MOANFACE: Bloggers Blogging on Blogs

Firstly Thom, I’m flattered to have been mentioned in your post (and in such good company too!) and you may find it ironic that yours is probably my favourite male grooming blog! LOL. Anyway, regarding the other points raised in your post, here are my thoughts…

1. From day one I have always maintained that the views of someone who spends an afternoon in a department store somewhere trying out products so they can write about them when they get home are just as valid as those from people who’ve worked in the industry for years and get all the media blurb. Frankly, they’re more valid sometimes because they come free of any “industry baggage”!
2. The obsession with stats is ridiculous. GQ is not the UK’s best selling men’s magazine and yet it still attracts lucrative advertising because of its point of view and the environment it creates for brands. Brands need to wake up to the subtleties of blogging and not think purely in terms of hits which, as you pointed out, can be misleading anyway. If I was a brand I would also be thinking “whose point of view/opinion/writing style/blog design/insight and degree of influence do I like?”
3. Who cares if bloggers don’t write like trained journalists? Not me. If the content is interesting I’ll read it. And people who get hung up on grammar and spelling are like those idiots who can’t enjoy a great meal if it’s not beautifully presented!

Eesh. How’s the view up there from your ivory tower? Your article does smack a little of elitism – creating a them and us in the blogger community – the “experts” and the blebs who clearly know nothing. None of the blogs I follow claim to be experts in the industry – a few state they are insiders but that’s about it.

Yes, most bloggers are not qualified journalists and therefore have poorer grammar and knowledge of how to make a captivating article than your average Times journo. Isn’t that what the readers like about them? The honesty, the down to earth nature of their reviews, the non perfect, unedited and uncensored copy.

I agree lots are also not qualified skincare or cosmetologists. Do you think if they were in a nice high flying job like that they would have the time or desire to blog? Lots are students or makeup artists, making their way in the world and sharing their experience with products. Of course there are the irritating wannabes with their glitter, xo’s, unicorns and other such childish call signs of whom I just sigh and bleep over. I’m a bit too long in the tooth to be saying xo, xo to people and cannot identify with these bloggers.

People choose to read blogs they enjoy – I agree about the aggressiveness of the above comment – no need for that – but if he/she doesn’t like Ree, then that’s their choice. I don’t like her blog either – all I see are self shots of something she’s wearing – it’s not for me and I find it tedious. Jane, on the other hand is excellent. However that is MY opinion and I am entitled to it.

The reason PR can’t spot the cream from the crop is because they can’t be bothered to;

*check out the twitter feed for fakes
*Has the person got a domain name they pay for? Prob more professional than a .blogspot
*Have they bought and paid for a layout. (will be signed at the bottom)
*Read the about us, what is the background and motivations? Who are their target audience?
*Read a few posts. If they are crap, pass over.
*Check out any comments – do they bother to engage with their readers? How much do they care.

before chucking out the entire A/W colour collection in the post. Or they think GFC is some kind of reader indication. Generally GFC is other bloggers not the “general public”

I decided to remain anon as these sorts of comments, although inflammatory to some, are my honest opinion that I am entitled to and I’ve seen well presented, well thought out comments in the past that go against the grain turned into a bit of a witch hunt.

Have a nice night.