Why do you read blogs?

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Why, primarily, do you read blogs?

To learn or improve a skill
7
32%
To relax or encourage mediation
0
No votes
To keep up to date
5
23%
To avoid something else
1
5%
To laugh or become engrossed
1
5%
To develop or realign opinion
1
5%
To comment with the author and others
0
No votes
Other. (Please state your reason)
1
5%
I don't read blogs. (Please explain why)
6
27%
 
Total votes: 22

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Ollie Saunders
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Why do you read blogs?

Post by Ollie Saunders »

Feel free to explain the reasons for your decision or why you can't decide on a single choice.
By all means provide links to the blogs that you read most and try to explain why.
Also consider whether your motivations would change if only there was a blog out there that catered for them? What would your dream blog be.

Thanks to all contributers.
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

I dont. Im lazy.
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Josh1billion
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Post by Josh1billion »

I don't read many except qj.net's video game news blogs, particularly the Wii and PSP ones, if I get bored. So I voted "To keep up to date."
alex.barylski
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Post by alex.barylski »

I read interesting blogs...

1) If the author has an interesting, intelligent writing style (ie: Marcus Baker)
2) Keep up to date with latest techniques & best practices
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Inkyskin
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Post by Inkyskin »

I don't read any - not for any particular reason, I just haven't found any gripping reads in a long time
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shiznatix
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Post by shiznatix »

I don't read any either. I generally find blogs to be silly.

What makes me super angry is I will have a problem with something PHP related, I'll google for an answer, and someone will have a blog that describes the "theory" behind a fix but with no links and no real information. Arg. Maugrim_The_Reaper, you have done this to me with your blog posts about the Zend framework...jerk :lol:
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

Depends - I subscribe to blogs to keep up with my friends, but I find myself at most blogs via a search for a software problem.
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

I don't frequent any blogs, I only read them when they are referring to something I was searching for at the time.
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Benjamin
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Post by Benjamin »

I find blogs annoying. Mainly because I think anything called a BLOG is stupid, because I think the word BLOG is stupid and therefore anyone who has a BLOG is therefore stupid. Maybe it's a fancy word for "diary" or "my rants" or "my stories" or "whatever I feel like writing". When BLOG's started becoming popular I thought the concept was cool. But I'm frankly not willing to accept the word BLOG. I think it sucks.

BLOGS are nothing more than an organized Rolodex for an individual or entities thoughts, feelings, emotions or spam. So you can call it a BLOG. I'll call it "here look what I typed, come back tomorrow maybe I'll type something else, and by the way , don't forget to click on some of my google adwords". While writing that I thought of Stuart from Saturday Night Live saying, "LOOK WHAT I CAN DO" and then I thought wow there are millions of them. OMG What am I going to do now? AHHHHH Help!!!!!!!!!!

So what blogs do I read? The only one I have ever spent any time on is Matt Cutts from google to get a lil insight. Other than that, I'll stick with books rather than the opinions of a complete stranger. I'm not saying that everyone who has a blog doesn't know that they are talking about, just that they have exactly ZERO credibility with me.

If you have a BLOG, then your a BLOGGER. I don't like the word BLOGGER either. Is this a new occupation or something? For some it is actually. There are numerous individuals that make a decent living doing nothing more than BLOGGING. BLOGGING is an annoying word too. They go to their tax agent YAHOOING about the GOOGLE CHECKS they received from the BLOGGING text that they put on their BLOG when they BLOGGED the year before. I don't think Microsoft played a role here. Where's Lycos anyway? Are they still around?

Back on topic. I think I'm BLOGGING right now. This could quite possibly make me a hypocrite. I think I'll sign off now.

Late
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

I read them because I write one.
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Jonah Bron
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Post by Jonah Bron »

I have one, but I don't rant. Just straight to the code :)

Computer/Code blogs are the only ones I read.

The only time I read them, is if:
A. I have nothing better to do (which never happens, so scratch that)
or
B. I did a search, and it was in the results (ex. my search for "canvas tag")
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

I Facebook - does that count? I think it should.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

Dude, Facebook. Oh yeah, the greatest time killer of all time. Next to mySpace.
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Maugrim_The_Reaper
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Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

What makes me super angry is I will have a problem with something PHP related, I'll google for an answer, and someone will have a blog that describes the "theory" behind a fix but with no links and no real information. Arg. Maugrim_The_Reaper, you have done this to me with your blog posts about the Zend framework...jerk
Hehehe. You'll be glad to note all the "theory" is now in the ZF Core waiting for release ;).

I maintain a regular blog and the attraction is simple enough. I enjoy writing. If I write about a topic I'm forced to confront it, form ideas, organise my thoughts, and generally the act of writing leads me to understanding the topic on a deeper level. I'm not sure I agree with astions on blogging in general, but there is no doubt a blog is a very personal forum for an individuals own use. Bloggers always blog about themselves or what interests them.

As for blogs I read. I keep to technical blogs primarily. Planet PHP and Planet Ruby On Rails are of particular interest (the ROR blog is really just a general Ruby one) since they usually only aggregate posts from people who have an actual brain, and some degree of professional PHP experience. I can't say whether you learn a lot from blogs, but sometimes even selfish looking product announcements can be of interest to keep track of where a community is moving. All the blogging about PHP5.3 for example has been quite informative.

Outside those I keep track of people I'm familiar with who have blogs hidden somewhere - like Everah ;). Many of them come from this forum. If you have a blog URL in your signature here, there's a good chance I'm watching you :).
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

I Googled myself a while ago (what can I say, I was feeling experimental) and after a few pages it was all mirrored copies of Maugrim's blog where's he'd included my name in a quote.

Made me feel small. Damn small.
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