Velocity vs Depth

Hi Chris,
I would guess that you’re writing for the joy of it all, as well. It shows.

When I post I wish to provide my readers with information which will hopefully get them thinking about what they’re doing and perhaps question whether they can do things differently. Stress is a matter of perception and by changing our perceptions we can start to feel & do better emotionally, mentally & physically.

As @AuntieStress, I made the decision long ago that I would post once a wk. and send out newsletters quarterly. Except for 1 or 2 occasions on my blog, I’ve abided by this rule. I chose to do this for 2 reasons. 1. I don’t wish to overwhelm my readers, who are already receiving lots of great information with only so much time. 2. It’s important for me to practise what I teach about choosing how we do things so that I don’t become over-extended.

I do have a number of drafts saved from when I’ve jumped into my flow. (They just need to be dressed up a bit [not in stress, though!] and they’re ready if I’ve run out of topics.)

The bottom line is that people need to find the style & frequency that is suitable for them & their readers.

There’s some more talk about this very topic on @matthewcornell’s blog.
http://matthewcornell.org/2008/08/idealab-0826-systemic-self-repair-over-blogging-faith-and-doing-it-productivity-style.html#comment-2118

Chris,
Snackable content is correct, and you are a master at delivering a story with clarity and appeal in a few words. I think of the symbolism of a pyramid – get to the point, first, then build a little, and conclude.
Thanks for such a terrific blog where I am continuously learning.
DH

Good questions. In a culture where everybody writes, who’s a writer?

Pre-new media, I was a writer; an opinion writer. I was paid to opine — to write my opinion about whatever I wanted. After a corporate stint, I’ve returned to learn new media and am still trying to figure out my place. I still want to be “a writer”; to be valued for my writing; to write about whatever I want. But how that fits into blogging, where we’re advised to be experts on something, to offer advice, to engage in dialogue… I haven’t figured it out.

Chris, I ask you this: Is blogging the same as writing? Is it different? IF so, how?

Good questions. In a culture where everybody writes, who’s a writer?

Pre-new media, I was a writer; an opinion writer. I was paid to opine — to write my opinion about whatever I wanted. After a corporate stint, I’ve returned to learn new media and am still trying to figure out my place. I still want to be “a writer”; to be valued for my writing; to write about whatever I want. But how that fits into blogging, where we’re advised to be experts on something, to offer advice, to engage in dialogue… I haven’t figured it out.

Chris, I ask you this: Is blogging the same as writing? Is it different? IF so, how?

And soon: a dead tree book by Mr. Brogan! Are we all writers and creators as well as consumers of all this stuff? Yes… we surely are. But, for some topics, there still is basic truth. That is where I struggle: who is telling me the truth?

Chris,
You read my mind! This is exactly what I’ve been thinking about this week. I want to offer more snackable content but I agree I think there does need to be a mix between that and depth. Also, I hate to post just post. Sometimes, I just don’t feel that I have anything intelligent to say. That is the issue I wrestle with the most. Having relevant or at least entertaining or interesting content to share. There are blogs that I’ve started to skip completely because they are less than a snack–just putting up a post because I guess they feel obligated to.

Chris,
You read my mind! This is exactly what I’ve been thinking about this week. I want to offer more snackable content but I agree I think there does need to be a mix between that and depth. Also, I hate to post just post. Sometimes, I just don’t feel that I have anything intelligent to say. That is the issue I wrestle with the most. Having relevant or at least entertaining or interesting content to share. There are blogs that I’ve started to skip completely because they are less than a snack–just putting up a post because I guess they feel obligated to.

If I discover something through my own research I become uncertain whether to blog about it or compile it into exclusive content, but then I don’t want to become one of these guys that only have ‘squeeze’ pages with no character. I want my blog to be ME. I AM my Blog if you see what I mean.

I only just started blogging and to be honest it feels therapeautic !

I just recently started using the concept of velocity with my blog post. I understood both the concepts of depth and velocity but was leaning heavily on the depth end. But just like everything in life I see its about the balance of both rather than going from one extreme to the other.
@bookerx3

I just recently started using the concept of velocity with my blog post. I understood both the concepts of depth and velocity but was leaning heavily on the depth end. But just like everything in life I see its about the balance of both rather than going from one extreme to the other.
@bookerx3

It’s a predicament I find myself in. It’s like, if I want to go deep, I have to switch off the part of my brain that scans and comments and tries to cover as many bases as possible. It means withdrawing to a large extent. It’s also a matter of, I only have so much time. I know many of you outgoing perky types don’t suffer from this, but time constraints really are a drawback.

