Blogging with willy

March 11, 2008 at 1:05 pm

I’ve just read Sabrina Dent’s Blogging like a Boy slides on Pix.ie. And while the title of it initially irritated me a little (why do I have to blog like a boy I’m a girl!) I soon realised that she was nailing just about all the reasons that I decided to shut down my previous blog and begin the arduous process of relaunching my online identity. From here on in I pledge to blog like a girl being a boy.

I will…

  1. be as opinionated online as I am offline.
  2. launch the actual design of my blog really, really soon. I was sort of going with the launch early and often approach to the redev but now I’m worried about my online style. I will get rid of the cock in the header for starters though  maybe it will help me focus on a more masculine blogging approach for the moment.
  3. never ever blog about my adorable, widdle kitty cat. I will not link to his personal homepage on the right hand side links. You will just have to email me to request this link.
  4. only blog about Bob Dylan if it’s relevant to my niche.
  5. get a niche.
  6. remove my ‘listening too’ last fm widget on the right hand side which references the last 5 tracks in my itunes - which was kind of stupid anyway because do I really want everyone to know that I am going through an intensive Kenny G phase. (ha ha ha!!!! That was a joke!!!). Must also be quietly confident online - see next point. (Seriously though I don’t listen to Kenny G).
  7. be quietly confident: Ellipses, which I use frequently… give the perception apparently that I can’t finish a thought… also probably due to the fact the putting opinions down in black and white forever does make me feel a bit nervous so I like to soften them a bit. Fewer ellipses in future and less use of the exclamations.
  8. take part in the online community by commenting. Actually I had quite an embarrassing moment once at Reboot6 when someone shoved a microphone in my face and asked me what I should do more of in the coming year and I piped up and said very enthusiastically ‘I’m going to comment more on people’s blogs’. I think I may have giggled too. Everyone else in the room said extremely cool stuff like - ‘launch my start up’, ‘get funding’, ‘learn Ruby so I can build my idea for a great social networking site’, ‘pitch in silicon valley’… etc. Anyway so I say it again loud and proud - I will comment more on blogs!
  9. attend more events. Actually I love attending events - when I hear about them. Hopefully this will be made easier by Geek Dinners and Sabrina and Elly’s brilliant, new website SASS.IE. Yay!!!
  10. write a good, tight profile page outlining skills and achievements and not mention husband or my cat.

Posted in everyday |

(3 responses)

Comments

  • Sabrina Dent Says:
    March 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    Hi Heidi, thanks for dropping by and letting me know you’d gone through the slides at Pix.ie. (Actually, we’re a nice working example of commenting conversations, because I’ve over here today as a first time visitor!)

    Anyway, you touched on a point I struggled with in this presentation. I didn’t want to say “How To Not Blog Like a Girl” because that positions girl blogging as being less than or inferior to boy blogging. And it isn’t. But it IS different, and it removes us from broader recognition and wider conversations in some ways.

    It’s complicated, and I’m still mulling over many aspects of the whole gender and blogging thing and hoping to discuss it with more people, but I’m glad you found it useful.

  • Heidi Jermyn Says:
    March 12th, 2008 at 12:45 am

    Thanks Sabrina for visiting and your response. You’ve chosen a great title for the presentation and some ladies, perhaps feeling a teensy bit defensive, maybe motivated to read it on this strength alone. :) The slides are helpful and I’m sorry I missed the live presentation.

  • Ian Says:
    March 17th, 2008 at 7:01 am

    Personal blogs, professional blogs or a mix of both and everything else. Does someone have to have 2 or 3 separate blogs to accommodate for this? Fair enough, keep the inane miscellany for your preferred social networking profile/s.

    If you’re a web professional with a blog, is it evolving that you should strip out all content or add-ons that are not strictly associated to your field (or neighbouring sphere of influence) in order to maintain your projected professionalism?

    Why should there be a fear of sharing your personality as a professional? The online community is a vast one and not everyone is going to like you, your opinion & may even scoff at your Twitter-feed! I was under the impression that the web was developing into a dynamic & creative medium because the people at the beta-evolutionary front-lines were plugging in not only their skills & insights but also their creative personalities.

    *** !

    Including in your blog’s header something similar to a browser detection script to determine if your visitor is biased to a series of variables; gender, race, years working in the field, Bob Dylan, cats and so on.

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