Comments on: Velocity vs Depth

By: Raul

Raul — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:09:56 +0000

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.

By: Uncle! Why I Quit Following Chris Brogan » Media Emerging

Uncle! Why I Quit Following Chris Brogan » Media Emerging — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:52:54 +0000

[...] that I don’t love your stuff — I do — I just need breathing room. This ride is too fast for [...]

By: Brookmis

Brookmis — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:23:13 +0000

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 ;-)

By: Sue Murphy

Sue Murphy — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:44:30 +0000

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.

By: Pia

Pia — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:20:25 +0000

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…

By: Steve Nimmons

Steve Nimmons — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:50:35 +0000

@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.

By: Jean Ghalo

Jean Ghalo — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:59:27 +0000

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

By: David king

David king — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:12:16 +0000

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

By: David H.

David H. — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:31:08 +0000

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.

By: Michael Booker

Michael Booker — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:52:12 +0000

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