First, a great quote:

“I have made this letter longer than usual,
because I lack the time to make it short”
– Blaise Pascal, 'Letters Provinciales' (1657)

“Give us more than a dream. Give us actionable and salient points. Theory doesn't mean anything unless it is backed up by measurements and facts. But most of all? Don't defend the obvious.”

You just took 300 words for another, to use your phrase “shot across the bow of obvious.”

Now, another quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Instead of pontificating about how bloggers need to change, why not actually write something substantial yourself? Why not show us what to do and lead us in a positive direction instead of simply talking about how we should all do things differently?

I think you'd do well to take a lesson from Godin and practice using fewer words when you're really not saying much.

“Now lets take it a step further and stop writing about patently obvious things.”

I agree. I'm excited to see what you post here as you usher in a new era of clever relevance.

First, a great quote:

“I have made this letter longer than usual,
because I lack the time to make it short”
– Blaise Pascal, 'Letters Provinciales' (1657)

“Give us more than a dream. Give us actionable and salient points. Theory doesn't mean anything unless it is backed up by measurements and facts. But most of all? Don't defend the obvious.”

You just took 300 words for another, to use your phrase “shot across the bow of obvious.”

Now, another quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Instead of pontificating about how bloggers need to change, why not actually write something substantial yourself? Why not show us what to do and lead us in a positive direction instead of simply talking about how we should all do things differently?

I think you'd do well to take a lesson from Godin and practice using fewer words when you're really not saying much.

“Now lets take it a step further and stop writing about patently obvious things.”

I agree. I'm excited to see what you post here as you usher in a new era of clever relevance.

First, a great quote:

“I have made this letter longer than usual,
because I lack the time to make it short”
– Blaise Pascal, 'Letters Provinciales' (1657)

“Give us more than a dream. Give us actionable and salient points. Theory doesn't mean anything unless it is backed up by measurements and facts. But most of all? Don't defend the obvious.”

You just took 300 words for another, to use your phrase “shot across the bow of obvious.”

Now, another quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Instead of pontificating about how bloggers need to change, why not actually write something substantial yourself? Why not show us what to do and lead us in a positive direction instead of simply talking about how we should all do things differently?

I think you'd do well to take a lesson from Godin and practice using fewer words when you're really not saying much.

“Now lets take it a step further and stop writing about patently obvious things.”

I agree. I'm excited to see what you post here as you usher in a new era of clever relevance.

You're right, don't state the obvious. You'll drive away readers rather than draw them in. Stating the obvious can also make your readers feel like you're talking down to them (which you may be doing, even if unintentionally). At the same time though, using big words and jargon and 400 paragraphs doesn't always get your point across either. Keep it simple. Besides, simplicity can often open the floodgates for dialogue and isn't that what you're trying to create anyway?

Tessa Carroll
VBP OutSourcing
http://www.blogs.vbpoutsourcing.com

How's that for blanket statements?

Short/long philosophical/realistic doesn't quite matter as much as the delivery. If it's coherent and informative to someone, it's a W, if not, it'll get ignored and eventually that writer will figure out to tweak the content.

Who can disagree with you, Stuart? Here's an obvious statement: social media is a good thing. Sure, and so is civilization. I like it that no competing tribe members invaded my territory this morning and beat my breakfast out of me.

But at the same time there's something unnatural at work in both civilization and social media. They're great in concept, but there's this intrinsic impulse to make them spread like cancer.

In the case of social media – specifically blogging, although this also applies to Twitter and Facebook followers – there's a tendency to believe that MORE equals VALID. More followers, more content, more frequently posted content… whatever. The unconscious assumption is that all it takes to be a thought leader is to put more skin in the game. But by this logic, the lead steer in a stampede qualifies as a thought leader, or the first lemming off the cliff.

This impulse to post something – anything – as frequently as possible goes against everything I know about writing – particularly writing about ideas as opposed to, say, news. Ideas take time to gestate, particularly new ideas that we haven't heard a million times. Writing can actually accelerate the gestation process, but very few bloggers dare to think out loud. Most are in a hurry to bring us the WISDOM. For every 100 blogs about self-promotion (or self-absorption) maybe one will actually aim for engagement.

My favorite blogs (and blog posts), however, are the ones that show some reflection. They' may be a reaction to ideas posted elsewhere, but they're not simply contradictory. Rather than simply agree or disagree, they advance the conversation, apply a personal perspective or raise new lines of inquiry. Those are the blogs (and blog posts) worth waiting for.

Sometimes quiet reflection is all one needs to change their entire way of thinking…