So much debate, so little time but so in need of saying something.

Am I a blogger?

I used to write stuff – often about music – and published it in street press, magazines. I used to also put words – yes, the honest, revealing stuff – in my editorial of my own magazine. I used to talk – but it was on radio. I run a music website using a blogging platform. But most wouldn’t call it a blog.

What I write at this website isn’t a personal journal – which is what I think the actual definition of a blog is.

I try to write either useful stuff to help people in their advertising and marketing jobs or stories about my own experience, while trying to unearth and communicate what could be universal truths.

Am I a blogger?

I usually don’t write about other people’s ideas. I try to add original thought to this internet pipe-dream. I don’t write about what I did today – unless I can find something that would be useful to someone else.

But I do use WordPress as my content management system.

Am I a blogger?

And, why is the word ‘blogger’ a dirty word?

Has it become like the word ‘Liberal’ in the States?

I can imagine the politicians of our generation in parliament in years to come. At the climax of a tense debate, one of them stares across the room and hurls the most evil of insults at their opponent: “Yes, but you were a blogger when you were young!” The room falls silent.

I make content – some of it for this website.  I love content. I love well written, interesting, thought-provoking stuff – the stuff that drips from your lips after you’ve read it aloud. But, I do think that some journalists would do well to write for screens – rather than pages. Make things scan-able, make it punchy, invite comment. We are all media now.

What do you think?
Has the phrase ‘blogger’ copped a bad rap lately? Or do bloggers deserve it?

Photo courtesy of Wesley Fryer.

If you enjoyed the read, please leave a comment. Feel free to follow me on Twitter

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Are you up for a little social experiment?
Do you blog?
Are you cool on the inside but a little stoic on the outer?
Do you wish the world saw things your way but know you’d be out of a job if it did?

If you answered ‘yes‘ out loud to all of these questions, then have I got a deal for you!

Inspired by amazing headlines such as:

- 16 Usable CSS Graph and Bar Chart Tutorials and Techniques (you temptress!)
- 200+ Beautiful Seamless Patterns Perfect for Web Design (there are more than 50!?)
- 17 Stimulating Flickr Groups to get You Typographically Inspired (over-stimulating, methinks!)
- the 11 most unnecessary guides on the internet (so unnecessary they’re necessary to look at!)
- 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert Is a Carpetbagger (I don’t even know what a carpetbagger is!)

… I invite you to play online with each other in
THE BATTLE OF THE RIDICULOUS HEADLINE.

How it works
1. I unveil the secret headline-winning formula (below)
2. You pick a topic and write a headline in the guaranteed-to-bait formula
3. You blog yourself silly
4. You ‘share’ your post around
5. Winners win stuff – as all winners should

The headline-winning formula unveiled
After much analysis, I’ve unlocked the hidden secret of online success.
All you have to do is write headlines using this structure:

Number + Adverb + Adjective + Topic + Focus + Benefit/Effect

Just look at the fortuitously incredible headline for this very post:
5 stupendously hyperbolic blogging headlines that will make you click fast
A surefire classic in the making!

BTW big thanks to the Twitter brains trust for letting me know that a modifier of an adjective is called an adverb (I had it twisted): @ingvoldSTAR @Afficionados_HH @nakedbearmedia @hamishstewart @davewhittle

What you will win
I’m so convinced that awesomely generous sponsors will join the fray by the weekend that I’m in a position to offer prizes that don’t even exist yet.
And those prizes will be awarded for:
1. Headline re-tweeted the most on the tweeting sensation Twitter
2. Most traffic driven from Twitter to your blog post (stat showage required)
3. Highest number of unique visitors (stat showage required)

If you are an awesome sponsor, email me quickly because I know there’ll be a queue out the door to get on board with this holy-crapoli-this-is-a-good-idea idea.

There must be no half-stepping:
1. You must tell people how they will feel and/or benefit from your post in the headline (this is blogosphere meets FMCG TV commercial type stuff)
2. You must be hyperbolic
3. You cannot suck

Timings
Start stoking the headline fires now… hopefully over the weekend I’ll release the astounding prizes and full timelines. Maybe with a sneaky Gant chart in the mix as well. Sexy!

Specific challenge to the media types:
Adnews, B&T, ABC, Fairfax, News, Ninemsn… the lot of you. You know change is coming. Be a part of it. You can dooo eeet! Don’t let Mumbrella eat your breakfast – because he will!

If you don’t have a blog, email me your idea and if it’s steak knife-worthy you can post it here. Or maybe we’ll create a site for the battle instead.

If you enjoyed the read, please leave a comment. Feel free to follow me on Twitter

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When I used to write for music magazines, I wrote a lot under the pen name, LoQuay, and I’d use my real name for my radio show (The Mothership Connection, 2SER – no longer running).

There are several reasons I used the pen name:

1. I used to MC and an MC ‘name’ – like a graffiti tag – is your brand: it differentiates you, provides insight into what you’re about

2. I thought it was a cool thing to do – I was trying to be individual within a group context

3. With a made-up name I could role play a little
(BTW when I interviewed people on my radio show I preferred calling them off-air by the name their mum called them to try to keep them out of persona – I still believe it helped achieve a more authentic energy for the interviews)

But after a few years, I decided to put everything under my real name – and it wasn’t to become famous under my birthname.

Why?

1. I kept finding that writers who submitted articles to my magazine (Stealth) under pen names acted too much in their writing (insert ghetto slang)

2. I found myself making more effort with my writing if I couldn’t hide behind a stage name – ie writing under my real name made me feel more accountable to my ideas – and spend more time with them

So, I’m curious: why do you use your real name or a made-up name online?

If you enjoyed the read, please leave a comment. Feel free to follow me on Twitter

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