Pitiful

Hold on to your keyboards Nation, Blogsbe’s about to get meta. You see as both a senior facing into the abyss of my impending graduation and a blogger for a well-respected newspaper I was intrigued by the launch of the New York Times’ newest blog, The Graduates.

The blog features eight columnists representing Dartmouth, Dillard, GW, Cornell, University of Minnesota, University of Oregon, San Diego State and Texas A & M. I have to admit I’m shocked by The Gray Lady’s blatant snub of the DP. In response I have to paraphrase the greatest movie ever made (and don’t let the fat cats at the American Film Institute tell you any different) and say this: That’s not a blog, this is a blog.

The truth is, New York Times, The Graduates just makes you look desperate. It’s obvious you’re trying so hard to keep up with the times, but you just don’t get it. A blog is supposed to give readers something they can’t get from traditional print. It needs to be short, snappy and to the point (with a touch of snark thrown in). All of the most successful blogs–Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, TMZ, to name a few–have mastered this, and that’s in part why you’re intimidated by them. Meanwhile you’ve got your graduates blogging at 700-plus words and on an irregular pace (after 1 post apiece Sunday and Monday no new posts). Just ask Julie Siegel, you gotta keep bloggin’ if you want us coming back for more.

So take a page from The Spin, Times. You might have already missed your chance to co-opt the Blogsbe Nation, but that doesn’t mean I won’t throw you a few tips anyway.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 12:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.