Okay, so maybe I might open a can of worms by expressing my dismay when bloggers blog about shits. But of course there are really topics that authors blog about that are really no-no for me as a reader. Well, I know that line is going to be vastly different for other people. But here are my bullet points for not reading a certain blog.
Reason #1: Your blog is filled with cursing.
If your own lingo is all about cursing and cussing, it’s probably okay that your blogging reflect that. But it is very odd and disconcerting to a blog whose every posts is richly peppered with swear words. I am not campaigning against profanity and cursing but I would like to promote decency in writing, or at least in blogging. One does not need to resort to vulgarity and profanity to drive home a certain point. Profanity is used when the speaker doesn’t have the education or ability to use other words. Vocabulary is learned. Profanity is just ignorance at its highest degree.
Reason #2: Your blog is all about sex.
This one is dangerous folks. A blog is not supposed to be a semi-porn site. A blog should not be oozing with perverted themes. It’s damaging. Pornography inevitably goes together with sexual fantasies which rarely live up to anything you’ll experience in real life. It may be suitable for some people, but it’s a guaranteed slow death for any reader who craves for a clean and decent blog. I’m not saying you have to be squeaky clean. I’m just saying, a blog should be a blog, not a porn site.
Reason #3: Your blog is all about links.
This one isn’t really egregious, but posts like this are mostly ignored (at least by me.) There are couple of blogs that I can think of, right off the top of my head, which qualifies to what I call a links-a-lot post. Instead of writing a witty post of their own, they turn to other bloggers to fill the void. That would be okay except these are posts wherein there is little or no commentary by the author of the post–- it is merely a string of links, some with descriptions, some just hanging there. These posts allege to be “posts on articles you might find interesting.â€
I know that not every reader is going to feel the way I do about these topics. But surely, you also have your own reasons for not reading some blogs.
hiddennis 
November 6, 2008 at 12:50 am |
While in real life I never correct people when they don’t use correct grammar, or use words incorrectly (people who do that are really annoying), on blogs I can’t stand bad spelling or grammar. I think you heard me say once that a surprising number of Australians are bad spellers, well there was an article about it in a newspaper recently that said it’s getting to the point where Universities are having to teach first-year students basic English skills!
And while I have no problem with swearing, given that it’s just words that people have decided are offensive for no good reason, I agree that I don’t really like reading blogs full of swear words, it just cheapens the experience.
November 6, 2008 at 4:01 am |
These are all very fair points, although I mostly just base my reading criteria on what does or doesn’t interest me. I think in the name of creativity I can tolerate a lot of cursing, prejudice, sex or whatever as long as it can be relevant to their voice or life experiences. But definitely a blog that is all about ‘sex sells’ or racist and tasteless humour will turn me off reading, although I am known to swear from time to time. *Blush*
November 6, 2008 at 2:07 pm |
@This Devil’s Workday: I think that profanity is an inferior form of expressing one’s emotion and every language has a wide array vocabulary that would surely capture your thought and bad experience, so I think that profanity does not merit any justification.
November 6, 2008 at 2:09 pm |
@Luli: Humor and creativity are certainly turn-ons for me too to read a blog.
November 6, 2008 at 5:48 pm |
hmm… i don’t really know about my blog form…
i’m not kindda hardworking guy who play around all those god damn alphabets combination on the my laptop screen, 24hours a day, hmmm.. and my blog is quite boring i thought! hahahah
p/s: anyway.. what’s it mean by “Life is more about learning how to dance in the rain”??.. sound like a good idea!
November 6, 2008 at 6:17 pm |
Let me check your blog one of these days…
November 8, 2008 at 10:50 am |
Reason number 3 annoys me. But I’ve only come across a couple of posts that have done it so far. Swearing is okay as long as it’s not excessive. And it’s not all bad, it can be used sometimes just to heighten the importance of the point that the blogger is trying to get across. Sex can be used as topic, but not to cheapen it or anything by just using it to get hits. Everything has to be relevant and have a point.
November 9, 2008 at 2:04 pm |
@Domino: Abolutely! Swearing and sex have to discussed in moderation otherwise it turns your blog into something of a reservoir of off-color themes. No blogger would love that to happen of course, not unless one enjoys to wallow in cheapness.
November 11, 2008 at 8:59 am |
unless the blog’s purpose is to discuss sex. Then you’re in trouble! 😛
November 12, 2008 at 2:10 pm |
Discussion about sex and pornography are definitely two different things. However, some bloggers tend to have a mix-up of the two, not realizing that pornography can be both disgusting and offensive. And that’s where the trouble starts to set in.
November 13, 2008 at 8:46 pm |
Those three are reasons why I avoid certain blogs. I wouldnt mind profanity to a small degree if it was part of a story and one of the characters spoke like that but if something goes to “too much/far”, I am out of there for good.
I tend to excuse bad grammar(I am not really good at it) and spelling on occasion.. usually when I suspect that English is not the native language for that blogger. But it does turn me off when it is so with people who are native English speakers.
November 13, 2008 at 11:36 pm |
I am not mindful of grammar either as it is the content that really matters. But it will certainly be an added point if a blogger could express himself with a cohesive post.
November 20, 2008 at 4:37 pm |
it’s a privilege that i got your interest by dropping and leave some comments to my page…..
>>actually after i post my entry to the blogsite i’ll read it again once or twice and then i’m going to realize that i have done a lot of error to that post but i didn’t change it or correct it because i’m find my self fullfilled every time i compare the previous entry to current..
..i see my improvement in that way…..
>>anyweizzz…i already get employed to a call center company in makati,, thanks for ..??? how do you call that???(salamat sa bati):=D
November 20, 2008 at 4:46 pm |
Glad to hear that from you russle!
December 12, 2008 at 9:04 am |
nakakadismaya minsan mapadpad sa blogs na halos panay paid posts. sorry, alam kong maraming kumikita dun and i agree na karapatan nila yon to take opportunity to have an extra income, pero kasi… siguro depende na rin sa reason natin kung bakit tayo nagbo blog 🙂 peace!
December 12, 2008 at 11:56 pm |
Ok lang sa aking ang magbasa ng paid post as long as it is still well-written.
January 12, 2009 at 4:31 pm |
How about:
Why I read some blogs…
Its a lot harder to define what you are drawn towards that to expound on the things that turn you off.
I am drawn to the fact that you take time to comment back to your readers.
You moderate well.
Greetings
Exuvia
January 12, 2009 at 11:23 pm |
I could try that one too. Thanks for the suggestion!