Some thoughts on a creating a better blog for myself from reading and studying sites I rate highly.

Why read a blog? I read blogs to follow one person's attention, and to be directed to new ideas and gain new perspective on ideas I am already familiar with. Typically the focus of the blog will have a reasonable overlap with my own interests. I will also discover new things that I would not actively seek out myself.

Brevity is important. This is a lesson I learned from Twitter. I am happy to know about your lunch or trip to the zoo if I can digest it easily and move on. More detailed articles are better served by real pages or very focused blogs.

I have very little interest in comments. Sturgeon's law applies doubly for blog comments. A communities social character is unavoidably tied to its technical details (see Group Enemy).

The only content I wish to see on my blog is interesting content. Pingbacks provide a possible solution here; If I am able to view a private report on posts that ping back, I can cherry-pick the most interesting and relevant responses for readers to see. No public commenting system would exist.

The design of writing interface is vital. Write and editing must be separate from posting. Quick, unedited thoughts should be discouraged by design. Software should warn about basic writing mistakes such as post length, double negation and passive voice.

See also

• Merlin Mann — Good Blogs
• Clay Shirky — Group Enemy