Get Ready for Round Two of Writing Blog Madness!
April 15, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
Are you ready for the exciting second round of Writing Blog Madness? There are going to be some changes this round so be prepared. I don’t want this to turn into me rehashing the same issues round after round.
Round two is going to be much more community focused and more focused on what the blogger is doing now versus in the past. For some blogs, this will be great news. For others, it may not sound so good.
Scoring Categories
Community
I will start by reviewing the ten most recent entries. Rather than looking at the posts themselves, I will be looking at the comments. I will be judging them mainly by the quality of the comments (Substantive information counts for more than a “That’s Great” or a “Thanks”). I will be looking to see how the blog interacts with its community.
Value
This category is similar to the purpose category from the last round, but with a different focus. This time the judging will be based only on the last 10 posts and the question is a universal one, “How valuable are these posts to writers?”
Top Three Posts
For this part of the contest I will look at the three MOST commented posts (out of the most recent 10)and review them individually. Each of the top three posts will be scored separately. I will be looking at the quality of writing and at the added value that comes from the community.
The Buzzer Beater
In the case of a tie, a point will be given to the blog with the best (Most interesting/informative/educational) three comments over the last 10 posts.
Note: Comments made by the site’s blogger(s) do not count towards the numeric totals or Buzzer Beater categories, but do have a some influence on the community score.
Good luck everyone!
Wow! This makes me feel (a little!) better about my chances…
Thanks for picking up the community dimension. For me, the joy and value of blogging comes in the conversations and interactions that follow.
I’m looking forward to see where this one takes us…
Joanna
This is gonna be good. Community? Oh yeah. We’ve got that. Value?… uh, you’re only going to check the comments we put up PRE-happy hour, right?
I’m also giving you a tip of the hat, John – quite the job that you’ve got ahead of you, but damn, I’m looking forward to this!
Thats the beauty of Blogging Madness. There are so many ways to examine a blog. The last round was heavily focused on user experience. This round will be more focused on community. The next round will push yet another dimension.
Value and community define two of my favorite blogs – Confident Writing and Men With Pens. Joanna Young’s blog is like sitting in a comfy chair with your favorite professor, sipping coffee and learning how to write better. Men With Pens serves up post after post of great content and they do it all in a rocking atmosphere. Both blogs have managed to create communities that have carried over to Twitter and other blogs – now that is truly a gift!
James,
I figured you would like this round. Community building is one of your great strengths.
Karen,
I agree that the two blogs are great in those categories. No one should rest easy though. The competition won’t be light either.
oh boy…does role play count? Story lines? after-hour parties?
remember, I’ll bring breakfast if it lasts all night long.
As far as content, I’m sure we can manage to sound intelligent until…six-thirty..or so…maybe…
John, if I can speak for both communities, we’re up for the challenge! Let the games begin! Woot, woot!
Wendi,
I hope you aren’t referring to cheating. I would like to believe the contestants are above such things. I can’t do too much to prevent it except to guarantee that any blog caught forging comments will be eliminated from the competition.
As for breakfast, I think I’ll stick to the cafeteria at work, but I appreciate the offer.
@ John – No, Wendi was referring to the way our community tends to get off track and discuss many, many things under the sun, from cats to roleplaying to customer service and back.
I promised no cheating and I won’t. Sheesh. The nerve…
Sorry James, I know you promised, but you didn’t pinkie swear.
Ah, the loophole is discovered…
John, I’m ready to take m’ lumps in the next round ::gulp:: …
No, I wouldn’t even think of cheating.
I will be sure to follow all the rules.
Actually, both Joanna and Pen Men are two of my favorite places to be, should be interesting.
John, I like how you’re doing this. I didn’t think you’d rehash the same stuff.
Uh oh… I should start paying $1 per comment if I am going to make it through this one.
But my last three tennis matches all went to three sets (best 2 of 3) and we lost the first set in all three. So it ain’t over til it’s over. I won’t sing until I see what I wanna see!