Burning question on blog content…opinions wanted

History, This and That, Writing and Blogging

So far I have been flooded by one question from one of my bolder followers: “What’s with the two blogs?”   Short and to the point, and a very good question, as teachers like to say when they don’t know the answer and are counting on class discussion to come up with something plausible.

One reason is that back in the day…maybe four years ago, when I first signed up with WordPress as a blogger…I came up with an idea for a title that I thought was nice, and I set out to develop the site.   That was before I knew just what I would do with the Blog–what it would be about, and to whom it would be directed.  The first thing I did was choose a theme….write an introduction, find a cool tag line.

I wanted a blog so I would have a place to share all of the great experiences I have had in my life, write opinions about all sorts of stuff, diss the press and the government and gossip about celebrities.    Also to post my photographs of my cats, my homestead, my scraggly flower gardens, and more cats.

But the first blog I registered I liked so much that I did not put anything in it.  It was an empty place-holder WordPress page.  “Coming Soon–another brilliant Word Press Blog.”

Well, then I needed another blog, to really hold all the stuff I wanted to blog about but not necessarily clutter up my “perfect blog” with miscellany.  SO I created another blog… called Sometimes, and tag-lined Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why.   I knew that any blog that I would author would have to be eclectic… so as not to fence me into a niche where I would only wander out into eclectic-ness anyway, marring my serious World Changing and Vital Commentary on the meaning of life….well, you get it.

So if it’s everything/kitchen sink/junk drawer miscellaneous one is looking for…this is the place for them to be.  Comments on Tough Blonde News Anchors And Their Hair–pictures of tacky looking contraptions that are actually cat shelters, on my back deck–self-serving Word Police rants and raves…bad photos of (well, anything,) and commentary about writing and blogging–it’s all here, in Sometimes.

HERE COMES THE POINT:

My Other Blog is called Welcome to My Wonderland…. and it contains exactly what my other-Other Blog contains.    Up to a point, of course.  Now almost all new content is added on THIS blog, which is Sometimes.     Migrating to the other blog, hereafter referred to as “Wonderland” will be sort of like coming into a movie that you have already seen…except that it was so long ago that it seems new.

There are also NEW followers on Wonderland who also subscribed to Sometimes.   Most are in the opposite category, being followers of BOTH blogs.     If they are New the old stuff is new to them…if they are old-timers they just write me messages asking “what’s with the TWO blogs?”

My dilemma is that I don’t know where to go from here.  Should I start a new content direction with the Other Blog, in keeping with its tag line “History-Discovery-Travel” (something like that) or … what?

By History, I mean historical information.   I am an Historian by field, and I have years of papers and other writings from classes over a field of subjects…and some of these I would like to put out on my blog for posterity.   Few will be interested in my old seminar papers from a decade ago, but I would like to put them out so that just in case anyone anytime is interested the works are available.  Obviously the vast majority who have NO INTEREST at all in this material don’t have to ever look at it.

I have thousands of photos that my husband and I took over a period of many years of travel, and some are lengthy and detailed… more in some cases than would be comfortable as shorter pieces on THIS blog (Sometimes.)

Seminar papers…such as Diego Rivera, the British end to the Slave Trade…navy ships chasing sleek clipper ships…discussions such as the Cold War…Central America and the CIA… topics with limited interest.     Communism, Pyramids in Mexico, the Nazis, Historiography, the U.S.Civil War.    Some English papers.   Newspaper feature articles.   Humor (at least my version.)

Some of these topics that I have written about will be of interest to SOME of my current readers.  But even in that audience very, very few will be drawn to that kind of stuff.

So…what do you think?   Should I diversify OR just mix it all up in the salad bowl (no, I have not written anything about Sarah Palin,)  as has been my method up to now?

IF I do start to change my content style, I would create a link system…to promote (warn?) readers when I post a more academic-intended article.

Caveat? these are not paragons of “perfect papers” they have red-penned remarks such as “you can do better than this!”  “shot-gun”  “can you prove this?” but also the occasional smiley face or silver star.

