So last night while I was sitting here thumbing through NetNewsWire on my iPad I came across a post Doc Searls had authored about branding. In his post Doc Searls pointed to this post by Yvonne on BlogHer.
In her post Yvonne talks about the changes blogging has undergone and the pressures we all feel to “brand” what we write. I agree. I haven’t been posting regularly here or over on Yosemite Blog. Why? I keep thinking I’m burnt out, but that isn’t it. I want to write. I have a lot to say. But I worry that what I have to say doesn’t go with the “brand” or the “feel” of the site?
I started Daily Thing to share stuff with my family and make new friends. To be part of a community of people who I enjoyed reading and to comment and socialize with those of similar interests. Somewhere down the line it became more and more about tech. Maybe too much so. I started running Google Ads and the brand building began.
Daily Thing isn’t about a brand though. It shouldn’t be. It can’t be. It’s a site about nothing. And everything. It’s me writing. It’s the online personification of my eccentricity. It’s me being ADD and commenting on one topic or another. It’s me pointing out other things people might find interesting. It’s me writing.
Look at some of the categories OMG Im a Parent, Stupid Stupid Stupid, That’s Life, A Wandering Mind, Weird Wired World, You Gotta Laugh.
This is not a tech blog. Yes, I love tech and sometimes I talk about it. But I have other stuff I want to write about too. Like my son or my beautiful little girl. I don’t think I’ve even posted about her here but my son is all over the blog.
I said posted. I’m not posting. I’m writing. It’s time for a change. To change the way I think and feel about my blogs.
My blogs aren’t about branded content. They’re about writing. About ME writing and sharing what I see and hear.
The brand is dead. FUCK the brand.
I return to writing. To write the things that interest me. To share my thoughts and feelings. I return just to do the thing I love, write.