I have a bit of a problem. It’s summed up in German with the phrase die Qual der Wahl, essentially the problem of choosing. This applies to this blog as well as to basically everything I spend my time doing.
I have too many ecclectic interests for the blog – EU politics, use of the internet for politics, why Belgium is dysfunctional, new vs. traditional media, the internal dynamics of political parties, the challenges of being a freelancer, some intellectual odds and ends, sport (essentially inline skating). How many of the people that might read what I write actually want to follow all of that stuff?
Professionally I am somewhere in between professional training about the EU, web design, and consultancy and facilitation about how to use the internet for politics.
Geographically I am somewhere in between Brussels, London and other cities across Europe.
So how do I organise all of that online? Should I just keep at it, mixing it all up, as I still get a decent readership? Or should I divide up my content, perhaps making a dedicated blog about tech and politics at my business techPolitics website (similar to Simon at Puffbox), put the intellectual stuff about the EU at Ideas on Europe and Social Europe, try to make an English version of BXL Blog for the Belgium stuff, and then just post anything that doesn’t fit here at jonworth.eu? Maybe Mark Pack’s model is the one to follow – his website is an agglomeration of all the things he cares about, and these areas are about as diverse as mine are.
Suggestions most welcome!
exactly – eclectic blogs are the best type to follow, not least because they introduce you to a person not just a mouthpiece.
Is it possible to make comments as well as blog content/tags searchable?
You’re something of a junction box, and it generally works.
Could you do something about a stronger category-based navigation as well as the date-based one? That cold help readers who want particular topics.
Matt
OK, the message is emerging loud and clear that people seem to prefer an accelectic mix of all kinds of things. So that’s how it’s going to continue!
I’ve also realised that now the EP elections are over I don’t know which EU matter to get stuck into. I’m sure I’ll find one soon enough though.
Whenever you write about things I am not interested in, I just skip them. But this can happen with EU-related posts as much as with any other thing you write about.
Sometimes a post about a Belgian cat is much more interesting than the question of who becomes the next Commission president… 😉
I just recently stumbled upon your blog and subscribed to it. As I found your blog while I was searching for informations, insights and ideas about the European Union I’d love to read more about those topics, but I am also quite curious what else there is to come…
I concur with Peter. It is the spirit and not the matter that counts 😉
The great thing about your blog is exactly this mix of exciting topics that I am myself very interested in as well – so I’d welcome if you kept covering all issues in the future as well 🙂
Jon, readers don’t follow you primarily because of a specific field you write about, but because you come up with inspiring, provoking, or irritating ideas about – whatever! I enjoy reading your contributions rather when they don’t cover the stuff I anyway deal with everyday. Plus, at least so far you haven’t been spamming us with five entries a day; hence don’t worry too much about the diversity of issues you cover.
The rest of your life – well, that’s another issue 🙂