The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Curiosity killed the editor
First, we've had a great welcome here at 20SB! Thanks Lisa for letting us hang out here. (Our interns are all twenty-somethings so we're not breaking the rules!)
Here at The Printed Blog we're pretty excited about our upcoming launch date. We're getting a lot of feedback from everyone. We've been lucky that so many bloggers are sharing their thoughts about what we're doing. (Thank you for that!)
Some of the feedback we're receiving isn't so great, which is expected, but we can't help but be curious. I found a blog today that said bloggers don't like the idea of their posts being taken off line and into print. That baffles me!
I thought this would be a great opportunity for those interested in gaining more exposure and reaching a broader audience. Of course TPB would NEVER take any blog content without consent from the author. So I was wondering how everyone here felt about it:
Do you think bringing blogs off line is a bad idea? If so, why?
Would you be compelled to grab a paper and read through it?
Why do you think many bloggers are opposed to it?
Thanks in advance!
Here at The Printed Blog we're pretty excited about our upcoming launch date. We're getting a lot of feedback from everyone. We've been lucky that so many bloggers are sharing their thoughts about what we're doing. (Thank you for that!)
Some of the feedback we're receiving isn't so great, which is expected, but we can't help but be curious. I found a blog today that said bloggers don't like the idea of their posts being taken off line and into print. That baffles me!
I thought this would be a great opportunity for those interested in gaining more exposure and reaching a broader audience. Of course TPB would NEVER take any blog content without consent from the author. So I was wondering how everyone here felt about it:
Do you think bringing blogs off line is a bad idea? If so, why?
Would you be compelled to grab a paper and read through it?
Why do you think many bloggers are opposed to it?
Thanks in advance!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by The Sassy Sexpert on -
Personally, I would be thrilled to have the opportunity to have my blog printed as it reaches a new, if not broader, audience. But, then again, I've always had dreams of being a columnist. I would guess that it depends on a person's goals if they would want their blog printed or not.
Good luck - I really like the idea.
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Permalink Reply by David Stehle on -
The idea seems a little backward thinking to me, meaning...
The majority of newspapers are going, or already are, digital these days. Many have stopped printing their newspapers from Mon-Fri and are just printing the weekend editions. Why? Two reasons. One, it saves money. And two, because so many people get their news online these days - online publication. Most people spend a great deal of time at work infront of a computer, so it's just easier and makes more sense to get their news over the web as opposed to opening up a big inky newspaper.
And with the whole "going green" theory, everyone is trying to make an effort to use less paper on a daily basis.
Unlike daily news, blogs aren't updated on a regular basis. Someone might write 3 posts on a Tuesday afternoon and then not blog again for a week or more. So by the time a paper is printed, what you could be reading is a post that was written long ago, or you could be missing out on a slew of posts they wrote as the paper went to printing. With the Internet, it's always up to date! I can get the latest blog post right that very second!
Lastly, blogs are interactive. I like leaving comments on what I read and I like people who leave comments on what I blog about. You can't "interact" and comment with a paper. And to me, that is one of the best features of the blogosphere - the building of a community and getting instant feedback. Often the comments/conversation that follow a post are more interesting to read than the actual post itself! Of course I could always go visit their blog online and leave a comment AFTER I read their post in the paper, but who wants to do all that work? I rather just read it online and comment all in one swoop. Plus, no messy ink fingers and a tree lives!
On the other hand, I have seen companies that will print out your entire blog and turn it into a book. I think I like that idea better. It would make me feel like a REAL writer. ;) And of course that would be kind of nice to put on the bookshelf, so say if you wanted Grandma to read it, she could just borrow the book instead of giving her a class on how to use the Internet.
(One other thing, a lot of people aren't going to pay for something they can easily get for free elsewhere. This is assuming you will be charging for the paper?)
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Permalink Reply by Nick Tabick on -
I wouldn't say that bringing blogs out into the physical world is a bad idea, but it requires some active thought when considering what blogs and/or posts get printed.
While I realize that people spend a lot of time making themselves heard, and everyone is proud of their own work (I hope), there are some blogs that wouldn't fit well in a printed format. Perhaps it's the writing style, perhaps it's what topics or aspects of life are covered...these are all things that need to be taken into account when figuring out whether a post is suitable.
As far as grabbing a paper myself, that would depend upon my situation. While I've got more subscriptions than I care to admit in my RSS reader, there are always times when I'm not able to check the feeds for a while, and having access to the paper would satisfy my tendencies to read whatever's in front of me. It's another form of discovery, too; there's always the possibility that something you read in the paper may lead you to a blog you might not have otherwise found.
