I thought a lot about my last blog entry today: “Comments in a Porn Community.” Honestly, I was very uncomfortable posting something explicit to my blog. I didn’t want a client, a prospect, or even a family member to read it, or to misread it, and draw incorrect conclusions about me. I called Lorenz Sell, one of my closest friends who understands social media inside and out to discuss this.
“Do you want to work with the type of client who is offended by this?” he asked me.
Then he offered, “the good blogs, and the good bloggers, blog as if they were writing for themselves—a diary made public.”
I’m not sure I agree with this. Many of the “good” bloggers I read are narrowly committed to a topic and offer the same editorial standards you might expect from a daily newspaper. Occasionally, they will offer a brief personal aside. One of my favorite blogs is micropersuasion. Steve Rubel blogs as if he’s writing for a community, not just as if he’s an individual sharing private thoughts. From time to time, he uses his blog to share an anecdote, issue an apology, etc. but for the most part—it’s really the news on social media trends. Then again he works for a large PR agency which might constrain his subject matter.
The reason I posted my blog entry on adult content is I feel adult websites often are the most brilliant online marketers—and as such, they merit study. Their business is among the most competitive online, involves the greatest amount of fragmentation and is looked on with the most disdain by the public. The way in which these sites acquire and retainer users present insights that can be used with many online marketing initiatives, from selling flowers to lawyer services. And the sub-cultures that exist within these adults communities are just as meaningful and fascinating as those which exist on a Myspace and a Facebook. My previous blog entry shows that within an adult community, a subset exists the treats sex sensitively.
One of the things I respect about Lorenz is he’s not afraid of offending people.
I think I’ve played it too safe on my blog. I’ve never really written too critically about a product, service or website—and as a result, I think it’s fallen short of it’s potential. I think things are about to change. At least I hope so. And if this offends you, click here.
EE Cummings said it best: “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
