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Author Topic: Blogs..... what do we say?  (Read 9852 times)

Offline Norm

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    • Blog for wargaming in small places
Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #60 on: July 03, 2022, 06:47:25 AM »
After a brief spell of being disenchanted with blogging, due to the hours I put in, the high volume of visit, but the low number of readers who actually interacted / commented, I have bounced back somewhat.

A couple of days ago, I put up a post that was just shy of 5000 words, so a fair bit of work, but I accept not many people want to wade through a post of that length. My return to blogging has though, caused me to switch my comment section off.

It feels a bit unnatural to do that, as it undermines the principles of ‘community’ that blogging is meant to reflect, but for me, it does make the issue of general non-participation invisible, which helps this blogger.

As an aside, the recent post was big, even for me! and the hours taken has somewhat calmed my enthusiasm to do another in depth article …. for now. As mentioned above, time can be better spent gaming.

I don’t mind people not reading or liking blogs, but when a blog is read or followed, it just strikes me as a bit of internet courtesy to every now and then, just add a comment of appreciation to the blog - it does help oil the wheels.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2022, 06:49:57 AM by Norm »

Offline vexillia

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #61 on: July 12, 2022, 10:49:32 AM »
Spurred by this thread I analysed my blogging (see the attachment) activity over the years.  There are peaks and troughs by I've been reasonably consistent.  Please bear in mind that some posts didn't pass the test of time and have been weeded out.

Live view


Offline mellis1644

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #62 on: July 12, 2022, 02:02:46 PM »
Martin, I like your blog and think it has some useful as well as impressively painted stuff on it.

Personally I do my blog for myself. I started 10+ years ago I i and have been posting roughly weekly since then. It covers my reasonable skilled efforts of painting (compared with some at least - I'm a decent table top painter) with the occasional game report/review. I'm honored that I have a small but reasonable number of followers.

But I do it as much for myself as for others. It contains a great record of my work etc. I also do not comment too many other blogs - I don't follow a few but more check out things when surfing the web etc.

So for me my blog is much for me as for comments of others.
My painting blog is at: http://mellis1644.wordpress.com/

Offline Golgotha

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    • BMC Miniatures - All things wargame related.
Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #63 on: July 12, 2022, 07:00:40 PM »
I got to my hundredth post for this year - so very pleased with blogs, I would otherwise forget things...

https://frictionbmcminiatures.blogspot.com/2022/

Offline Robosmith

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #64 on: July 12, 2022, 07:15:46 PM »
As you can see here: https://wargamesgazette.com/ , my blog is still active alas not as frequently updated as it used to be.
I was looking at your blog earlier. Wanted to check out the frostgrave Barbarians. Small world..

I think you're right in saying how much FB has taken over from other web based mediums. The problem with FB is posts just disappear faster than yesterday's newspapers. So if you want a reasonable archive of everything you post, you've either got to have a website, or a blog. You can then use FB, Insta, Twitter, etc to share a blog link, and the traffic it should generate might make up for how soon the link post disappears off the page.
Social media has made it too easy to run a 'blog' with an immediate audience but it also makes everything disposable by design. Social medias design to make you scroll down an unlimited list of heavily curated things, never enough to actually fulfill your desires but enough to keep you chasing your tail. It's dystopian and something I personally try to avoid. Discord giving instant (ish) feedback is also slightly better than Facebook and especially instagram but I find I dislike those communities and people in charge so I never stick around. There's nothing like a good old fashioned blog where you can follow progress of a project over months. This forums pretty good for doing the same thing but it can also be full of filler comments (no offense to people posting supporting comments, I'm sure the owner appreciates it but as a project follower it's just stuff to scroll past). The youtube thing is also reducing the blog sphere quite a lot. People see money signs making youtube channels and end up buried because they never get recommended while the top channels do over and over again.. But blogs are timeless and there's something comfy about reading a 12 month project from start to finish in an afternoon.

I've found blogsofwar is great for finding blogs you might other wise miss but Brave search also gave us a great new tool. They recently added Goggles as a feature where you can decide what search results you want to see. They have news sources leanings and similar stuff like that but it has the holy grail for blog searching. No Pintrest results. And holy crap does that instantly improve search results. Search "Frostgrave barbarians" and hit image search and you discover lots of blogs painting them or sprues of them being built. Makes a world of difference and I highly recommend trying it if you want to find more "old chap chasing his passion" blogs rather than pinterest garbage.