What a thought provoking question???

I would say that the reason i blog is to teach.

teaching what i am learning at the time helps me learn that even better because i’m rehearsing what i learned in my head.

so blogging about something that i just learned to teach it helps me learn and helps those who are interested and read my blog as well…

It’s kind of a teaching/learning tool.

+ More… i won’t keep going lol…

Thanks for the post chris!

DBK

What a thought provoking question???

I would say that the reason i blog is to teach.

teaching what i am learning at the time helps me learn that even better because i’m rehearsing what i learned in my head.

so blogging about something that i just learned to teach it helps me learn and helps those who are interested and read my blog as well…

It’s kind of a teaching/learning tool.

+ More… i won’t keep going lol…

Thanks for the post chris!

DBK

well i like to read and write when I am not busy outside home or office, though my writing skills are not excellent but still I like doing it, the most important to deliver a message and information which i am sharing.

Also I write to build new connections and community all over the world, as I like doing nice connections.

Writing got me to know ppl like chris and so many other gr8 ppl on the net.

Cheers!
Jean

@Chris Brogan:
I would suggest that velocity and volume is a byproduct of the need (or pressure) to be ever-present in the digital world. You were also writing something similar to this about a week back in terms of communications expectations and when you were expected to reply (i.e. within a minute 24/7, 7 days / wk). Velocity is fine, but if velocity is linked to volume I would be concerned that people would fall into a ‘noise trap’ – i.e. spending huge amounts of time and energy on simply trying to be seen. Depth is much more enduring, the problem is it takes longer and we feel the pressure of not providing velocity and volume simultaneously. There is also a paradox, as depth providing high-quality signal will be lost in the noise of Web2′s detritus unless there is a degree of velocity / volume to accompany it (even the prodigious and precocious child needs to shout “look at me”, “look at me”).

The Web2 realm seems to me to be gearing towards almost obsessive repetitiveness and with pressure of real-world jobs and relationships I hope sense and balance will be personal goals for all.

I keep 2 charts (simple workflows) on my wall, one for weekdays, one for weekends. I have tasks that I go through (checking news, updating blogs, commenting on blogs, researching topics etc.). Each is time-boxed and when the clock beats me I move on. That way I control volume / velocity and hopefully have some time left to provide useful depth. It is a very difficult balance, and there is a lot of temptation (I’m sure) for the non-pro bloggers (self-included) to spend too much time on repetitive noisy behaviour.

@Chris Brogan:
I would suggest that velocity and volume is a byproduct of the need (or pressure) to be ever-present in the digital world. You were also writing something similar to this about a week back in terms of communications expectations and when you were expected to reply (i.e. within a minute 24/7, 7 days / wk). Velocity is fine, but if velocity is linked to volume I would be concerned that people would fall into a ‘noise trap’ – i.e. spending huge amounts of time and energy on simply trying to be seen. Depth is much more enduring, the problem is it takes longer and we feel the pressure of not providing velocity and volume simultaneously. There is also a paradox, as depth providing high-quality signal will be lost in the noise of Web2′s detritus unless there is a degree of velocity / volume to accompany it (even the prodigious and precocious child needs to shout “look at me”, “look at me”).

The Web2 realm seems to me to be gearing towards almost obsessive repetitiveness and with pressure of real-world jobs and relationships I hope sense and balance will be personal goals for all.

I keep 2 charts (simple workflows) on my wall, one for weekdays, one for weekends. I have tasks that I go through (checking news, updating blogs, commenting on blogs, researching topics etc.). Each is time-boxed and when the clock beats me I move on. That way I control volume / velocity and hopefully have some time left to provide useful depth. It is a very difficult balance, and there is a lot of temptation (I’m sure) for the non-pro bloggers (self-included) to spend too much time on repetitive noisy behaviour.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what one has to offer their online community (building one may be the most difficult step!). I think that expressing the story of who you are (authenticity/sincerity/uniqueness) and giving people something valuable, whether that be industry advice, entertainment or interesting and thought-provoking pieces that are attuned to the medium (I agree that for the most part, most blog posts should be bite-sized snippets rather than comprehensive articles or mini-ebooks) is what matters, rather than be too mindful of volume or depth. People can choose to peruse one post or move onto another. Giving your readers choice is important, what might resonate with one person, may be lost on another…

I think it’s all about balance. If I spent all day long just blogging, then people would definitely have a sense of what’s going on inside my head at any given moment (since that’s pretty much what my blog is – random thoughts).

