Comments on: The Heart of Our Community

By: smashill

smashill — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:14:45 +0000

great post. taking time to develop some content and not going the easy route can be hard, as there are many obstacles to face. low traffic and keeping up the motivation being number one. i have been visually blinded this year and just couldn’t see list posts and bright pictures anymore. abuzzedo and it’s clones simply made me full.

there are many blogs out there that seriously made a difference and are copied cause the concept seems to work, not only the design blogs suffer from this. take zenhabits or other self improvement blogs, after the 10. article it all seems to be the same.

there are so many ways to create an outstanding community, take Chris Guillebeau and his world dominaton manifesto for example. unique approach and a distinct voice.

after all the hardest part of blogging is to develop your own voice and style, without taking fast lanes and short routes towards success to hide your flaws.

By: David Korona

David Korona — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:53:52 +0000

Hi adde0300, thank you for the complement. I hope you enjoyed the article as well.

By: adde0300

adde0300 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:13:04 +0000

a very beautiful site, never seen before

By: David Korona

David Korona — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:01:34 +0000

You’re definitely not alone Oxide and I know our community will get over this creative slack soon.
I remember the first time I saw css Zen Garden myself and how I realized how behind I had gotten with tabled layouts. It was just the inspiration I needed.
Thank you for your remarks.

By: Oxide

Oxide — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:40:12 +0000

It’s good not to feel alone. I’m disappointed since a few months with the web in general. Nothing new, just recycling and cloning, same posts “The 10 best blablabla…” and always the same first comment in the end “First!!!!!!”.

We are passionate people, we love deeply our job but with regularity we seem to lose our soul. When it’s not with the “All shinny reflection 2.0″, it’s with the listmania or other trend that we are following to the death.

I’m working with Internet since 12 years and i remember how i felt when i discovered Css ZenGarden and PSDTuts (in brown yes!): it was fresh and full of passion and that’s how the web should be.

However, i believe that our “community” is going to evolve for the better… or i hope so.

By: David Korona

David Korona — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:00:43 +0000

Hey Scrivs, thanks for the comment and kind words; you’re dropping by literally made my day. It just goes to show that when you put your heart into something that you really enjoy, all it takes is for one person’s gratitude to make you understand it was worth it. The feeling is certainly something that can’t be received via simple list.

There are still a few questions I’m hoping some will be brave enough to ask. Until then, I’ll be right here sharing what is in my heart.

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:20:48 +0000

A wonderful follow up David. You hit the nail on the head with your example of Collis. He is someone I have always admired since he arrived on the scene. He takes quality and raises it to another level and shows that although it does take a lot of time and effort to produce, it is well worth it in the end.

“It sounds counterintuitive but the article that got you the most traffic isn’t necessarily the one you want to keep cloning.”

This is where I feel many people fall into the trap. They see the short term success of an article and associate it with how to become what they want in the long term. If in the long term you want to build a reputation on being insightful and an expert in your field, then you should take the time to write articles that show that, no matter how long they take. This will help you in the long term career and money wise.

If you want the quick hits with the list entries, then by all means go for it, but you should also expect a quick fallout one day.