The best bloggers are Gen X people in their 40s, hands down
Jun 2nd, 2008 | By Barbara | Category: Make Things Simple
Who do YOU think the best bloggers are?
"Personally, I think….no, I KNOW….they’re the Gen X folk who are in their 40s. Hands down, no question about it, you heard it here first….now go deal with it."
Why? Because…
- We were there when Netscape Navigator 1.0 emerged. We had to teach ourselves HTML and configure POP clients manually to use the blasted browser. It’s almost like witnessing the Big Bang and the subsequent creation of the Universe as we know it.
- We accessed the Internet the way the Gods intended us to access the Internet - through straight command text browsers like Lynx! None of this new-fangled WYSIWYG stuff…we even coded on the fly that way.
- When something doesn’t work as expected, we don’t whine to our parents (heck, our parents generally panic when the monitor displays, Strike Any Key When Ready…and they can’t locate the ANY key); we sit down and fix the problem yesterday.
- We have the wisdom of several decades of online know-how…plus the benefit of maturity to put it to good use.
- We know the shiniest, bounciest most visually arresting graphics can’t beat the SERP benefits of straight useful text.
- We know that David Rhodes is the original Sinniator of Make Money Fast Schemes…and as such, know that things which sound too good to be true…well, are. We don’t need to lose 3K to realize that.
- We don’t have to worship Internet gurus to find that last bit of information; quite often, we’re viewed as gurus ourselves.
- When annoying children post profanity-laced comments on our blogs, we’re secure enough to decree, your freedom of speech ends at where my blog begins…and we delete them.
- We have zero problems with calling a garden hose a garden hose. Not only that, but given 3 seconds, we can even come up with more compelling analogies sooner than washing machine can consume 38 single socks.
- And when we’re totally clueless, we have no problems admitting that…and (gasp!) asking for help. No egos stand in our way!
Well? Am I right or am I right? What do you have to share? Who do YOU think are the best bloggers? And why?
The floor….is now yours.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
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You’re not serious, are you?
You can’t use age to base how good a blogger is.
@D Seriousness is in the eyes of the beholder!
Enjoy, Barbara
Let me guess – you’re a Gen X blogger, aren’t you?
This post cracked me up! I think what makes a great blogger is great content, so I can’t really agree, but since I’m 42 I’ll do a little superiority dance anyway.
Plus I am having flashbacks to the POP thing. Oh yeah, I remember that one! Plus all that unix I learned on The WELL.
When we were your age, kids, we had to walk 10 miles to school. In the snow. Uphill each direction.
@Sonia,
Content! I knew I was forgetting something!! After all, we’re the generation from which sprang Barry Manilow and Rick Springfield and Luke and Laura and He Man, Masters of the Universe and Gnip Gnop and Jonny Sokko and his Flying Robot and and and …….
How can younger whippersnappers compare?
Barbara
Barbara,
I love it. My Mom hasn’t asked where the Any key is yet, but she will soon.
I think you’ve hit the nail right on the head. Those of us who are in our 40’s (I’m 43) have a good mix of maturity, experience, and not necessarily being afraid of technology.
Thanks!
Tom Vanderwell
thomas.vanderwell@53.com
(616) 292-7559
Tom Vanderwell’s last blog post..ISM manufacturing index in surprise May increase – Jun. 2, 2008
Gen X at 39..do we count? DH had a bulletin board…first computer was a Commodore 64!
Ok….I have a confession to make. This little Baby Boomer will agree with you.
For the longest time I felt "fear" with regard to the computer.
Although, content has no age.
Who says……………you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?!?
Birgit’s last blog post..Nihao????????????.!
@Tom, Glad you liked the post!
@Birgit, I completely agree!
@Crunchy, Yes, you can join our exalted ranks too.
Barbara
I refute the allegation and confound the alligator. I’m a boomer and do just fine. Course, I’ve been in the game since before the internet existed. The university where I work was one of the original four nodes on the internet. In general, though, I think you’re probably right.Most people are lost without a gui and computer literacy usually means simply being able to find your way around windoze.
Glenn Palmer’s last blog post..DNC Rules meeting
Hi Barbara,
And I thought you might be kidding, and stirring the pot. Haha.
I’m a boomer, so I’ll put myself in the same category as you. I’ll be the first to admit I was clueless when I first starting blogging, but now….look out world.
Great post Barbara!
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Those Are Fighting Words
I’m a baby boomer at 47 (one of the last) and a generation X’er if you want to call me that. While the post was tongue-in-cheek, it rings particularly true. Netscape 1.0 indeed. What a crappy browser that was!
RT Cunningham’s last blog post..Forced Downtime
@Glenn – Alligators are cute!
@Barbara – glad you enjoyed the post.
Thanks for commenting,
Barbara
[...] LingLand, I wrote up a storm (including my admittedly tame attempt at generating controversy via The best bloggers are Gen X people in their 40s, hands down (but it was fun to write!) and did my 2.4 mile circle walk in the bright sunshine. My, that [...]
This is so awesomely awesome. Nearly fell out of my chair laughing! However, I’m having some problems getting my own blog more active… Any help?
@Otaku
Sure! Start with Day 1 – that will walk you through the entire process. Make you you have lots of opportunities for readers to both FIND your site…and then tell others about it.
Hope that helps, Barbara
[...] Helpful articles, funny articles, edgy articles, controversial articles (which, I might add, only bloggers in their 40s can successfully pull off), [...]
Ahh the good ‘ole days, such fond fond memories
born in ‘70, on the computer (not Internet) in ‘78.
I do miss dads C64 and my Atari 400. When speaking of programming please don’t forget about *basic* and *machine language* from which most later languages sprung from
Great post!