Could I have a thing for Geek Dad?

After browsing through the various blogs that were posted for this assignment, I confess that I absolutely was most intrigued by Wired's Geek Dad blog. It was extremely surprising too me, because as a gossip enthusiast (who watches E! every single night without avail at 7 pm to catch E! News) I was expecting to fall head over heels for Perez Hilton's blog. But, apparently this was not the case.

I have visited Mr. Hilton's blog on a 

previous occasion, just briefly passing through between checking my mail and hopping on over to the New York Times front page.  I browsed a few pictures, didn't read any of the posts, and quickly left neither satisfied nor unsatisfied. Basically, I wasn't expecting anything, except for a quick gossip fix mid-day. But, as I spend more time on P. Hilton's site (and that would be Perez and not Paris) I'm really just not feeling his vibe. For one thing, his notorious bad mouthing blogging style has really shown its true colors. 

As Perez welcomes his readers to his site, which he entitles "Hollywood's Most Hated Web-Site," his intentions are not to provide gossip, but to provide it in a way that basically embarrasses, makes fun of, or puts any celebrity to shame. Hence his first post of today, is e accusing Kanye West of being gay or bisexual, a very touchy matter that is not dealt with much sensitivity. Hilton's style is further illustrated in his doodles, in which he pens comments, hearts, and even highlights Jessica Simpson's.... I can't even bring myself to say it. Anyway, his tone is flirtatious and provocative, but you don't even necessarily need to read the short, quick, posts because the pictures basically say it all. But, maybe that is Hilton's intention (since the pictures do canvas almost the entire page). In the world of celebrity blogging, images can be much more powerful, than a snide comment or a snarky remark. A titilating title and a blown up picture of whoever with a doodle is all you need for a little controversy.  In an interesting twist though, Hilton doesn't only blog about Hollywood, he is also blogging about current events, such as unemployment and the recession. I think Perez should just stick to what he knows best, which would be antagonizing celebs for the guilty pleasure of his readership.

Now, onto blog number two. Numero dos appears in the lifestyle category, specifically food. I was first intrigued by the description of the blog, because I never know what to eat for dinner, EVER! So... I click the URL in hopes of this blog being my savior from countless nights of wondering what should eat. But, unfortunately I was not impressed. Sure, the blog does what it says it will do, and that is provide people with dinner ideas. But, it wasn't exactly entertaining or inviting to the reader. First of, there was not one single picture on the page!!!! When you think of a traditional cook book, I think of recipes coupled with elaborate images. But, when I think of a cook book online, I definitely think of images, because why not take advantage of what the digitality has to offer???? It just looked plain boring! In regards to the language, each blog started off with a brief conversational introduction of what the author was doing that day or whatever. But, what the author had to say was not exactly what I really wanted to read about when I looked for a recipe. Each of the recent posts began with an

 apology for not writing, and then a complaint, and none of it was uplifting. And then.... ta dah what I came for...the recipe! The recipe was dry, simple, easy to follow, and the author did offer tips. I think that this site should try to stay on topic and focus on the food and

 not on feeling, and possibly spice it up with a picture or two!

Even an inexperienced blogger like myself could pop in a pic or two (well it might actually be the only thing I can pop in but that's ok....I'm a self-proclaimed beginner)

And now, onto my favorite blog, which appeared in the science/technology category. First off, my expectations were not extremely high for this post. What could Geek Dad possibly have to say that I could be interested in. But, I was wrong. I would like to first compliment Geek Dad (or Dads) on their tone. Every post that I read was had a nice balance between professionalism and casualism (is that a word???...I guess not!). They were never too pretentious, nor were they totally informal. After reading Perez Hilton's "shiz" and whatever, and the food blog's boring posts, Geek Dad was a nice return to reality, because I think that this is the way people really should blog. Of course every subject lends itself to a unique tone of voice, but Geek Dad is blogging on a range of topics, and they manage to be consistent with their language. All of the posts had either a picture or an embedded video, which kept me focused on each of the posts. Once I see a really long, text heavy post (I know I'm a hyprocite because I am writing exactly what I don't like to read)

I usually don't really want to bother reading it at all. But, Geek Dad used images extremely well. I think I was also drawn to the Lego Mario, because it brought me back to my own childhood. I used to play with Lego's and play Nintendo all the time when I was younger, and those images provided me with a nice trip down memory lane. Even the rainbow cake was exciting (and trust me I am not a food enthusiast by any means!) Also, the post about Diet Coke cans exploding was relevant to my life. As a person who drinks at least a can of Diet Coke a day, this is pretty useful knowledge for me!

Bottom line, a good blog (for me) needs to be applicable to my life, written in a non-offensive tone, and have a nice balance of text and images.

And now...after a lot of rambling I think I have finished my very third blog post. Not only is this my third blog post, it is also the only post in which I think I have accomplished what I am supposed to being doing while I am blogging. I (think) am supposed to facilitate a conversation between my readers and I, and I hope I have accomplished this! But, of course I will let my readers comment on what they think.