Despite your latest post, I’m not entirely sure that you and I are in disagreement. I think that bloggers who strictly adhere to the strategies prescribed by the experts (writing explicitly for Digg or Stumble) will end up with posts that come across as contrived, and that will ultimately turn readers off and away.

Still, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with learning these strategies and applying them where appropriate. For instance, if you’re trying to teach your readers something, there’s nothing wrong with using a “How To…” title. To me, there’s a difference between operating from strategy, and working with it. I don’t sit around thinking up list posts, but if I come up with a post idea that would lend itself well to a list, then I will certainly pursue it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s a happy medium. We blog to please our readers. Our readers like catchy headlines, lists, and tutorials. They like whatever it is that makes a post Digg-able. If we know what readers like, why wouldn’t we try to bring some of that to our blogs, at least when doing so is natural?

There’s an old saying regarding writing and grammar: Learn the rules and then break them. I think that applies here as well. It’s good to know what works, what attracts readers, but that information should indeed be used judiciously.

I see where you are coming from, but I really think blogging is changing and ought to change. This is essentially what the eBook is going to be about. I will say that in order to build readership we have lost something significant. I believe there is just a little bit too much business in blogging.

In my mind it really comes down to who you believe your audience to be: consumers or people. Are we continuous marketers hocking our words or people communicating with other people. Because the idea of building a readership is really just building a consumer base for one to profit. There is room for business in blogging, but it has been given too much weight for too long. I certainly hope and am working for a day when I can blog full time with Epiblogger. But I also believe that we bloggers (generally) have lost quality in our writing and content because we have given in to superficial, weak and proven strategies in lieu of writing beneficial and quality material in order that we might communicate fully with other people.

This all might come off as a bit ideal and I recognize that, but I think there is room for a shift in thought on how we blog. Essentially, I think we can have our cake and eat it too.