Megnut's Two Rules For Blogging

November 22, 2004 in Science & Technology

On a mailing list I'm on, someone pointed out the difficulty of starting a blog because he didn't know the audience he would be writing for. That got me thinking about getting started blogging, and I realized two "rules" I have for megnut.com. I thought I'd share them here as well:

1. I write about things I feel passionate about

This ensures that I'll take the time to get facts right, that (hopefully) the excitement will show through the writing and make the posts engaging to readers, and I always have topics to write about because I have lots of passions. It doesn't ensure lots of readers (a la Glenn Reynolds) but that's OK, because I'm not interested in mass audience. I'm interested in someone who'll email me with the story of their first marathon, or with a pointer to a great recipe they enjoyed. It ensures I connect with readers who share my passions, and those are people I want to meet.

2. I won't write something I wouldn't want my parents/grandparents to read

This doesn't mean I won't write about some annoying XHTML compliance issue, it just means I'll do it in a way that might make it comprehensible to them if they choose to read it. I've heard through the family grapevine though they, "just skip those posts." More importantly, it means I don't write about something I wouldn't tell them in person, and in a way I'd tell it in person. So I rarely swear. And I don't talk about intimate issues. And I try very hard not to whine or complain, because my Yankee family has very little tolerance for that.

I don't know if those two rules are useful for anyone else, but in looking back over 5+ years of blogging, those seem to be two constants I can identify.

What's this site?

You are reading the personal blog of Meg Hourihan. I co-founded the company that created Blogger (now owned by Google). You can read more about me on the about page.

This site is updated several times a week, and has been since May, 1999. General topics of interest include food, travel, technology, and women's rights. If you'd like to get in touch with me, please visit the contact page for details.

What else is there?

There are photos, some recipes, a list of articles I've written, and a reading list of books I've read and enjoyed. There is also a long list of my speaking engagements where I've presented on topics such as blogging, web development, and entrepreneurship.

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July 28, 2006, San Jose CA
At the BlogHer Conference 2006, I will be joining Caterina Fake in a keynote discussion with Marnie Webb to discuss, "What's Next?: What's next in tech? Is 'Web 2.0' hype? Or hip? And what's next once you grab your brass ring?"