Slow Blog: Part Two

Last week David Perlmutter, author of Blogwars, shared his thoughts about slow blogging. This week he adds to his theory that slow, thoughtful blogging is better than constant blogging.

Erick Erickson*, the founder of the huge conservative community blog redstate.com, made an interesting decision recently that he announced on the site:

“A number of users have started posting throw away diaries that could best be comments. The result is that the good stuff scrolls off the front page too fast. I am going to begin deleting the garbage so the quality stuff survives and thrives.”

I see this as evidence of “Slow Blog” (or Bright Blog) ideals starting to be adopted among online social-interactive media. Quality, not quantity: give it a try! It will indeed “survive and thrive.”

His move suggests another aspect of slow blogging–one that I talked about at the “Citizen Journalism” Workshop at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2008, Sept. 19th, Las Vegas Convention Center.

Bloggers asked about how they penetrate an already crowded marketplace.

SPECIALIZE! Bloggers should not be judged by quantitative metrics alone. Many are performing important (and influential) functions while happily remaining numerical smallfry. In fact, if you are starting a new blog, whatever its subject, thinking small, tight, and high quality is a good business plan. Milblogger John Donovan (Castle Argghhh!) explained to me, “I follow the Small Business Administration’s advice for small-town businesses that find themselves suddenly confronting Wal-Mart: ‘Don’t fight Wal-Mart at what they do best. Figure out what they don’t do, and provide that service or commodity.'” Become the best “boutique” source of information on growing fruit trees in Northern latitudes, or party politics in Estonia, or Maine Coon cats. Don’t claim to know all and tell all: narrow your expertise and enhance your credentials.

*Mr. Erickson was a speaker at a Dole Institute of Politics panel on political blogging that I moderated and was broadcast on C-SPAN.