Reflections on Making a Name for Yourself on the Web
So I was reading an article about how to promote yourself for a job in a a down market in the 21st century. That got me to thinking...
I did a vanity search and found out that what comes up to the top of the list is a comment I left on Amazon. My minimax0r Xanga tag was fifth in the list with no other mention of my Xanga. My Live Journal doesn't even appear in the first 100 results. Bummer.
That reminded me that I really, really need to fill my profiles out on both Xanga and Live Journal. Fuck Stalker Book Face Book.
But more to the point, it got me to thinking....
I get more traffic off of my political posts e.g. than I do off of my computer posts e.g.. The odd thing is, I think more about computers than I do about politics. In fact, I tend to think I write more about computers than I do politics.
I read a lot of sites. I can't think of one political news feed I have other than fellow bloggers (i.e. truntthepaige, reality-hammer, and gothelittle. I would include The Theologian's Cafe in the list, but he is more of a newsfeed than a place to get a political take on things.)
I read many more computers sites. I'm following linux, ubuntu_users, macintosh, unixadmin. I'm also subscribed to Engadget, Coding Horror, and John. C. Dvoark's PC Mag columns.
Apparently, computer blogs are only for those who get them and then you have to be an expert to be read. We could talk about Microsoft initiatives for hawking their products as the best thing since sliced bread and self-proclaimed gurus who think they are computer gods because they know how to double-click an icon in Windows, but that's beside the point. I read a lot of tech stuff, comment occasionally and record my tech thoughts on my blog less frequently than that. I labor over my posts, hoping I'm giving the best presentation possible but instead I get lambasted for it.
The oddest thing is that despite all the tech stuff that I'm into, I'd like to think that I'm more into film. Granted, I don't write about it the way that swashbuckler332 does and that pisses me off. I did write film reviews for the Exponent, but those were rushed and shitty at best, not the quality stuff that swashbuckler332 turns out. It's funny too, because swash and I usually have the same thoughts on the films that we both watch. I just don't have his stomach for Star Wars. The point is that it pisses me off that I can write good reviews and yet I don't. I should, because at the very least I'd be able to put together a list of reviews if I wanted to make some extra cash, say writing reviews for the local paper.
I think that the reason my political posts get such better remarks is that a lot of my readers and I have the same views on politics and when I get as passionate about a subject as I do with my politics, I let 'em have it. Perhaps it's this quality that people are reacting to rather than my viewpoints. Nevertheless, it was something I thought about today, had a theory about and wanted to see what you my adoring audience thought.
What kind of my posts do you like: political? tech? film? random craziness? Other (please specify in the comments)?
Also, do you think my theory that my political posts get more response than anything because of the passion behind the writing is correct? Discuss.