I'm here
“Me me me, please look at me” it cries like a child wanting attention.
Attention is what the blogger wants only to confront us some self centered post that could have been scribbled by a naughty child in the classroom. Unfortunately it reminds me of something that I once argued against, a journalist type stating that it’s “not about you, it’s about the place”. Unfortunately some bloggers are affirming this in a desperate attempt for attention, to seem relevant, to somehow shout their way to being an established authority.
Isn’t The Real World
It’s these few that tarnish some other great writing out there by bloggers. Some of the talented bloggers are struggling to be heard under the torrent of drivel attempting to get attention. In the travel blogging bubble where the number one rule is upheld up by most “must never criticise and must always be positive” we must all be positive in this bubble. This isn’t the real world and isn’t a healthy direction to go in.
No Constructive Criticism
The problem with this is that there is never any constructive criticism that helps to let people know whether they are indeed the screaming child or actually have an amazing unique post. Without the feedback who can tell the difference? Self perpetuating bubble that does indeed lead to some “navel gazing”. Some people seem afraid to disagree and would rather stay quiet in fear of going against the majority.
Don’t get me wrong, I think positivity is a great thing, it leads to passion, productivity and innovation. But misplaced and without balance we may well be praising things that don’t actually deserve it.
If travel bloggers want to be taken seriously then criticism and some negativity should be part of what you should expect publishing your writing online. Maybe it is time that travel bloggers grew up, matured, faced criticism and learnt lessons along the way.
Why not start right here?
Photo by jonny2love
Well said, but I’d also like to mention that some travel bloggers can’t take constructive criticism and try to defend themselves, even writing full posts defending why they do or don’t do certain things.
What do they think if they put themselves in the public eye? You can’t please everyone and it’s best to take criticism in a positive way, instead of belittling their readers because they think they are an “authority” like you mentioned.
Myself and a few other readers recently corrected a big travel blogger about something and all we got was blind defense of his stance on the situation – no diplomatic or friendly discussion, just basically “I’m the guy with the online authority, I know best”. – You can probably guess who it was.
The travel blogging bubble is going to burst due to pressure of the all that hot air building up inside.
Ah Paul, you sound really miffed by something 🙁
If it’s worth anything, my advice (as a newbie!?!?) to other bloggers is to only read blogs you truly enjoy and learn something from. As a blogger reading too many other blogs isn’t necessarily a good thing – particularly when like Slice says the blogger isn’t open to discussion.
Life’s too short and blogging’s too much fun to let it get you down…
Frankie
Hi Slice,
Nice points, I do think that bloggers should respond with their point of view and admit (if they are) when they are wrong. After all they are just human and will get things wrong at times.
Friendly discussion is a great thing.
Hi Karen,
There is definitely a lot of people blogging these days, I just wish people would try new things other than producing similar content.
I get your point Frankie. I think I wrote this after seeing the content in my stream on various social networks and also posted at me on certain discussions when it wasn’t even relevant.
I should probably put a disclaimer on this blog to let everyone know this is where I vent my blogging anger! 😀
You are right, of course. 🙂
Ah I wasn’t trying to make a point, just trying to cheer you up. But then maybe that’s me falling foul of the “too much positivity” thing.
And vent away my friend!! 😀
Karen, I agree to a point, I bet soon there’s going to be some travel blogging ‘beef’ happening between some bloggers that will start taking digs at each other. That could actually be entertaining though, and could be good for all of us!
As far as the travel blogging scene being saturated, I don’t think it actually is, and it might be impossible to become like that.
Ten bloggers could take the same trip and have ten different opinions or see things differently, different unexpected setbacks or adventures could happen along the way too, this is one of the reasons I like to travel, and the reason I’m up for making repeat trips to places.
Also: Places change, Thailand is a lot different from when I first visited in ’05, thus leading to a different experience to write about.
There has been hundreds of travel blogs and travel journal websites almost since the WWW went public in ’91, before WordPress and blogger were launched, I think it’s impossible for this scene to become overcrowded.
I’ve been a the receiving end of digs for my opinions about travel blogger press trips and the almost universal postive coverage. This comes about for a variety of reasons; not wanting to jeopardise the next trip i.e. being known as a safe pair of hands, pressure from PRs/hosts to miss out any ‘bad’ bits and feeling guilty about being negative about something you received for free.
Amen. I quite enjoy a good discussion, and being human, am therefore not always right in my opinions! As a blogger you hope to influence and inspire, not provide THE gospel truth! So if someone disagrees with a point or makes a valid one of there own, I welcome it.
I’m tired of blog posts where every single person replys with “I love this, this is great, I love this, you are the greatest” especially when the said post is 1. Bland 2.Generic 3.Not in any way controversal or which provokes thought or discussion. Of course, if the most is amazing, then such reponses are valid 🙂
Beer and a rant anyone? 😉
Perhaps someone should set up a feedback website where you can submit your blog and ask for anonymous honest comments. I think most of us would welcome ‘constructive’ criticism and useful suggestions. I’m not sure what the incentive would be to comment anonymously, apart from the opportunity to have a good rant…but let’s face it, we all enjoy a good rant.
This could be a good idea – I’ve recently joined a Facebook forum and asked for some feedback on my site and got some great constructive comments.
Where they thought I could improve they gave reasons why they thought that and it has really helped me think about the next stage in my blogging career.
Yeh, I agree that everything seems to be “great” all the time. Nothing wrong with complimenting, but feedback both ways should be normal and not shed away from.
I thought the comments section on a blog post was for peoples real thoughts?! 😀
I agree for general overview of a blog feedback could be quite useful.
I agree with a beer!
I’m busy as a bee at the moment but I think I’m going to make a post next week along similar lines to this with real world examples.
I agree. I want any thoughts and feedback on my posts on my comments box. Even if I say something negative about a company or service. It would be as much of a disaster as Which? magazine saying that every product in the world ever tested is amazing. Freebies dont mean an automatic fabulous tag.
I’ve found constructive criticism of my blog super helpful, especially from people in the now and with skills to help me change ot
Let us know if you do write the piece, would be interested in reading it.
Thanks,
Yeh feedback is very useful. I just don’t think everyone is getting enough quality feedback.