Not Kottke

After reading over Rebecca Blood’s interview with blogger Jason Kottke, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. I was not overly impressed with the site to say the least. Kottke’s blog, kottke.org, seems to me to be a rather plain and boring blog with links. Looking at many other blogs of today’s time, this seems to be a common theme. This is why I am unable to understand why Kottke’s is so successful. It was rated number 53 on Technorati (that was back in 2006. I checked when writing this blog and it was down to number118). After going to his site I found a plain format and small posts. Nothing out of the ordinary to make me particularly want to read it over other sites I have found with some of the same links and better writing.

Kottke mentions in the interview that he does not like writing. Why on earth would you become a blogger then? He was previously a graphic designer so I wonder why he got into blogging. I guess finding interesting links could be an entertaining hobby, but I could not see making a career out of it. Especially since he says he does not even think of writing more than four paragraphs anymore. I guess it is all in opinion on what someone thinks of a blog. I feel like there should be more written then just a few lines on a subject. Kottke is more content with just posting a couple phrases and a link or video. He does occasionally post topics to spur discussion. In the interview he speaks a lot about tweaking the site and its technical aspects. I wonder why he did not go into web design instead of blogging.

I did find it interesting to learn that he met his wife through blogging. Also, his comparison between his wife and his style was intriguing. He saw himself as being more popular involving his actual blog where as his wife, Meg Hourihan, has more public speaking and whatnot appeal.

The positive aspects I found of his blog were the wide range of topics, constant updating, and easy understanding of the layout of the site. I am not a fan of the single topic blogs. Whether they are gossip pages, political pages, or any other one track site; I am more interested to find a large variety of topics. Kottke does this in his blog. Also he updates the site multiple times a day so visitors can find new links throughout the day. I particularly like this because some of my favorite sites take days before new material is up. Lastly, I find his layout to be easy to maneuver through. Then again, it is somewhat difficult to make a blog difficult to navigate.

Well that just about wraps up my feelings about Kottke. I hate to be negative in any way, but I felt the site was in need of a critique! Until next topic…toodles.