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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that noone could care less about the self important 'Guest Blogs'?

106 replies

moondog · 04/12/2013 15:39

They sit there for days on end at the top of the lsit with about five comments (probably made b the name changing author in any case.)
I don't get it. Why do we need 'blogs' when the place is jam packed full of people expressing interesting opinions in any case?

OP posts:
MistAllChuckingFrighty · 04/12/2013 19:13

OP, you know that you are not being forced to read them don't you ?

There is nothing "deceptive" about them. They are quite clearly marked as blogs. You are not enticed in with titles that have nothing to do with the subject matter.

Just skip over them. I skip over about 99% of MN, tbh.

SatinSandals · 04/12/2013 19:17

I don't even know where to find them- but then I avoid blogs.

Original poster
moondog · 04/12/2013 19:26

My innermost thoughts are expressed in the diary I have kept for 35 years. God forbid I would inflict this on others!

OP posts:
CuntyBunty · 04/12/2013 19:32

Lots are unoriginal; that one about Sports Personality of the Year by Glosswitch was not really well done. Lots more salient points and interesting posts were to be had on the SPOTY thread in the feminism section on MN. Sorry, I just wondered why when there was a better thread tuning at the same time about the same subject.
It was enough to make me feel like I wouldn't be arsed to read blogs in future, unless they were written by experts in their field, about a subject that interested me.

madmomma · 04/12/2013 19:35

true dat. I find the ads for them cringey

ouryve · 04/12/2013 19:40

Some of the blogs are interesting. I open up about half of them and read about half of those to the end.

Original poster
moondog · 07/12/2013 14:14

I see they are storming the barricades to listen to Diane Abbott's pearls of wisdom.

OP posts:
moominleigh94 · 07/12/2013 15:16

I have a blog on the MN Bloggers network and was Blog Of The Day a couple of weeks ago. I was worried my blog would seem self-absorbed but people at my uni have approached me and told me that they love reading it, and off the back of the blog, I've been approached by a website supporting young mums and mums-to-be, asking if I'd be interested in being a guest writer :)

So it's not all useless Grin

MardyBra · 07/12/2013 18:02

I read the Diane Abbott link and thought it was a good piece.

But didn't feel the need to comment though.

MardyBra · 07/12/2013 18:03

That's great moomin

mrsjay · 07/12/2013 18:13

I dont get them why do people do it i was thinking Confused when is aw there is a blogfest every year I dont read them

LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/12/2013 19:11

Nice one, moomin, congratulations.

What is there to 'get', mrsjay? Confused

It's not that unlike posting on here. A friend of mine who I've always known as a confident person told me the other day she really got her confidence up about expressing her opinion by posting on here, because people told her she wrote well, so she felt able to move on with that and she is now making a career out of a related kind of media (don't want to get into specifics because she's still on MN). For some people blogs are a bit like a dry run, a way of testing out ideas quickly and seeing if people like what you write or are interested.

I'm guessing if you're a politician which Abbott is, they're a quick way of getting things out there - you could read something and have a reaction posted in half an hour.

Or if you are moomin it could be the start of a career and maybe a way stop the stranglehold of rich Oxbridge graduate on traditional print media, which I think even most journalists would agree would be good.

Original poster
moondog · 07/12/2013 19:18

Abbott is a professional self publicist, who far from being down with the people, couldn't get away fast enough. I find it extraordinarily offensive that her oafish views are those flagged up by MN.
I'd rather read the heartfelt thoughts of a quiet housewife in Barnsley in an MN post than a 'blog' by that appalling woman..

OP posts:
LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/12/2013 19:21

Well, fair enough, if you find her offensive, maybe object? Like you, I have previously read guest blogs and found the subject matter offensive, and in one case I did get in touch with HQ and ask if they had perhaps not considered how much the blog in question wasn't in the spirit of the site.

I didn't get the impression that was your original point, though?

Or do you honestly think all the guest blogs are offensive?

Original poster
moondog · 07/12/2013 19:26

I don't read them so care not, one ay or t'other.
Loathe DA though so I know whatever she says is utter bilge-without even reading it.
That a woman like that is given a platform to spew forth nonsense on a man whoe boots she is not fit to clean fills me with rage.

OP posts:
LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/12/2013 19:28
Confused

Right then.

GodRestTEEMerryGenTEEmen · 07/12/2013 19:30

I have a blog that gets plenty of hits when I post.

Almost no one comments.

Just because there are only 5 comments doesn't mean there aren't thousands of hits.

Your logic is faulty and your language is insulting.

Golddigger · 07/12/2013 19:31

I have been wondering much the same thing for quite some time op.
I do read some and comment on some.

The occasional one or two have got going.

But sometimes, and most annoying to me, there will be a good one, but the writer of the blog never replies.
There was one about a month ago about the wearing of saris, or something like that. It was a very very interesting blog, and there were some very interesting posts and questions. But as far as I know, the blog writer never replied to any of the posts whatsoever.

Which leads me to ask two questions.

  1. Does the guest blogger ever know that they have been "chosen" by mumsnet. And
  2. Who is doing the choosing at mumsnet? Perhaps there are more interesting ones out there? Perhaps not, for all I know.
Original poster
moondog · 07/12/2013 19:33

So why post it on MN then TEE?
There may be a small navel gazing corner of the universe for bloggers but it sure isn't MN.

OP posts:
GodRestTEEMerryGenTEEmen · 07/12/2013 19:34

Why post what on MN? My blog? Why shouldn't I?

Original poster
moondog · 07/12/2013 19:36

Point made
You encapsulate all I loathe about blogs and bloggers with your arrogant assumption that folk care.
They don't .

OP posts:
LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/12/2013 19:38

I think I saw that one gold - not about saris but about the niqwab (might be misspelling that)? I was cross she didn't reply too, I thought it was really badly mismanaged.

moon - not true really, MN is where a fair few of my readers come from, it's nice. And it was MNers who pushed me into blogging in the first place.

I would imagine if you blog about something directly related to parenting, you might find it even more useful. How often have you seen someone on a thread say 'oh, I wish so-and-so were posting, she'd explain such-and-such'. On that score I wish AF had a blog.

SnakeyMcBadass · 07/12/2013 19:38

The FGM piece was brilliant, imo. It made me sign the petition. I blogged for years. In fact, the blog has been dormant for over a year and still gets hits daily. If my experiences help others, good.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/12/2013 19:39

Cross post - how is tee assuming 'folk care'? Confused

If I were to say to you 'why did you bother starting the thread, no-one gives a fuck', wouldn't one of your responses be 'well, look, people are clicking on it so obviously they are interested'? And you'd be right.

So how is it different for someone else?

Golddigger · 07/12/2013 19:43

Yes, that was the one LRD.
I cant remember whether I posted initially or not. And I lurked for a few days too. But gave up even watching it in the end.
Big shame. It was carefully written. I ended up wondering if she even knew that she was on here? Or whether something had happened that she was not able to reply.