Carroll’s second chapter, “Digital Media Vs. Analog Media”, brings up interesting points, however the most interesting is that web users find blogs and other Internet sites to be more credible than traditional media. Ironically, it is because of the presence of the blogger’s perspective rather than the absence of it. Furthermore, to establish credibility one must be authentic and genuine, which is ultimately established in the tone of the blog and the morality of the writer.
Credibility is essential to getting one’s blog of the ground; it eventually establishes a loyal following of readers who believe in what the writer is blogging about. In fact, many readers would say that the reason they follow a blog is due to the fact that they can identify with the reader. For instance, if a blogger lists off in their “about me” section that they have three kids, used to be a journalist, and now take care of the home, hundreds of working turned stay-at-home moms can relate to the writer and immediately find the writer more credible.
In a sense it is this exact transparency of one’s personal life that helps develop a loyal follower base of people. On the other hand, traditional media is seen as less credible these days because readers and listeners cannot relate to the journalist or news anchor like they can to the blogger. In a sense, journalism and credibility these days has become strongly attributed to the ability to identify with the writer.
In addition to tone, transparency, and the ability to identify with the reader, it is essential to a blog’s success and credibility that the blog look professional. A reader will immediately discredit a blog if it looks like a middle school kid who went wild with crayons and glitter pens made it. Professionalism, simplicity, and easy navigability are essential to getting a potential follower to simply remain on the page.
Question: If traditional journalism is all but obsolete, will blogs and sites of a similar nature soon follow suit?
Carroll furthers the subject of blog simplicity in his next chapter, “Screen Writing”. He stresses that much like journalistic writing style, a blogger should immediately capture the attention of the reader, use short sentences, active verbs, and use an inverted pyramid writing style. Essentially, be short, sweet, and to the point.
Furthermore, a clean, streamlined, simple, to the point blog will establish much more credibility than one flashier in nature. Not to say graphics are not important, they are essential. However, images should be laid out in an organized structure that appear consistent, just like one’s blog should be.
The best blog posts are broken up and possess the ability to be skimmed. Long rambling posts immediately lose the interest of a reader. Ultimately, if content is easy to find, easy to read and aesthetically appealing a reader is more likely to invest his or her time in reading a blog post.
Question: What else can a blogger do to establish credibility?
source of image: http://tayloredcontent.com/blog-post-structure-inverted-pyramid/
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