Comments on: Good LEGO blog, bad LEGO blog [Editorial]

By: 10 (other) LEGO blogs you really should be reading [Editorial] | The Brothers Brick | LEGO Blog

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:56:04 +0000

[...] Spacers Association Blog: This blog excels by breaking many of my silly “rules.” Their irreverence makes reading YSAB a genuine [...]

By: casper mathiesen

casper mathiesen — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:36:35 +0000

Thanks for a great article. For me as a new blogger in general I find this very useful.
I don’t se myself violating anything yet but it sums up the important guidelines and makes it easier to keep focus.
My focus in the near future will be making my blog more interesting in the text and choice of subjects.
I have already chosen to do a blog only about my own stuff - this I will stick to.
About Dan’s comment : I totally see your point of view and I have also thought about the children aspects for some time. I also believe that we, grownups, should do more to direct focus to the kids, who haven’t yet found the joy in LEGO instead of padding each others back all the time, applauding nice stuff we have build.
a last word - BB is my “more than once daily” site - thak you so much for the effort you put in to this.

By: Hery

Hery — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:45:06 +0000

Hi, I’m just starting my blog on Lego. Just a few posts now. What you write here really inspiring. I will be using it as a guideline.
Thanks.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:00:48 +0000

I don’t have a Lego blog, though I have posted a few awesome shots of other’s creations, and where possible I definitely tried giving credit to both the creators and the site I found the info on. I agree 100% with your points about giving credit where credit’s due.

Also, regardless of this post being specific to Lego sites or any topic in the world, this was an insanely well-written and quite thorough post about overall Blog Etiquette. Well done. Great job and great site you have here overall.

By: Horace

Horace — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:16:12 +0000

Thank you very much Bruce!

By: Bruce N H

Bruce N H — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:43:39 +0000

Really sorry for the double post, but scroll down on the right-hand side of my blog for that listing of communities.

By: Bruce N H

Bruce N H — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:41:54 +0000

Horace,

If you check out one of my blogs, I’ve got a fairly comprehensive listing of community sites, broken out by general, theme-based and nationality based. Many of the theme-based sites also have general LEGO sections. Most of the nationality-based sites are in languages other than English, but some of them do have English language sections. Others may disagree, depending on their personal preference in themes, but I’d suggest you check out Classic-Castle, Classic-Space, FBTB, Lugnet and Eurobricks as places to start. These all have a lot of activity and good interaction–probably EB and FBTB skew a little younger, CC more balanced, and CS and Lugnet run a little older in readership.

By: Horace

Horace — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:21:27 +0000

Thanks for a great article Andrew. I can see you’ve put a lot of thoughts into this. I particular agree with the “via” concept and referencing the builder, but I can also see some of the technical issues that might come up as mentioned in a couple of comments. However, that’s where the readers can help out by pointing out any additional information missed by the original blogger.

One thing I really want to learn more about the Lego community is the forums. Seems like there are many different forums out there but I’m having a hard time deciding which one to join (as I don’t want to join a whole bunch and spread out my time/commitment). I wonder if BB can dedicate one article to highlight the difference and “character” of some of the most successful lego forums out there.

By: Linus Bohman

Linus Bohman — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:03:16 +0000

Excellent write-up. Here’s a few good starting points for those that are interested in learning more about blogging, writing, content creation and so forth:

Content creation and related thoughts:
Dosh-Dosh
Seth Godin
Skelliewag

Writing:
Copyblogger
Write to done

Blogging in general:
Problogger

A good read for most people, with a lot of information applicable to LEGO blogging. Remember to read the sites with a critical eye (as you always should anyway).

By: Bruce N H

Bruce N H — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:59:24 +0000

Hey Duney,

Good article. It’s pretty obvious, I suppose, how I feel about the specialized blog vs general blog issue, since I’ve had two very specific blogs for a long time now. As much as I love BB, and it’s always one of my first stops, I do miss the more specific Dunechaser’s Blocklog and even more so Pan-Pacific Bricks. It gets a little redundant when the same things show up on multiple different blogs. I definitely agree with your encouragement for people to pick a niche and own that area. There are tons of spaces out there to fill. Brick Town Talk is a great example of someone coming up with a new area and really covering it well. There are also a lot of themes that had blogs, but they’ve gone dark (see my inactive blog list), where someone could make a real impact.

On the “via” issue, I always go back and forth. When I truly first see something on another blog, I always try to link it. More often, though, I’m just behind. I look at Brickshelf, Flickr and other community sites every day and note MOCs to blog, but it takes me a while to get around to it. Many times by the time I do so, it’s already been featured on BB and Klocki, and sometimes elsewhere. In those cases I usually don’t post a “via” link.

Dan raises some good points. I try to keep everything directly on my blog kid friendly - my personal rule is “will I get in trouble with my sisters if my nephews and nieces read this?” However, I do link all over the place, including areas that are less kid friendly. So it’s a little mixed. I would encourage you, Dan, to check out other community sites if you’re having problems with Lugnet. Classic-Castle is my main home and we would welcome you to join us there.