Saturday, March 01, 2003

your weblog's target audience

If you write a weblog, it'll have very different content depending on who you're writing it for--and, if it's a "one size fits all" blog, it'll have the usual problem of not fitting anyone well. As I see it these are your possible (and possibly overlapping) target audiences--

  1. Yourself. A weblog can be your commonplace book, where you store interesting links, quotations and ideas for later reference, and you don't necessarily put much energy into gluing disparate thoughts and URLs together with text. So it could just be a list of links with a few words describing each.
  2. Your far-flung friends and relatives, who'll be interested in what you're up to these days. They'll care about your insomnia and the loud neighbor next door.
  3. Your neighbors (loud or otherwise), who may be newcomers to the web and to weblogs. They'll care (a little) about what a weblog is, why to have one, who the Grand Olde Persons of blogging are. And if they're not reading other weblogs and you're writing for them then you can fill yours with interesting links that you found on other weblogs, and they won't complain that yours is yet another rehash of the Same Olde Stuff.
  4. Your mother. 'nuff said. Expect it to happen.
  5. People who share your subculture and opinions, with whom you can rant and ditto and feel united and powerful and in general rouse the rabble as Michael Moore did when he appeared at the Bowling for Columbine screening at the Nevada Theatre last fall (presumably not realizing that the oft-maligned (including by M.M.) Union's publisher was also present (and lashed out in response from a more powerful pulpit, which was followed by a decisive 20-vote margin on election day. (success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan...)). This strategy can backfire.
  6. People who don't share your subculture and opinions, which is where you & they get the most learning done. One of my favorite weblogs in this category has been Andrew Tobias's -- enough columns on finance to keep the wealthy visiting, enough on issues of social justice to keep them thinking. And a tone of respect throughout.

And all of this I guess brings up a question...who are you? I'm curious...for all I know you're nobody (note absence of web counter on page) but if not, feel free to drop me a one-line answer.

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