arts programs, with a short immersion in Computer Science, taught my inner editor to carefully inspect what those lunatics over in Creative were doing.
I don't know that I'm cynical, but I do think that there are cynically sensational blogs out there.
On a side-note, one of my blogs, "Another War-on-Terror Blog," started as being fairly close to the analytic/academic end of the spectrum.
After reading more about blogging, participating in discussions, and re-reading some posts, I've put more 'personality' in the blog.
I don't think it was lethally boring before, but there's no sense taking chances.-
HEY! i resemble that comment!
*was one of the people over in Creative*
lol ... but i do know what you mean. i think a lot has changed recently, however. our creative team was very cognizant of exactly whom our audience encompassed and, i think, had good conversations on how to research the best ways to reach them where they were ... instead of where the number-crunching marketers thought they were. -
I don't understand the comment about "lunatics over in Creative." Fiction can sometimes get at truths that non-fiction can't get close to.
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I'm one of the folks over in Creative myself. But I also did tech writing for six years.
The tech writing has actually been invaluable in understand what NEEDS to be said-- then the marketing writing can come in and work out how to take what NEEDS to be said and actually make it more interesting. -
well, sometimes the folks in creative are a little too creative and not practical enough.
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stoneman, about "what those lunatics over in Creative were doing."
That wasn't clear.
My "inner editor" is that analytic, critical, part of my mind and brain that observes, inspects, tallies, measures, compares, and evaluates the words and images that I generate.
"what those lunatics over in Creative" is the part of my mind and brain where non-linear ideation and seemingly random association are celebrated like a juggler-turned-chef preparing a gourmet meal.
I do not contest that fiction can reveal truths and deliver powerful messages as "serious" writing cannot.
An desire I had long ago, and still have, is to write something like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Those works of fiction have outlasted the culture that produced them.
I hope that ramble helped.
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How about you bloggers who are more newly focused on writing?
I know I've heard some of you talk about working to really improve your writing (which is SUCH a cool thing, and will likely help you well beyond the blog)...
The more you write, do you find yourself looking at other people's writing and how it's done? Whether it's done well or not? Or what it's saying between the lines?-
i've been in the writing "game" so long that i think i do a lot of this without really thinking about it.
but, for me, i mostly refuse to "market" my blog. which does mean that i get grumpy from time to time over having "important" things to say ... and few people actually read it.
for me, it's more that i am getting those things out there rather than being concerned with driving hits to the blog. besides, my blog is simply all over the place. i don't feel like focusing on one thing! -
Well, I suppose it depends on what you mean when you talk about marketing your blog, too.
Creating just general awareness it's out there through forums or directories is one thing. But paying to advertise, for instance, is something entirely different. -
well, i don't even do a good job of "marketing" my blog here, for example. i never post threads "pimping" my blog or an article ... and sometimes i probably should. i sign up for a place like this ... i chat in a thread or something ... but i don't "push" my blog. does that make any sense?
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I think because people have gotten to know you here, members would be receptive if you did highlight something that was on your blog occasionally, sure.
Letting people know it's there is a bit different, too, than being In-Your-Face and badgering them to go see it.
"Everything in moderation..." :-) -
i know that's true ... and i know if i want a wider audience i *should* do that. for me, it's all tied up in very old abuse issues ... i feel too much like it's bragging or calling attention to myself (or my writing, more specifically) ... and being noticed brings bad things.
i'm working on re-wiring my brain in that regard ... just taking some time. -
I can understand where you're coming from. I hope you'll give it a try, though. No one will mistake you for ego if you just present what you'd like to share in a simple way. In fact, people are typically very respectful and polite in those cases, even if the subject matter isn't necessarily their area of interest.
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Jenn, why aren't you in the writers and writing group? I think this is a great topic for the general boards, but perhaps it should also be cross-referenced over there somehow.
www.blogcatalog.com/group/writers-and-writing/-
Okay, I started a thread over there to list and link to these kinds of things.
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You know, I've considered it, but I think I've avoided it because I write CONSTANTLY.. (I kid you not, I have had to write multiple client web sites in a week, plus ad campaigns, etc.)... It's pretty high pressure content generation.
And being in a writing group would mean I'd be even more submerged in it than I currently am.
I actually do the interior decorating and crafts because they're more visual, and allow me to focus on something less like my day-job, but still incorporate some writing for my own benefit. :-) -
I hear you. I have not been able to give very thoughtful responses on the history group recently because a manuscript consumed all my mental energies. But I figure I can get away with a slower pace on the groups, since the threads don't get buried from one hour to the next.
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I can see the manuscript would be much the same, absolutely. There's only so much brain to dedicate well to so many things. :-)
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Another thing that has helped me to become a better reader and writer: learning a foreign language and also how to translate it into English. It helped foster in me a better sense of the many variations in which a thought can be expressed.
Lastly, correcting student papers has helped me to fine-tune my reading and writing. -
For me, it seems to switch on and off almost unconsciously, depending upon the situation. When I'm at work, or when I'm talking to a friend who has a book to market or a company to publicize, marketing angles seem to just appear in my brain spontaneously--I don't mean to think that way, they just present themselves like little flags waving in conversation or observation. But I don't market my own blogs at all, and I find that when I'm doing my own writing, I don't think that way at all. -
Great questions.
I think there some bloggers confuse being critical, which is often good, and cynical, which is almost never good.
For me, there comes a point when being analytical about writing can distract from the humanity of it. I think it's better to be analytical on the front end to frame the context and then shift to a more creative thought process.-
Good point about the frequent conflation of "critical" with "cynical."
I think some also don't understand that "critical" could result in a very positive tone. "Critical" doesn't mean "negative", just "analytical." -
Just like the word "argument"--oft misunderstood to mean "disagreement" and rousing a defensive reaction when in fact any cogent support of a position is an argument.
Or even not-so-cogent support. -
Yep.
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Great addition. I have to admit that avoid "argument" for that reason, using discussion instead.
not-so-cogent. Very nice. -
I apologize I didn't see this until two days later-- you've all added some great points. I absolutely appreciate your collective direction in saying that there tends to be a confusion in what the word "critical" means.
There does tend to be a perception that looking at something from various angles-- analyzing-- is negative...
When writing would never improve if it weren't seen for how it's been constructed-- and then looked at for how it could be constructed more strongly.
I try to think of the general construct up front, write freely from there, and then take a fresh, more analytical look at it again (is it saying what I originally intended?) a little later.
Distance is a good thing. :-)
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"not-so-cognet" I seem to excel at that.
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Certainly no harm in being cynical. It is interesring to think that we are sensitive to this because we 'market' oursleves. Does this imply a lack of authenticity being revealed in what we do?
real marketing is always about adding value not slapping lipstick on a pig!
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