Personal Blogging Content: Just What Is Personal Content on Writing Sites?

There are a few sites that don't allow personal blogging content. It's something that I am completely in favor of, but then I realized that there are debates and confusion over the term personal content on writing sites.

Just what is it when sites ask for nothing personal?

For me, personal content is something that people can't take anything from. Some people say that it is diary entries, which I guess that is what it could be called--but it's still personal. It's sharing about what plans someone has for the day or a rant about how their day went. There's nothing useful for a reader to take from the post and it means it just doesn't get shared.

But isn't this personal?

Of course, some would view this as personal blogging content. It's all written in the first person and I'm sharing my opinion and thoughts.

There is a difference between this and the personal content a lot of writing sites are avoiding. Well, at least I hope there is. The point of this post is to educate and help other writers. I hope you can take something away from this post to make your writing better and stronger. My aim is to help you make sure someone can find your post useful and engaging, and not just learn about your life. People want to figure out how your problem relates to theirs and what they can do about it: something that you did that helps.

Let's take a look at a few examples, shall we?

We all know what Bubblews was like. So many people wrote quick 100 word posts about what their day was like, what they were eating, and who they were seeing. Quite frankly, they wrote about things that had no meaning at all. Honestly, I fell into that trap. But then Bubblews was set up a little differently. It was more of a social network--and we know what it's like posting on Facebook, right!

The problem is these posts wouldn't be shared. And if they were, who would want to read them unless they were on the site and wanted to know more about you? Chances are absolutely nobody. The site couldn't get the outside audience that it needed to sustain itself, so it shut down. There were other problems, but a lot of the earlier issues were not getting the outside views.

So, how can we change the personal blogging content to make it personal but helpful, so it's suitable for these sites?

Do something like this. Share what people can take from the personal opinions and views. For example, reviews are a great way to share what you thought about a movie, TV show, product, or service to help others make a decision. Don't rant about it but tell a story within your review.

If you want to share about how bad your day was because your car broke down, take a step back and ask yourself how you can make this more profitable for you and the site. Share the lesson you learned, such as getting it serviced earlier or how to get less stressed when things go wrong. Your readers want to know how you solved a problem, not just that you had a problem! These are lifestyle articles that people can take something away from.

So, it's time to take a step away from being too personal. We don't need to know details. What we need to know when reading is what you did and what we can learn from that. These can turn into short "how to" articles or "guides" without being boring third-person pieces. You get personal content on writing sites without breaking the rules.

But what is you want to write personal content?

Well, it's time to change where you write. There's no point in complaining that a site isn't going to allow your content. That won't change the site at all. Instead, start your own blog--and you can do that for free! Get your readers to follow you and start sharing all the personal information and rants that you want on a daily basis.

Enjoy your writing. Share what you want but don't expect a site to change for you. Personal content on writing sites does have it's limits. Think about how you can make your content more interesting, engaging, and relevant for the people reading--not just on the actual site but from the search engines and social media.

Comments