However, if I wasn’t able to balance that with writing media content for my clients, business proposals, presentations, lectures, etc. my business wouldn’t be very profitable.

You choose the medium based on the message. Not to get all McLuhan-ey on you or anything, but the method you use to communicate something is as important as the message itself, if you want your message to be effective. (McLuhan would have said it’s more important). These days, with so many channels, that holds true more than anything else.

I think it’s all about balance. If I spent all day long just blogging, then people would definitely have a sense of what’s going on inside my head at any given moment (since that’s pretty much what my blog is – random thoughts).

However, if I wasn’t able to balance that with writing media content for my clients, business proposals, presentations, lectures, etc. my business wouldn’t be very profitable.

You choose the medium based on the message. Not to get all McLuhan-ey on you or anything, but the method you use to communicate something is as important as the message itself, if you want your message to be effective. (McLuhan would have said it’s more important). These days, with so many channels, that holds true more than anything else.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, why am I blogging? It is nice to see that I am not the only one out there thinking it. I think it comes down to the freedom to express yourself and share with others… it is also a great way to meet other people and see how they think ;-)

My comment is from one blog reader’s point of view so I am not getting to the immediate question Chris poses to writers.

My day is an endless combination of meetings, deliverables to be developed, casual stop-bys by my office, hit-and-run conversations in the hallway, and the ever-present really-unnecessary “crisis” launched by someone higher up. I would love to read endlessly and yet get all things done at work. I do also want to have time at night to read stuff that is not about work, as well as do 20 other things that can be more fulfilling than work (yes, there are such things!).

With that background, I cannot be digesting too many books, long articles or expert reports as much as I would like to learn and research. However, in between the meetings, crisis, hit-and-runs, I love to be able to scan a variety of material and then choose where I dive in. I like “blogsnacking” as a way to distract my brain for 5 minutes from the last meeting, for example. Blogs usually give me that opportunity. Sometimes, just reading random content triggers an idea related or unrelated to the core of the entry (to me, the most satisfying outcome!). So, to give the “blog customer” viewpoint, I read blogs to learn, to connect with new people (though I am new at this and don’t have great results yet), to expand my mind, to trigger the random new thought.

If a blog can help me with those things, depth is not always the most important element I need from the blog. Of course, if a blog is directly relevant to a key issue I am looking at, then depth would be nice but I always have other ways to get the depth (commenting, contacting the blogger, contacting a commenter, etc.). So if you have a lot of ideas to blog about, as long as you don’t sacrifice writing quality, velocity has the edge for me.

My comment is from one blog reader’s point of view so I am not getting to the immediate question Chris poses to writers.

My day is an endless combination of meetings, deliverables to be developed, casual stop-bys by my office, hit-and-run conversations in the hallway, and the ever-present really-unnecessary “crisis” launched by someone higher up. I would love to read endlessly and yet get all things done at work. I do also want to have time at night to read stuff that is not about work, as well as do 20 other things that can be more fulfilling than work (yes, there are such things!).

With that background, I cannot be digesting too many books, long articles or expert reports as much as I would like to learn and research. However, in between the meetings, crisis, hit-and-runs, I love to be able to scan a variety of material and then choose where I dive in. I like “blogsnacking” as a way to distract my brain for 5 minutes from the last meeting, for example. Blogs usually give me that opportunity. Sometimes, just reading random content triggers an idea related or unrelated to the core of the entry (to me, the most satisfying outcome!). So, to give the “blog customer” viewpoint, I read blogs to learn, to connect with new people (though I am new at this and don’t have great results yet), to expand my mind, to trigger the random new thought.

If a blog can help me with those things, depth is not always the most important element I need from the blog. Of course, if a blog is directly relevant to a key issue I am looking at, then depth would be nice but I always have other ways to get the depth (commenting, contacting the blogger, contacting a commenter, etc.). So if you have a lot of ideas to blog about, as long as you don’t sacrifice writing quality, velocity has the edge for me.

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