Angelo from Brewpublic is the host for the April session (#62) and here is the topic….
“The title question really gets to the heart of the matter: “What Drives Beer Bloggers?” It is apparent that blogging in general serves the authors in a variety of means. First and foremost, it is important to look at what a blog really is. A portmanteau, or a blending of two words, “Web” and “log”, blogging is defined as “a Web site containing the writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.” Sounds a tad narcissistic to some. In fact, the popular, often humorous collection of modern day colloquialisms and turns-of-phrase that offer a somewhat democratic glance into our culture known as UrbanDictionary.com has an interesting series of takes on the matter. Submitted definitions on the site are rated by readers and ranked according to popularity. Here, the most popular definition of “blog” is: “A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as “homework sucks” and “I slept until noon today.” You can see what we mean.”
….AND…..
“But why do people decide to start a blog (Okay, so not all “blogs” are personal. Many breweries have recognized the value of social media in modern society)? One thing seems true of most blogs: they are easy to start. All you need is a a computer and a rudimentary understanding of the Internet to initiate your meanderings. The difficulty resides in keeping up with content and reaching an audience. What draws folks to your site? And, what makes you think people want to read what you write?”
Willfully ignorant. That is what I am when it comes to my readership. I know that there are some but that is as far as I will peer into the void. And that should be in no way construed as anti-reader or above it all. Far from it.
But I started this blog for me. Partially so that I would not bore my non-alcohol drinking wife to tears with news of this collaboration beer or what she thought of this brewer starting a new place. The other partially was that I was unemployed. I had time on my fingertips to type away or simply post a photo of a beer or L.A. craft beer spot that I frequent.
But the big partially in all this was that I wanted to talk about what I love about craft beer. Me. Selfish, I know. I wanted control. And even though this blog has evolved in quality (hopefully), in look and in other areas (again, hopefully for the better), the constant is me writing about what has caught my eye. Not the eye of a search engine that will reach a huge audience.
I do not have it in me to write a blog post simply to attract readership. I am not adding words that are SEO’d. And I am not going to write something inflammatory just to start a word riot. That is not my joy or my strength. And if there is a life lesson that I have slowly learned is that there are already enough to-do’s on my list that are not my joy or strength and why add another one to the pile. I would like to compare my blog to a beer that wasn’t made for a target market but was made with love and because the brewer liked that beer.
I simply want to express the large role that craft beer plays in my life. Because that is so much more invigorating than the random flotsam and jetsam of a normal day. So to answer the question. Content for me is easy. Sometimes it is a photo and a “This beer looks great”. Some days, I am promoting some beer event in Los Angeles. And other times I talk about the label artwork. The process of hitting the enter button is the final burst of fun that starts with a kernel of an idea for a post. Anything after that is just gravy. Maybe a gravy with a nice porter in it.
Which could be a post for next week.