There are a few reasons why bloggers might be opposed to the transition of some of their work to print, too. A few people in this thread have already mentioned that the target demographic might not be right, and that they get far more exposure while their posts remain online.
There is a difference between someone actively seeking content that a blogger happens to cover (and finding blogs that discuss that topic with a search engine; let's call this active discovery) and having something that may or may not interest you presented to you anyway (such as what TPB might do; let's call this passive discovery). Active discovery may not be effective because the blogs most likely to turn up in search results are the ones that already have the most presence. Take my blog as an example. Most of what I write about is technology-oriented, but you're going to find Engadget, Gizmodo, and a million other sites with a search engine before you came across my work. (In fact, the most popular page on my site is still a now-defunct how-to I wrote up last year.) Something like TPB would be more likely to bring people to me than Google in this case.
The issue of how many potential readers one might get is another concern. Some people have (on purpose) a small blog that only a few people regularly visit, and it's a sort of happy and personal community. Having one of their posts published could come as an unwanted surprise to the entire community. (Exposure is great for some, but other people prefer to stay in the shadows.)
Make of that what you will. I've written more than I intended to.
(Unrelated: This text box is too small.)
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Permalink Reply by mom in real life on -
I understand why the Printed Blog is doing this. Many bloggers have a tremendous amount of talent but they wouldn't normally have this opportunity to get published. I can easily send them a list of bloggers that I think would make a great contribution to this project.
I am confused by people saying that they like getting their large numbers of readers online and that being in print would hamper that. If you get in the Printed Blog are you going to stop writing online? No, the Printed Blog is publishing your blog posts! So on top of your regular readers you would be getting a couple hundred/thousand more!
I do understand the concern of trying to start a print project right now. There are rumors that even the NYTimes is struggling. I do know that you guys are making an effort to keep the cost of producing your paper low so you should have more luck than the major papers. People in Chicago should compare this paper to the Red Eye, a free commuter style paper. The Red Eye has been around for a couple years so obviously it is possible to run a cheap paper.
I know what the Gawker said about this project, but remember one of the first rules of media;
Talking bad about you still means they are talking to you!
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Permalink Reply by Jamie on -
It is definitely going to be printed on recycled paper. I just asked the boss man!
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Permalink Reply by Erin on -
I've got to agree with Rachel here. Why does have a blog post in print somehow translate to losing readers online? If anything, having your posts printed is a great way to reach people who aren't yet reading you on the internet.
Personally, as much as I love the internet and the blogging platform, I still find it very satisfying to read something that I can actually hold in my hands.
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Permalink Reply by mom in real life on
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That's why I won't buy that iBook thing that let's you download entire books, I like holding a book and flipping the pages.
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Permalink Reply by alexa marinos on -
i think the printed blog is a tremendous idea simply because i come from the mindset that i blog for people to read my opinions and stories and that the more people i have reading my writings the better. so why wouldn't i want the opportunity to have my work shared and published to a larger audience?
i can see though where some people can think that bring blogs off line is a bad idea. mostly because the very definition of a blog states that it must be an online journal. for me the thing that i think will be the biggest disservice of printing a blog will be once it is printed the linking disappears.
you can't link in print. yes, you can site sources and what not but i'm a lot more likely to click and read more about a topic or check out something if all i have to do it point a mouse - not remember the URL (which can be very very very long) at a later date.
as for bloggers being opposed to it? so be it. they don't have to submit their content to the printed blog then - pretty cut and dry to me. for example, i don't like myspace - so i don't use it.
but for me when it comes to the printed blog, i look forward to hopefully being included in an edition.
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Permalink Reply by Phil on -
There's been some really great points, here, but like Mom in Real Life, I second the fact that just because a post or two is printed doesn't mean it's not still going to be online. The beauty of the Printed Blog, as I understand it, is that it's your own content being published and you're still the one getting credit for it. They're not randomly picking blog entries they like to publish... they're ASKING for submissions.
I think, generally, a newspaper can still be green. Ideally, readers will pass it along to their friends, and when everyone's done with them, they'll recycle it.
Search engines are wonderful, but really, the percentage of search hits that land on one's website and actually stay for more than 00:00 minutes is fairly small in the grand scheme of search engine hits. The Printed Blog might garner actual readers who find you not from some random search term and then never come back. They find your blog and if they like your writing, they stick around.
My question for the Printed Blog is will the print edition be free of charge or will there be a fee to purchase it?
But for those who question the online versus paper editions, just look at The Onion. I subscribe to them online but still, every time I find a paper copy, I always pick it up and read it.
I'm mostly playing Devil's Advocate here, and also would like to point out that even though so many people have computers and spend time online, there's STILL a lot of people who don't.
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