Naked Conversations
Naked Conversations is a book written by bloggers about blogging.
Therein lies the both the best and worst aspects of the book. It's
about blogging by bloggers. I recommend the book to anybody who has a
blog or interested in the subject. There are some great insights as to
how Microsoft and Sun changed their image by allowing employees to
express a more personal side of the company. The blogging phenomenon is just getting started and one should be aware of it.
There is also great advice, some do's and don'ts about blogging.
How to use Technorati, how to increase your "Google juice" etc. These
are also very useful.
Finally, the book also captures the essence of a good blog: "passion and authority". Blogging takes time, so you have to be passionate about what you are writing and you have to have some authority on what you are writing so that you don't get lost among the tens of millions of blogs. The book claims, one blog is created every second and one is shut down every two seconds.
What was lacking in the book? Again, like I said, it is a book written by bloggers. So the whole thing doesn't seem like a book but more like a blog entry. When you open a hardcover book you do expect to see some writing standards that are far above a blog post. This is where the authors fail.
Chapter 9 is a about blogs that fail, but it is a chapter that fails. There is some real Pulitzer material in that chapter. There is a section called "Who Should Not Blog", the answer, you guessed it, is Saddam Hussein. The authors insightfully claim that Saddam shouldn't blog. Wow, that's true insight. It gets better. The same section also says that "Cheesy companies with cheesy products... should not blog" You'd better write that down before you forget. They also continue saying that "the dull should not blog". "The Dull" here almost sounds like a racial slur.
Anyway, if you forego eloquence, and just focus on the practical aspects of blogging you may enjoy this book. If you are looking for some literary insights, don't be fooled by the hardcover, this is more blog than book.
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