Blogging without boarders

I love reading people’s blogs. I have a few favorites. After this 30 day challenge, I expect I will have a few more to add to the list.

Woogs World is probably my all-time favorite. I go to her blog site and generally expect that I will leave thinking or smiling about what she has written all day.

Of course I wouldn't have stumbled across this 30 day challenge if I didn’t have a love of Lisa Lintern’s Melodramatic me. Her blog today made me hiccup in an attempt to suppress a sob. I could relate.

With family in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Greece and the USA  I have a love / hate relationship with airports. When family arrive - I love going to the airport. When they leave, I am a mess walking away from the departures gate mascara and probably foundation streaks on my cheeks. Security are probably not far behind, making sure that the unstable crying freak leaves the building.

Like my family, my favorite bloggers are all over the world. Granted they’re mostly limited to English speaking writers – but still their comments, stories, opinions and experiences like love, have no boarders. 

What makes a good blog? I call it my LRFP list.  Others may have other criteria - but here is mine:

•  Location.  It doesn't matter. Unlike outrageously expensive houses in Sydney and London where good people get priced out of an area, a good blogger can be anywhere.  I like to read commentary about local incidents and experiences. I often find that  incidents or opinions can cross boarders or countries. Most mummy blogs regardless of where they live do this.
• Reaction: I must be entertained, moved, or challenged to think about an issue, person, policy or situation. If I find my self tearing, nodding in agreement, laughing - then it's a good blog.
• Frequency: I don't sign up to twitter, or email alerts. Despite advising on push / pull strategies, I am my own professional strategy worst nightmare. I go to my favorite blogs as and when I want to. BUT each time I go, I expect to see  new blog.
• Personality:  If I don't know the blogger personally,  I like to think I have a feel for what that individual is like.  The blog should have it's own voice and style. like online dating, you form an image in your mind of what your potential date will be like in real terms.
  I don’t think bloggers need to consult or create a blogging style manual.  If one follows a style manual for blogging, they lose their own personal style or stamp.  Let’s remember the purpose of the medium.
  Blogging is about individuals writing free form, about opinion, experience, thought. Yes of course organisations use blogs, as do academic institutions – and now there are multi author blogs.  But effective blogs and successful organisations / institutions are those that create a balance between the organisation / institutional brand and the author’s own unique brand.  If there isn’t a balance, the blog can appear to be overly manufactured.  It’s one of the few mediums available that can remain raw, real and natural.

If I come to the end of the blog and want more, then that to me is the sign of a good writer. Am I walking around thinking about the commentary, the tone, the joke, the issue? That is the sign of a good writer.

What do you think makes a good blog?

This blog is the result of Lisa Lintern's blog a day challenge for more information or reading go to Melodramatic Me