Interview with Kevin Anderson
Blogs Editor of The Guardian
What are the main ingredients of a good blog?
Passion, commitment and conversation.
The best blogs are about subjects that the blogger is passionate about. This shows through in their writing and also how they engage with their ‘audience’, others people who share their passion.
That passion will also make sure that the blogger has the commitment to stick with it. Blogging can be a demanding pastime or job, but if you love what you do or your subject, it doesn’t feel like that much work.
On the subject of conversation, the biggest mistake that media, marketing and public relations firms make is that they believe that blogging is just another publishing platform. They remain in broadcast mode and continue to push messages out at the public without listening. The best bloggers have been the ones who not only write posts but also take part in the conversation. Even if they are already publishers, they understand that in blogging they are often entering already existing conversations. Some join them from a position of being above the conversation, somehow superior to others in that conversation, and those who do usually find blogging an unpleasant experience. Others join the conversation as a participant, and they find blogging invigorating because they have a direct connection to as Jay Rosen says, “the people formerly known as the audience”.