Offline eilif

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #65 on: July 12, 2022, 08:22:10 PM »
Been giving this some thought and I think another value of blogs is as a tool to add context and explanation.   When you're in a forum conversation about a game, project, technique, event, etc, it adds allot of clarity to not just be able to make a comment but to be able link to the words and pictures that illustrate your point or experience.

Having a blog archive to quote and/or link alows you too remain succinct in your comment while simultaneously providing context and allowing readers the option to read further for edification or clarification.

Offline white knight

  • Galactic Brain
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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #66 on: August 11, 2022, 12:38:47 PM »
I've found blogsofwar is great for finding blogs you might other wise miss

Can you post a link to that?

Offline Ruire

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  • Posts: 22
Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #67 on: August 11, 2022, 01:03:33 PM »
Can you post a link to that?
I guess they must mean wargamesblogs - new to me!

Offline eilif

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #68 on: August 11, 2022, 03:44:47 PM »
I guess they must mean wargamesblogs - new to me!
That's alot of Blogs, almost too many. I added Chicago Skirmish Wargames anyway.

Another benefit of the long running blog.  I just had a PM exchange this week with a member here about a game some of our club used to play.  They found out posts worthy of a couple hours reading! That the blog posts can be useful years later to someone is certainly an argument in their favor.
I doubt I'd have the same exchange about social media posts from years past if that were my meliu.

Offline Robosmith

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #69 on: August 15, 2022, 06:25:25 PM »
That's alot of Blogs, almost too many. I added Chicago Skirmish Wargames anyway.

Another benefit of the long running blog.  I just had a PM exchange this week with a member here about a game some of our club used to play.  They found out posts worthy of a couple hours reading! That the blog posts can be useful years later to someone is certainly an argument in their favor.
I doubt I'd have the same exchange about social media posts from years past if that were my meliu.
As long as you can find them blogs are awesome for that. Or trying to find pictures of a sprue or size comparison. Things that get buried else where.

Finding your old blog can be fun as well, or make you wonder how you forgot like six months of gaming and people related to it you chatted with online.

Online mikedemana

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #70 on: August 16, 2022, 12:32:24 AM »
I had never seen that link before -- looks like an impressive list. I confess I am a bit bummed my Lead Legionaries hasn't made the list. I have been updating it fairly regularly since 2013. I link posts of mine here on Lead Adventure Forum, too. How does one get listed on this?

Mike Demana

Offline Robosmith

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  • Posts: 123
Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #71 on: August 16, 2022, 01:12:36 PM »
I had never seen that link before -- looks like an impressive list. I confess I am a bit bummed my Lead Legionaries hasn't made the list. I have been updating it fairly regularly since 2013. I link posts of mine here on Lead Adventure Forum, too. How does one get listed on this?

Mike Demana
There's a submission box at the bottom of the page.

Online mikedemana

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #72 on: August 16, 2022, 08:58:02 PM »
There's a submission box at the bottom of the page.

Thanks! I'll try that!!

Mike Demana

Offline Warren Abox

  • Scientist
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    • War In A Box - New Location!
Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #73 on: August 17, 2022, 06:46:49 AM »
I've to using blogs as online journals and Central information clearing houses for multi-player games. If you set the blog up correctly, with pages, you can have both a newsfeed and a location for reference materials such as rules, maps, army locations, and current orders of battle. The comment section makes for a useful method of communication among the participants as well. In short, I'm a big fan.

It won't get a whole lot of views, but can be is a very useful tool. It's sort of a low rent wiki for guys don't want to deal with the hassle of running an actual wiki. And if you're running it for a small pool of friends, the number of views doesn't really concern so much as the usefulness.

Obligatory plug and proof concept time - I've been running a group solo campaign using blogger. You can join the fun and follow along here:

https://thesneedvillewar.blogspot.com/

Offline Pijlie

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Re: Blogs..... what do we say?
« Reply #74 on: August 17, 2022, 01:30:12 PM »
Can you post a link to that?

Nah. Can't be any good. Mine isn't on it  lol

But seriously. I submitted mine as well.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2022, 01:33:43 PM by Pijlie »
I wish I were a glowworm
'cause glowworms 're never glum
How can you be grumpy
When the sun shines out yer bum?

http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/

 

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