Blogger Blues

I think I might be bad at this whole blogging thing.

According Technorati, there are over 112.8 million blogs. 112.8 million!!!! I am just one blog in a sea of blogtastic blogging blogospheres. That is incredibly intimidating.

Not only is it intimidating, but also time consuming. Blog readers are a demanding bunch. They want what you have to write, and they want it now and they want it often. Blog readers thrive off instant gratification. This forces the blogger to become an ever-vigilant partaker of the webworld. That can be exhausting.

The responbibilites of a blogger are so much more than expected. I don't know how some people do it, but I need them to teach me.

Paul Bradshaw's "Five Stages of a Blogger's Life" accurately depict what can happen to the ill-prepared blogger.

Blogs can be an amazing resource -- both personally and professionally. I would like to say that it has become an asset to me. I'm sure it will at one point, but I know I was not cut out to be a blog writer. A blog writer cannot spend 2 days writing one entry. A blog writer cannot write 2 entries every 2 weeks. I'm working hard on these and many other things blog writers cannot do, but its a slow process.

I have to thank Dr. Weisgerber for her link to Bradshaw's page. It's nice to know I'm not the only one realizing blogging is not as easy as it looks.

So fellow blog writers and readers, this post is a disclaimer: bare with me. I'm taking baby steps, but hopefully one day I can take off running with this whole blog thing.

FedEx Fouls Up

You are now viewing pictures that belong to a man affectionately (only by some and you will discover why soon enough) referred to as the "FedEx Furniture Guy". His real name is Jose Avila. His story is old news according to today's internet standards, but his story is a prime example of corporate stupidity. Let's review FedEx's foul up. Here's a quick summary of how Jose Avila's penchant for FedEx turned into an internet fiasco: Jose Avila vs. FedEx

Avila. You can read the details for yourself, but the three main points are the following:

1. FedEx is stupid
2. Jose Avila is smart (and a cutie. Who doesn't love a man with pink hair?!)
   
3. FedEx is stupid
   

In other words, FedEx screamed a big ol' "You Got Served!" to dear Jose Avila, and pulled some legalese out of there bums to make sure the resourceful young lad could no longer share is architectural prowess with the world. The lawyers quickly wrote letters and threw around acronyms like DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) citing copyright infringement (totally bogus claims, in some people's honest opinions). 

This is another example of companies not understanding how to adapt to the ever changing consumer culture. Avila's penchant for cardboard led him essentially create a brilliant marketing campaign for FedEx. This is a commercial I would watch. Those come few and far between for marketers. I do not understand FedEx's sheer aversion to Avila's ingenuity. For what I can make out, the company thinks it is protecting itself, but Avila comes out on top. 

Avila 1, FedEx 0

Mind Your Manners, Blogger.

Miss Manners covered elbows on the table, proper fork choices, open-mouth chewing vs. closed-mouth chewing, belching, soup slurping, and a continued litany of table manners few people thought would ever matter. However, the etiquette guru is a missing a key niche in the 'manners market'. 

Blogging Etiquette has become a hot topic with the internet crowd (the polite ones, anyway). 

Although Miss Manners has yet to guide us through the blogging by-laws, Dr. Corinne Weisgerber has enlightened her classrooms as to what is or is not internet appropriate. The general internet population expects a few key things from a blogger, and these things include updating regularly, using grammar correctly, sharing thoughts respectfully, etc. All successful bloggers adhere to the regular updates mandate, as well as trying their best to use grammar correctly. The tips about sharing thoughts respectfully may be another story. In fact, some bloggers believe ignoring blogging etiquette completely will get them more hits to their site. I give you every celebrity gossip site in existence as an example. These blogs pride themselves on offending, bullying, and even harassing celebrities and people like you and me eat it up daily. 

So this leads me to ask you the following: What's so great about Blogging Etiquette?

Perez Hilton is infamous for his atrocious, albeit hilarious, blogging sensibilities. The Superficial writers pride themselves in their ability to clearly discredit anyone that has ever achieved any fame. Ever.  

Blogging is cathartic for many, therapeutic for some, and downright entertaining for most. Blogging etiquette works for some, but it may get in the way for some. I agree that some basic rules should be adhered to without question. Do not blog if you have no basic grasp of language, any language. Do not blog if you only update once a year. Do not blog if you can't deal with people criticizing and disagreeing with you. However, sometimes a blog that offends or stretches the truth can be wholly entertaining. Now, these characteristics do not work for a professional blog by any means. Social media used for means to promote a company, product, or client should remain as professionally composed as possible. Sometimes though, a downright mannerless blog is great reading!

You know what, it feels better to eat with your elbows on the table. Sometimes chewing with your mouth open just feels better and sometimes ignoring blogging etiquette is just what feels right. Miss Manners might not like it, but I sure do.

How Bob Lost His Job

This is Bob.

Bob has lost his job, before he even got it. Let's review how Bob lost his job.

First of all, Bob is a college graduate with great work experience. His previous employers have nothing but good things to say about his work ethic. Bob has the charisma and know-how to get a good job done. He is an employer's dream.

Once Bob leaves work, however, this all changes. Bob likes to party. Bob likes to party and blog about his partying, and Bob like to take pictures of his partying so he can put them on his MySpace and Facebook pages.

Bob's potential boss has discovered Google. This is where Bob's life as he knows it take a turn for the worst.

The boss has discovered Bob's penchant for beer bongs and loose ladies. Bob's boss also discovered that Bob likes to blog about a variety of topics (including his jobs), and he doesn't say very nice things.

This is how Bob has lost a job before he even got it.

I have shared this wonderfully tragic story with you because Bob isn't the first person to suffer the consequences of living a private life very publicly, and he certainly won't be the last. According to monster.com, 77 percent of employers are googling their employees. The popularity of social networking sites makes our lives outside of work that much more accessible. Some people are outraged that Myspace and Facebook have become factors in their value as an employee, but others argue that if you are willing to share your life on the internet, you should be willing to come to terms with employers using this to their advantage.

With internet prowess, comes great responsibility. You may not like your boss googling you, but it is an undeniable truth that it will happen to you in the future if it hasn't already. So what do we do? Do we sacrifice our ability to network online? Do we stop writing our blogs and trade them in for the trusty ol' diary? Do we throw caution to the wind, post our questionable

( but oh so fun and exciting) photos from last weekend's toga party, and hope our boss doesn't know how to access Facebook? The decision is a personal one, but if you are looking to stay fed, clothed, and housed it's probably best to make sure your privacy controls on these sites are airtight.

This is the age of the internet and it's time we realize that privacy is not what it used to be. Remember that it's not just you and your friends looking at those pictures or reading those blog posts... it's potentially the entire world.

Disclaimer: The picture used above is not actually Bob. Well, he could be Bob, but I don't know for sure if he is or not. Picture Credit: Getty Images