 

 

42 thoughts on “Burning question on blog content…opinions wanted”

  1. My fellow blogger allow me to say I have 8 web sites on word press!!! Plus, I also write and submit recipes to Tasty Kitchen.com/Member (A Public Community Recipe Sharing site-with 1,356 originally recipes posted). I write daily and/or every other day. I work from home, I have a hubs and 5 children, a massive home to tend and all the things that a woman does. SO a few bloggers/followers asked me why so many sites. Answer is easy I have many interests and love to share-you may choose to follow one or all that’s up to you. Each site evolves a different theme and content. None are based on currents events, religion nor politics and especially no profanity; those topics are of no interest to me! My blogging is short and sweet to the point and fun! I adopt humor, antics, adventures of Florida Lifestyle. Cooking, tips, recipes, food trivia and facts, a fiction novelette, cooking with citrus (since I grow citrus), cooking on a budget, tips and recipes. Etc. To attempt to place all interests in one blog would be impossible thus multiple sites. Do as you wish on your blogging adventures is my recommendation to you! When I have time in between domestic, child rearing, cooking, baking I write and draft and get back to it! If it were not enjoyable I’d not do it…Your blogging friend, Cheryl

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    1. thanks for your input Cheryl… I have all types of writings too, but have them in categories. This does get cumbersome though, so I think I’ll branch out. I don’t do profanity either…it is almost never appropriate, and I ffind it offensive especially when used in a gratuitous way.

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      1. I pre-post thoughts and get back to it when I have 15-20 minutes here and there. Its easy really. I do not like long drawn out posts personally. Staying with the theme of the blogs topics are fairly easy to create. Things just pop into my mind all the time. I want my sites to be fun, interesting and different!

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  2. I like having two blogs . . .I have one for all the random stuff and increasingly photography challenges, and then my Algarvian one. I think you have to go with what works best for you . . I know some follow me on both and others only follow on one so guess some prefer the divide.

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    1. thanks for the input…very helpful. I’m going to check out your blogs. I love doing poetry, and enjoy writing ffiction so I’m also thinking of setting up a separate blog for that material.

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      1. Ah one is purely on Portugal so that helps me stay focused. My other one takes everything else. Maybe you could keep one for poetry and writing, and the other more random?

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      2. good suggestion, in keeping with what I’ve been thinking. I like using Category system, as the “infinite scroll” leads to missing a lot of good things in other blogs that I read. Thanks so much for your input…I’m glad I asked, as I’m getting a lot of suggestions.

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      3. So pleased you are getting lots of suggestions, that’s what I love about the blogging community lots of people out there willing to share ideas 🙂
        Have fun with the categories!

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      9. Glad you like. When you have a chance to look properly I’d love some feedback on the categories, menu etc. I like what I have but do wonder if I could do better so really welcome a critique.

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      11. It’s a lovely site. I read many of the blurbs, then picked the one on castles and fortresses, a special topic of mine. The theme you are using is wonderful, I love it…very appropriate for a site like yours with a lot of varied content.

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  3. Maybe consolidation is the way to go? It would be a lot easier to maintain one blog than several. You can make a feature day to highlight history, travel, or whatever topic that you wish to present.

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    1. thanks, I appreciate the input. I use categories now, but the one big long infinite scroll that is the main blog is cumbersome. I’m not sure I could adequately maintain separate blogs, I’d be forever posting to the “wrong” one. 🙂

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    2. “infinite scrolling” means to me that I am missing a lot of good content in a blog by just skimming over the posts. I like the Category system as it is possible to choose topics. thanks for input…I am taking notes! :-}

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  5. I confess, at first your two blogs very slightly confused me. But I was brand new to blogging when I discovered them in a Blogging U course. Following the delightful content actually forced me to better navigate WordPress and resolved the mystery. I too named several blogs (mostly to grab the names I felt were ingenious – now I’m not as impressed with them and left them private ;). Instead I utilized the Categories Widget in a sidebar. It’s well enough until I’m bold enough to change my theme. I follow and enjoy both your blogs.

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    1. thanks for the input Roos, I appreciate it. I smiled at your grabbing names because they were ingenious…I did the same thing. 🙂 I guess what I’m thinking of is a Serious Blog, and a Anything-Goes Blog. Right now my two are the same except one is up to the minute…the other not updated. I don’t know if I’m disciplined enough to keep sorted out. 🙂

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  6. I also have two blogs -McAennyl.com, which began as a brag-board for my formative writing pieces (short stories, opinion pieces, poems…whatever. It’s tag line is Not Too Busy a Blogger.
    My second blog began when I wanted to switch hosts for my book reviews. It’s also a WordPress site, RedPennReviews.wordpress.com. I review books for the NZ book distributor, and I am allowed to post reviews written for them on my own review blog. So that blog is more focussed than McAennyl.
    But, I am (gradually) working on refining the scope of McAennyl. But first I have to re-Tag and re-Categorise existing posts. It’s new focus will be the book about NZ education 1950 to 2007. A side-step (for when I feel motivated) will be content with an anti-smoking lean. (A trying-to-quit smoker, I am.)
    Nothing wrong with running two blogs at all. It’s a challenge for me to revamp and refocus McAennyl, and RedPennReviews is building traffic -slowly but surely.
    Good for you!

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