To me, a good blog needs to have entertaining yet worthwhile content. It should be easy to read while still containing substance that has a clear point and that is well made. The intent of the post can be uplifting, informative, thought-provoking, or meant to just spark laughter; however, whatever the tone and theme may be there are three major aspects that I think are the most important in a good blog. These are legitimacy, aesthetics, and communication.
Legitimacy
To be able to trust the content I’m reading, information has to be cited correctly or at least linked to the source from which any factual information was taken. Even if it is blog purely based on experience, having information that help contextualize the author’s position help to legitimize what I’m reading.
Aesthetics
No matter how interesting the content of a page may be, the visual aspect of the text has to be reader friendly. This means that there should be physical breaks in-between text rather than huge blocks of words to read at a time. As stated in Brian Carroll’s Writing for Digital Media, the writing in blogs should not only be written in a conversation tone, but it should provide visual relief for the reader. This combination of “easy” text and graphic images makes the entire blog experience enjoyable and doable.
Enables Communication
One of the most important aspects of a good blog is its dynamic function between the author and the readers. To again quote from Carroll: “Blogging is [] an expression of community, allowing individuals to communicate and congregate.” A good blog should have active content that can spark dialogue and conversations amongst the audience and the writer. Pete Rorabaugh writes in his article, Organic Writing and Digital Media: Seeds and Organs, about how writing is like a seed that grows in unexpected ways. I think that this is an important component of successful blogging: the writer’s opinions and insights should engage readers to the extent that the ideas posted are not static, but inspire new ideas, opinions, and questions that can be shared and discussed with literally anyone else in the cyber community.
Here is an example of a blog that I would consider excellent called Lost With Purpose. It’s wholesome content is paired with vivid photographs, and the comment section is usually active and engaging.
