blog

I use an RSS news reader application to browse stories from blogs and websites that I am interested in following. To stay in my news reader for more than a few weeks, a website must do two things:

1. Consistently offer 'meaty' and well-written posts.
2. Not 'spam' me with posts (i.e. no more than 2 posts a day, unless the content is really good or really interesting).

If you'll notice, none of my criteria include "Have many, many posts a day." The reason for this is simple: My time is valuable, and I don't want to waste it browsing through mushy, meaningless content—even if that time is only a second or two. A lot of people think they should post early and post often, sometimes re-blogging what others have already said, but this is not a good strategy for retaining site subscribers and readers, even if it helps your search-engine rankings a little. Signal / Noise ratio is probably the single determining factor in whether a site will succeed in gaining loyal followers or not.

Matthew 12:37: "By your words will you be acquitted, and by your words will you be condemned."

I really like this Bible quote, for it keeps my writing (to a certain extent) centered on what really matters in my life; God. Even when my posts don't have direct reference to God or to religious content, I must always be mindful of what I write, for in writing I express myself to the world. If I express myself in an improper or inadequate way, I am not being mindful of what Jesus says in the Bible passage above!

I have always set a goal to make everything I write interesting and insightful, but I have tried most of all to write for God, and to follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps by making sure all my words are good.

This blog is now underway, and I'll probably post a little more often to it than my old Xanga blog, because I like the setup of this blog much more (thanks to Thingamablog!). Pax Christi :-)