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Shorty
09-05-2012, 08:52 AM
(I guess I'm going with the Contestant's Choice topic here!)

As we all know, activity isn't what it used to be for this place, but goshdarnit we still have a lot of active members bouncing around these parts! There are those members who are all-stars at posting, but so few members utilize the Blog feature that is available to us. I'm definitely guilty of it - I've made one post so far. We gotta step it up!

What kinds of things would you like to see with blog usage? Is there anything you think that should be changed about them? Should we have a Featured Blogger or Featured Post, perhaps something that could be highlighted on the front site? How can we boost activity with our EoFF blogs? How does the blog content differ from posting on the actual forums? Does it need to differ?

In the instantaneous technology world, it's true that sites like LiveJournal, etc are slowly dying because the need to update update update every little thought we immediately have is solved by Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. How can we encourage members to devote their time to writing blog posts here? Hell, copy what you write from Facebook, from Blogspot, from wherever else you posted it! Maybe perhaps a topic doesn't warrant the attention of a thread, but it's still something you'd like a minor conversation on. The best part about blogs is that the posts don't need to conform to any sort of specific topics as needs to be done with the forums. So why aren't we doing this more?

I would definitely like to see more utilization. I'm going to make a goal to post atleast a few blog entries a week - one at the very least - and I think it would be great if more people did the same thing. I think that by becoming involved more with eachothers' lives, no matter how little, this place can slowly redevelop the intimate feel between members that I know I used to feel here.

Citizen Bleys
09-05-2012, 09:26 AM
I don't think it's such a bad thing...people who want to use them, do. Those who don't want to, don't. This is not a situation which needs to be remedied.

Is there any advantage to making people want to use their EoFF blogs more?

Sites like Facebook/G+/Twitter are by their nature amalgamated; you will interact with people that you know from a variety of different places. As such, they are not the appropriate place to post something that's of interest to a limited audience; as such, I mean to use my EoFF blog for things that are germane to EoFF and Facebook or G+ for more general-interest entries. Let's be honest now--if something is exclusively interesting to EoFF'ers, it can just as easily be made into a thread as a blog entry. EoFF was around for a hell of a long time before the blogs were added, and things were fine.

A Pint of Quinness
09-05-2012, 10:24 AM
I think uploading a particularly impressive blog to the frontsite is a great idea. It would draw attention to the feature whilst also showing gratitude for well written blogs.

Goldenboko
09-05-2012, 12:28 PM
The blog feature needs to be finished, most popular and best blog tools are completely empty at the moment, we should find a way to fix this!

Slothy
09-05-2012, 12:40 PM
I really like the blog feature myself since there are sometimes things I just want to talk about that I don't think justify a thread since it might only be me that actually cares about them, or which I want to talk about in a bit more serious manner than I feel is appropriate for general chat, but not EOEO serious. My diet related blog entries are a good example. I want them to be informative, but also a way to track my own progress which is open to everyone. But I also realize that there may be little interest in discussion about that from most members, even if they like what I'm doing and are following it (Peegee aside since he'll comment on anything nutrition related, even if only to TLDR).

I would like to see more comments going on in the blogs though. It seems like a lot of people get few or none, even when the blog might warrant some good discussion. Is there a way to set up a specific forum for blog posts so that when the post is created, it creates a thread in the associated forum and the comments posted in one place show up in both? I believe front site articles already function this way(?) so it might be in the realm of possibility? At the very least it's allow people (especially those who minimize the side bars) to see when there are new blog posts to look at.

Having featured blog posts are good ideas as well, but I think participation is just as key. If we can up the participation in comments and create more awareness we might be able to get more people making blogs. And more people making blogs means more that we could potentially select from to make featured posts.

Shorty
09-05-2012, 04:52 PM
I don't think it's such a bad thing...people who want to use them, do. Those who don't want to, don't. This is not a situation which needs to be remedied.

Is there any advantage to making people want to use their EoFF blogs more?

Sites like Facebook/G+/Twitter are by their nature amalgamated; you will interact with people that you know from a variety of different places. As such, they are not the appropriate place to post something that's of interest to a limited audience; as such, I mean to use my EoFF blog for things that are germane to EoFF and Facebook or G+ for more general-interest entries. Let's be honest now--if something is exclusively interesting to EoFF'ers, it can just as easily be made into a thread as a blog entry. EoFF was around for a hell of a long time before the blogs were added, and things were fine.

I'm not saying it's the end of the world because blogs aren't utilized. Certainly there's no measurable advantage of encouraging members to post in their blogs more, but it's all about activity on this site, right? Activity on the front site, activity in chat, activity on the forums - they're all useful tools for keeping this place alive and to keep people coming back here. Blogs are just another part of that, and they're here to be used.

I think more people just need to be reminded about using them through a boost of activity and that we want to see what they have to say that's not FF related or gaming business (not that those necessarily need to be excluded).

