Blogs are great, aren’t they? A regularly updated collection of posts by completely different people from all over the golbe, at your fingertips. What’s not to like?
Er, quite a lot, actually. There are many things that cause me small bits of annoyance when it comes to blogs, not least the scab effect: some blogs are so bad, that you keep comming back to them, just like people can’t resist picking at a scab.
(I fully accept that this blog is guilty of some of the things that annoy me greatly about other’s blogs, but if I suddenly started being rational and consistent about my likes and dislikes, people would start wondering what was wrong with me.)
So, some of the things that annoy me, a little or a lot:
- Raving moonbat blogs; those by people who are totally out of this world batshit crazy. But you can’t help but revisit, just to see if they’re for real. They can’t be, can they? But then, they are. Oh dear. I fear for their sanity.
- Otherwise decent blogs that go mad over their lifestyle choices. So they may have some decent posts which are a joy to read, but they’re sandwiched in between a multitude of “SO YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY SEMI-LUNAR CYCLE QUASI-VEGITARIAN WITCH? YOU’RE NOT ALONE! HERE’S WHY I’M A SEMI-LUNAR CYCLE QUASI-VEGITARIAN WITCH, AND WHY YOU SHOULD BE TOO!” posts. Fine, you are the way you are, good for you. Explaining it twice a day gets annoying, as does pontificating to everyone who isn’t exactly like you. Especially when you reserve your greatest ire for those full-lunar cycle quasi-vegitarian witches above all others.
- Forcing readers to open links in new windows. It’s not a big annoyance, and it’s easy to counter. But it’s still annoying; if your site is good enough, people will know how to use the back button to get there, and if it isn’t they’ll just get annoyed at having another bloody window to shut.
- Decent blogs disappearing and suddenly being replaced by kanji spam blogs. I blame blogger.
- The scab blogs; blogs you dislike a little and should never read, but which you keep visiting. Such as Go Fug Yourself, a silly blog about fashion which I keep going back to for the sarky comments. I hate it.
- Blogs that list things that you should do to make your blog respectable. I don’t want respect, I just wanna have a laugh.
- Blogs that post lists about what’s wrong with other blogs.
- Group blogs that are shite, but were decent when they were single user efforts. There are a couple of blogs that I used to read very regularly when only one person wrote them, but after they opened to door to all and sundry the humour/insight dried up. In fact, the only real group blog that I rate these days is Samizdata.
And breathe, Mr Hillan. It’s just t’internet, it’s not worth getting worked up over…
Reading blogs is yet another way of people watching and safer than staring at passengers on London underground. As for crazy – that is subjective. Am sure other semi-lunar cycle quasi-vegetarian witches agree….don’t you????
Yes I agree
Bloganoia n.
A mental condition among bloggers, characterised by delusions of unwarranted self-importance and/or persecution or dislike, caused by reading hissy posts and wondering which category one’s own blog falls under.
Lorainne: I dunno if it’s any safer… some of those internetwebby stalker types are a bit dangerous.
CS: Really? I’d figured you for more of a FLCQVW; semi-lunar seemed a bit too much for you.
Sandra: I’m now suffering from Bloganoia following the description of one of my posts as ‘hissy’.
Maybe “hissy” wasn’t the exact word, but I was commenting with my Supervisor banging on in the background. Perhaps “tetchy” would be more accurate.
Yeah yeah, whatever. So it’s a choice between hissy and tetchy, is it? Humph.
Oh, diddums, don’t be like that. It’s incredible how you can turn it around: it starts off with ME having Bloganoia and being all *hurt* and then it ends up being all about you. Typical.
Rule 1 of IDQCT… : it is all about me…
(And I would have had a list of offending blogs under each point but for the obvious security issues surrounding by point 1. Don’t worry, there’s none on the blogroll that break any of the rules. Except the group, new windows and spam ones, and I don’t think that OH is in violation of any of those.)
I am a bit of a hoor for the new windows, since I learned how to do it.
Has double glazing reached the glens, then?
Watch it, or I’ll set Mammy on you.
I love it that Ed admits to reading a fashion blog.
Implying what, Ms Moser? It’s the blog equivalent of staring at a car crash: you know you shouldn’t, you’re horrified, you know it’s wrong. And yet you just can’t help it…
“Forcing readers to open links in new windows” . With more people using Opera, Firefox and even IE7 now going Multi-tab surely it’s more convenient for a reader to open a link in a new tab or window and it means they can continue to read the original page. Most bloggers are a bit browser savvy so know how to configure them to auto open links in a new tab.
Oh, this I know. But at work I’m forced into using IE6. And the whole concept vexes me.
Wha’? I never said I was rational, did I?
Implying nothing other than my heartfelt admiration for your fearlessness in looking at such a gay site as GFY.
Did you get the link of me?
I wouldn’t say it was gay. It’s just bitchy, and god knows, anyone who grows up in a house full of wimmen appreciates good bitchy.
I cannae remember where I got the link from, to be honest. May have been you, may have been one of the random emails that gets fired about the place.
It’s a great site – dunno where I saw it first, but I do love it so. It reassures me that despite gazillions of money, much thinness and professional stylists, sometimes famous people look far, far worse than I ever do. (And my sister has to tell me what to wear.)