Politiskt.nu should be the center of political debate in the Swedish blogosphere. It is not. The site is all dolled up with fancy technical solutions, ready for political sparks to fly, but instead is proof that if you build it, they won’t come unless you do it right. Politiskt.nu is in dire need of a makeover. I’ll oblige:
1. Post! This group blog of six saw three weeks go by between its last two posts. Not surprisingly, the last comment is from Oct 7In fact, because posts published more than two weeks ago have their comments closed automatically, it was impossible to comment at all for a week on politiskt.nu, until tonight, when the first post in three weeks was published.. You have to show some enthusiasm before others will. It’s just like dating — you have to like yourself before others will like you.
2. Link generously! Every post on politiskt.nu is just a wall of text, even when it refers to other articles. Blogging is not the same as publishing newspaper articles in reverse chronological order. It takes a different mindset. Your post has to mesh with the web. You should use links instinctively as shorthand for explanations, attributions, sources, proofs, references, punchlines of jokes… They are obligatory.
3. Get personal. Is there a relationship between the bloggers on Politiskt.nu? Do they comment on each other’s posts? Do their posts acknowledge each other’s presence? Do they even read each other? I couldn’t tell. It’s as if there are six unconnected blogs here. We want a show — some butting of heads, parries, retreats, comebacks, good points, nice catches, notes of grace in victory… There has to be a logic behind having these bloggers under one roof.
4. Catch the blogging bug. Were the contributors rearing to blog when they were recruited, or did blogging have to be explained to them? Were they ardent readers of and commenters on other blogs before they themselves started? Do they have their finger on the pulse of what’s exciting Swedish bloggers right now? Do they get it? It has to be a grassroots effort — a group blog’s stable of talent should not have to be cajoled into posting.
5. Ditch registration. If you are going to have commenting, don’t turn it into a privilege. Stop forcing people to register — you’ll lose 90% of your commenters. Nobody cares enough about your blog to remember yet another password. Even Movable Type’s new system, which lets you register one identity valid for a slew of blogs, is not really catching on — and that’s because commenters are in a buyer’s market; there are plenty of blogs vying for their input, and if you put up barriers, these other blogs are but a click away. If you build dams, the critical mass will stay on the other side.
if you’re concerned about spam, there are some good technical solutions out there. Ever since I added an extra question to my blog commenting form which humans find easy to answer but machines not, I get around 2 manually submitted spam comments a month — down from around 100 automated ones a dayIt now works withMT 3.11‘s new templates too, thanks to Strang’s efforts.. It’s an easy solution to implement as well, one which any content management system worth its salt should manage. Finally, if you have a blog with comments, you have to resign yourself to regular weeding — you can’t legislate away abuse.
6. Focus on the essentials. Simpify your site so it becomes more amenable to the daily quick fix visit. Nobody uses the calendar to navigate blogs, so ditch itThe one thing a calendar does do spectacularly well is show a dearth of posts. And how useful is one of these on the first of the month?. Instead, give more space to your most recent comments. Don’t put your blogroll in a drop-down menu. Don’t put your bloggers’ names in a drop-down menu — these names are your main draw, and should be visible as soon as you visit the site, without having to mouse over pictures or click on menus. RSS is good, but just put up the link — it’s not your job to explain it. In fact, nothing in your horizontal menu bar is essential, on the grounds that it is better to do it than to talk about it. Give and accept trackbacks. And, pardon me, but I HATE not being able to see the URL of where I am in the browser’s address bar. That is so 1998.
Of all these, tips 5 and 6 are the easiest to do. Tip number 4 is the hardest, but if you get that right, numbers 3,2 and 1 will follow effortlessly.
Pardon the tone, it was for effect. Politiskt.nu is a good enough idea to attempt salvaging.
