Wednesday, November 03, 2004

What makes a good blog? Glenn Reynolds sez

Glenn Reynolds, A-list blogger, on what makes a good blog:
"...There are some things that - in my opinion - make good blogs good. And the most important of those things are (1) a personal voice; and (2) rapid response times. By this token, some blogs aren't really full-fledged blogs: my MSNBC "weblog," GlennReynolds.com, has a personal voice, but since MSNBC's antiquated publishing platform means that I have to email my entries in and then wait hours until they appear on the site, it doesn't offer the kind of rapid response - and on-the-fly editing and revision - that more typical weblogs, powered by things like Movable Type, Blogger, or Radio, offer. On my InstaPundit weblog, which is powered by Movable Type, I can post something, think better of it moments later, and change it, or add an update in response to a reader email that comes in sixty seconds after it's posted. I can't do that at GlennReynolds.com. So although MSNBC calls it a weblog, and it sort of is one, I think that's a real lack.
(snip_
..The key to good blogging is simple: have something interesting to say, and say it well. Kind of like, well, every other sort of writing - just faster, and with links. There's nothing new about that, but it's still a kind of magic, as good writing always is.