Why Smart Readers Like Dumb Blogs
On Social Media Today, Stanford Smith asks an interesting question: do smart people prefer dumb blogs? It seems like a rather ridiculous thing to ask, until you realize he might be right and for reasons you hadn’t though of.
He tells a personal story, so the evidence Smith offers us does not come via charts and graphs. Still, his anecdote resonates. For example, he talks about having a friend critique an article he recently wrote. The friend pointed out a common problem: it’s too smart. Of course, whether an article is “smart” or not ultimately comes down to semantics. What we often consider to be the smartest stuff on the Internet is really an endless back-and-forth of point and counterpoint. Bloggers writing smartly dig themselves into a downward spiral by incessantly picking apart an argument in pursuit of, as Smith says, “rhetorical victory.” The problem? Readers care much less about the two sides of the debate than those engaged in it. He writes, speaking directly to these “smart bloggers”:
Every point has a counterpoint; every perspective has another point of view. The High IQers among you cannot resist the debate and the allure of a rhetorical victory. The problem is… I really don’t care. And frankly, you are irritating me.
Smith goes on to offer some tips, ways to engage their readers. Instead of falling into sarcastic absurdity, he says, they should offer readers simple and practical answers to the questions they ask. In the end, Smith advocates for bloggers to avoid the bottomless pit of Internet debate and focus more on the wants and needs of those who are on the receiving end. Simple, right? Value readers over the pride of winning a puerile argument.
So back to the original question: do smart people prefer dumb bloggers because dumb bloggers offer a simpler, more straight-forward online reading experience? Maybe. Or is it that the ephemeral online debate space makes smart critique hard to consume? More likely.
What do you think? What do you consider to be “smart blogging”? Leave us a comment below!
