I can honestly say that I don’t try to dumb down for a specific audience. But, then I don’t try to use larger words in an effort to appear more educated than I am. I have a college degree in computer science with a minor in marketing.

I remember reading something years ago that tv shows are written to be aimed at 14 year olds. I don’t know if that is true or not.

I think the software tool that makes the assessment is checking words, grammar and sentence structure. I use a lot of passive language in my writing, which may cause my score to be reduced.

Thank you for the thoughtful article and I am impressed at the thoughtful comments the article has produced!

I do like to learn about new products, new “systems” etc., but so many of the blogs simply exist to sell and don’t really add valuable content per say. The interesting things it that adding interesting content would help them sell.

I enjoy visiting your blog because you have intelligent things to say. So thank you. Thanks for not joining the “dumbing down” trend.

Leisa

Ben, you said it with this phrase, “Some bloggers don’t put a huge amount of effort into writing quality content…” .. it’s getting so that most bloggers don’t put ANY effort into writing .. period. They don’t even write — they post the writing of others, most of which is pure drivel.

When we think about the way so much blogging has “dumbed down” it reminds me of the still used adage of the advertising industry … K.I.S.S. .. which has a variety of translations due to political correctness these days .. but in essence means, “Write your copy so that “anyone” will understand it”.

Which brings up another aspect of blogging today — and that is that most blogging has become just another way to put a sales pitch on the Internet. Do you remember when blogging used to be about .. (and I quote flaminglacer here) …”the medium I use to convey my thoughts and I offer them as that – no more, no less.”

It’s getting so that we can’t just put something out there in the sheer hope that it will bring value to another. Nope! Not any more — it better damn well bring value to the blogger or it isn’t worth taking the time to do it.

What a bunch of …..

We’re now inundated with mediocrity everywhere. It’s in the products we buy — it’s in the entertainment we seek — and it sure has taken over the Internet.

End of rant!

Thanks flaminglacer for your intelligent — non-mediocre post.

In Peace!

There is also the issue where people try to write good content, but they didn’t choose their niche too well. Maybe it’s a hyper-saturated niche (make money online spring to mind). Maybe they don’t know the subject matter well enough to blog about it. Maybe they chose a very narrow niche and they’ve run out of content. Whichever it is, these are the people who complain that such-and-such a site didn’t bring them loads of traffic, or that they never get comments. The simple fact is that some blogs just aren’t that interesting. Of course, it’s a matter of opinion, but not everyone can blog – nor should they try to!

I personally try to break down the technical barriers so non-technical writers can hopefully give blogging a try, as many bloggers are technical and assume that everyone else is too. Now, if I can help a few new bloggers to start writing, that would be great. Besides, it would be good to get a wider range of subject matter. Too many blogs write about the same stuff.