Citizen Bleys
09-05-2012, 06:48 PM
Is there really anything that would make a good blog post which wouldn't also work as a thread in General Chat?

I'm not actively trying to play devil's advocate, I legitimately don't really get having a blog feature on a forum. I actually want to know. I'm fully convincible here.

Slothy
09-05-2012, 07:02 PM
Well, I'd bet that my diet blogs may be an example. I'll stress may since I'm sure some people could be interested in threads on the subject since they've come up often enough before. But I like to also use it as a way to update people on my progress as well as share interesting things I learn or find out about. I'm not sure there's enough interest to warrant a thread since most of it would just be me double or triple posting updates, but the blog format suits it well. Then again, I may be wrong in my assumptions, or perhaps I'm simply using the blogs as a sort of public journal that no one but me cares about. It's kind of tough to say.

Shorty
09-05-2012, 07:10 PM
A public journal is the best way of putting it. There are a million things that can go into blogs. Personal development, issues with family, needing to vent about something that you don't necessarily want to be debated about or even "discussed" but would maybe just like some support or helpful comments on. Perhaps someone wants to update with some news, but it doesn't warrant the front site or even a thread, really. There are a plethora of things to write about.

For instance, I'm thinking about doing an FF foodie type of blog here soon. Where does that go - the front site? Doubtful, because it's not really news or anything really related to Final Fantasy itself other than in reference. The art threads? Also doubtful. Threads in GC? Who wants to see me posting pictures of food and recipes in a main forum thread once a week? Also doubtful.

They aren't necessary, of course. There's no reason to have them other than to be involved in eachothers' lives a little bit more and for the user to post miscellaneous content that doesn't "go" anywhere else.

Slothy
09-05-2012, 07:21 PM
For instance, I'm thinking about doing an FF foodie type of blog here soon. Where does that go - the front site? Doubtful, because it's not really news or anything really related to Final Fantasy itself other than in reference. The art threads? Also doubtful. Threads in GC? Who wants to see me posting pictures of food and recipes in a main forum thread once a week? Also doubtful.

This is what I was trying to get at but I think Shorty has done a much better job of it than I did. Sometimes things just don't quite fit somewhere. Sure, GC is a bit of a catch all forum for the stuff that doesn't go anywhere else, but I also tend to think of it as the least serious forum on the site, and sometimes a lot of discussion can get in the way of a topic. Shorty's food blog idea is probably a better example than mine. Blogs would let her post a recipe and pictures and whatever, people can reply and comment as much as they like, then for the next one she just does a new blog post. It's better than cluttering up a forum with multiple threads about the same thing, or cluttering a thread with 50+ pages of some pictures and recipes people might like to try, and a whole bunch of conversation which may or may not be relevant and is a pain to sift through if you want to find something in particular.

You can have just as much conversation, but the ability to sift through the blog for different topics is a bit simpler than searching a single or multiple threads.

Sephex
09-05-2012, 10:35 PM
An idea Shorty threw out there in her original post makes the most sense to me. Have a featured blog post or a featured blog if one user is really good at writing compelling stuff about instagram crackers or whatever the kids like these days.

A Pint of Quinness
09-05-2012, 10:51 PM
You people need to stop making good points that I agree with, because I'm starting to look like a poncy yes man. :mad2:

Goldenboko
09-05-2012, 11:02 PM
Back in one of the challenges they asked about improvement and I said I would like to see recent blog posts be featured somewhere on the frontsite. "Top Blogs" could be one way to do this, the problem I foresee is suddenly having your blog of family rants be on the eyeson frontsite.

I think ff related blogs should be able to go on the frontsite - and the top blogs button in the blogs feature should be enabled to show the blogs with the top amount of replies.

Raistlin
09-06-2012, 12:47 AM
I like the blog feature. I use it as a venue to talk about either a collection of links that won't make a good GC thread, or about technical details or a relatively small issue that not enough people would care about in EoEO (such as going over a Supreme Court opinion). Basically, it's a place to talk about what I would use my own non-EoFF blog for: shit that interests me.

I do wish more people would use and read the blogs, but I'm not sure how we'd go about encouraging that. I don't think publishing good posts on the front site would do anything to cause non-users to start blogging, but it's an idea I have supported regardless. I also like the "Best Blogger" Ciddie award, and have even suggested a "Best Blog Post" Ciddie, to coincide with the Best Thread/Post Ciddies.

I don't really think there is much more to do, to be honest. I'll still be blogging, even if others aren't.

milliegoesbeep
09-06-2012, 11:04 AM
I think uploading a particularly impressive blog to the frontsite is a great idea. It would draw attention to the feature whilst also showing gratitude for well written blogs.

This is a great idea and I'm all-for.

Also, could we possibly utilise the blogs for things like articles for the front site? If people have a topic they particularly would like to discuss, we could view them and select which blog entry we like the best. Whoever's 'wins' gets to be on the front site. Maybe it'll also encourage people to contribute a little more.
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