NEW BLOG QUESTION ON TWITTER, SO I ANSWERED

During a cruise through the twitterverse, one interesting question appeared, the question of starting a new blog.

The query seemed sincere, so I responded with this: use WordPress, genesis framework, and a mobile-ready Studiopress theme, along with yoast seo. Now you’re ready to launch.

It turned into a useful conversation with a writer in what can be an online snipefest.

I liked the idea of anyone asking if they should even try running a new blog when the current opinion is it’s too late to even show up for the blog game. About fifteen years too late. Not good news, but is it true news?

My first thought was, Who reads blogs? Followed by, If it’s important enough, isn’t every topic already covered by real writers on real websites?

The kicker was, If you start a blog, be prepared to be embarrassed. If you’re not embarrassing to anyone who knows you, then you’re doing it wrong.

How do I know a new blog is embarrassing

The short answer is, “My kids told me.” They said boomerpdx was embarrassing. One of them was more certain than the other, with the less certain one offering suggestions for less embarrassment.

It was a variation on the “good cop / bad cop” dynamic. “No one cares about anything that starts with boomer.” “Boomer is a niche, pdx is a niche, so you’ve got a niche-niche.” They’re not wrong. At least they didn’t rag my beard and glasses and safari hat as a desperate attempt to appear valid, or current, or something besides homeless.

Instead of being a butt-hurt boomer unable to take criticism from two sharp millennial men, I have a plan. It didn’t start last night, but the boys gave their old man extra ammo for a new project.

Instead of all the bitching and complaining about generational divides, hostility, misunderstandings, the sort of painful talk posted nearly everywhere worth looking at, why not do something more.

Does the reading world need more discussion between young and old, or the ‘not that young’ and ‘not that old?’ Not the way it’s been portrayed in public with one side accusing the other, with one side carrying the final word with, “Ok, boomer,”

Why not something better than this?

A NEW PROJECT ON BOOMERPDX

I’ve got google analytics hooked up to boomerpdx. I’ve written, or blogged, about the numbers.

Of all the reports and data, the one that matters most here is where readers come from, and time spent on site. For instance, South Africa visited yesterday for five minutes, while America visited for two minutes.

Drilling down, Oregon came in for seven minutes; closer to home, Seattle stuck around to read three pages, Portland read two, and Tigard won the day with twenty nine sessions reading nine pages, at an average of twelve minutes per session.

The interesting thing about boomerpdx analytics is the reach: Twenty-three from California, twelve from New York. How did they find their way here? 53% are mobile, 43% and change are desktop, the rest tablet. Most find my work by organic search. Google “portland baby boomer blogger” and I show up. How embarrassing, right?

This is all to say that there’s an audience for thoughtful conversations between generations, and this is one place it can happen, should happen. It could even include music breaks between set-ups, unless that’s too embarrassing.

What could go wrong?

PS: Yes, KM, start a new blog.