I recently heard someone say, there’s no such thing as a bad blog. I sat and pondered it for a bit and tried to understand it. To me it was like saying, there’s no bad writing. Which, as teachers, let’s be honest, that isn’t true. But sinking down to the heart of that statement and what was truly meant by it, I think I might understand.

Blogging Popularity Statistics

What was meant by the “Author Unknown” quote, was that no blogs are bad, they simply may not be of interest to you. By doing a quick Google search on “how many blogs are there?” I found that Wordpress alone has 58.3 million new posts, 43.8 million new comments, and 409 million views of 21.4 billion pages each month (WordPress.com, 2016). That is only one blog hosting site. That doesn’t include Tumblr, Blogger, or any of the microblog sites. You might think, there’s bound to be a bad blog in the midst of all of those blogs?

Bad Blogging Examples

Don't get me wrong, there are components that can be attributed to blogs that are not of high-quality. Blogs in general are casual and more conversational. Blogs are not generally known as being academic or research-based. However there are basic accepted elements that make blogs higher quality than others. Just because blogs are casual does not mean they can promote misinformation, slander, poor grammar, or misspelling. I know I for one find it difficult to read content that is not written well. Poorly written content would be “bad blog” in my opinion.

Millennial Bloggers

Additionally, many of the microblogging sites are written by millennials. Millennials are known to use shorthand and text typing which can be perceived as a not quality writing or a “bad blog”. However there are accepted platforms where this type of shorthand is the expectation like on Twitter. But putting aside misinformation or poor writing we should be looking at the content of the blogs and the intentions of the bloggers.

 

6 Popular classroom blogging ideas

People blog for many different reasons. Here are 6 popular reasons to blog:

1. journal about a journey 2. share recipes 3. provide tricks or tips 4. gain notoriety 5. drum up business 6. to connect with people outside of their immediate circles

Regardless, these people, myself included, are sharing free information with the world. The beauty is, if you don’t like the information being shared, you don’t have to read it. Dismissing a blog is just a click away. Yet bloggers are generally writing in the spirit of good faith sharing of information. And when you think of it in those terms, how can blogging be bad? It’s like if someone does something nice for you, even if it’s not something you want, it’s still nice. You can’t be mad at them.

So long story short, bad is subjective. Bad is in the eye of the beholder. So get over any insecurities and start blogging. We all have expertise, something to share, or something to get off our chest. Even if it is just a documentation process for yourself, let’s start sharing. Share anything, share everything, and share often.

I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Join the 43.8 million and post a comment. What blogs do you follow, do you agree, disagree? Have you found a “bad” blog?

 

References

• WordPress.com. (2016, July 26). A live look at WordPress.com. [Web blog]. Retrieved from https://wordpress.com/activity/