Confessions of a dog blogger
It’s not often that I share the personal frustrations of being a dog-blogger — especially one who tries to stand out from the crowd by keeping a lid on the pablum and fluff, and presenting from time to time some stories of depth about important dog-related issues.
Yesterday was a case in point.
I posted three items — about the daily average for ohmidog!
One was a mention of an upcoming motorcycle ride, sponsored by a motorcycle club and Baltimore’s Anti-Animal Abuse Task Force, to raise money for abused and abandoned dogs.
One was a story about a day of global protest against eating dogs in South Korea.
One was an update on a story I wrote a few years back after meeting in Los Angeles a homeless man and his three legged pit bull (her fourth leg was lost as a result of a police shooting). Both have fallen ill and need help.
I was especially proud of the latter two, as they both contained some original reporting, and original photographs, and displayed a little first hand knowledge I had gathered, mostly during the year and a half I was working on my book.
Checking my Google Analytics, as I do from time to time, I saw this morning that the dog-eating post (of global significance) drew 116 views; the post on Michael and Topaz (of national significance) got 46 views; and the post on the fundraising motorcyle ride (of local significance) got 16 views.
What drew most readers to ohmidog! yesterday — 676 of them — was a post, nearly 50 days old, about Jennifer Aniston getting her dog Norman’s name tatooed on her foot.
Thereby showing you the significance of celebrities. It blows my mind.
How people try to remember and memorialize their dogs is a legitimate story — and a large part of the book I wrote — and the fact that more people are going the tattoo route, as the New York Post reported this week, is worthy of note.
But let’s face it, it was Jennifer Aniston that brought me those readers — and while I appreciate her, and those readers who dropped by, it bugs me that her foot tattoo so overshadowed two stories of deeper importance and deeper humanity. But, despite all that’s in the bowl, they chose only that.
My little corner of the universe, or the Internet, serves it seems as a microcosm of what’s happened to the news media, which, to survive, has caved in to the pressure to give readers easily consumable, barely newsworthy bits of what they want, rather than fully fleshed out stories on topics of greater importance to the species, be it human or dog.
Looking at my Analytics — and I think it’s OK to share this proprietary information, given that I am the proprietor — a total of 435 pages and posts were viewed yesterday, 1,941 views in all.
The vast majority, though, were focused on Jennifer Aniston’s foot.
For those consumed with numbers, and getting them to increase, and paying the bills, the thinking would reasonably follow: We need more Jennifer Aniston, more tattoos, more feet, or more of whoever or whatever else is, at this given moment, “trending.”
Here’s one of the things that has happened. News organizations, and bloggers, see what’s “trending” and base their coverage on that, thereby making it “trend” even more, while items of higher significance — worth some digging up — fall unseen by the wayside.
Add to that the fact that those who write strictly for the Internet, often, are no longer writing for humans. Instead of writing for quality, instead of writing, even, for readers, they’re writing for robots — those search engine Peruse-a-trons that scan our words, mathematically determine their import and influence how many readers come our way.
Add to that the fact that average online writer now spends more time touting what he has written via social networks and elsewhere than actually writing what he has written. Time once spent on research and the craft of writing is now mostly absorbed by shouting about and hyping what one has written, even if that “writing” was little more than a cut and paste job.
We’ll even admit to doing some of that — what is now called “aggregating,” what was once called plagiarism. We’ll admit to touting stories we’re proud of on Facebook and Twitter. We’ll even admit to, once in a while, posting a story because we think it will draw a crowd.
Were ohmidog! a true money-making venture — which in some ways would make more sense than being poor and principled — we might follow the route that so many have, bringing you a steady diet of the cute, the happy, the adorable and the celebrity-related.
But, Jennifer Aniston aside, we plan to continue to vary our fare — presenting the cute, from time to time; the uplifting, as often as we can find it; but also the cruel and depraved acts of humans that lead to animal suffering.
If, in the three years we’ve existed (did I mention we’ve just turned 3?) and in the 3,000 posts we’ve posted, ohmidog! has shown anything, it is this: the depths to which humans can sink and the heights to which they can rise when it comes to dogs.
We’re going to keep doing that.
And you can tattoo that on your foot.
Posted by jwoestendiek August 16th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: aggregating, analytics, animal rights, animal welfare, animals, blogging, blogs, cute, dog, dog inc., dog stories, dogs, eating dogs, facebook, fluff, foot, google, internet, jennifer aniston, korea, michael, news, news media, newspapers, norman, ohmidog!, online, page views, pets, readers, robots, search engines, social networks, tattoo, topaz, tout, touting, trending, trends, twitter, visits, websites, writing
Comments
Comment from Justin
Time August 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Wait a minute. You’re blown away by the fact a post mentioning “Jennifer Aniston” got more views than your other posts? You must be new to this whole interwebs thing.
Comment from Justin Kownacki
Time August 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Yes, but, that Jennifer traffic probably didn’t overlap with your normal traffic, or your target audience. If name-dropping celebrities DID attract rubberneckers that were easily converted to meaningful, active and engaged audiences, that might be worth it. In reality, the people who flooded your site for info about a famous foot probably bounced away at a massive rate, so your actual audience are the people who DO want the news stories, regardless of which celebrity photo they’re posted alongside. Cheers and best wishes.
Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Ohmidog, John, I wasn’t going to say anything–and this is really off-topic, but I am in writing hell. In fact, I’m in the first circle of writing hell.
With my altered life circumstances, I find I need to bring in a certain amount more income. It’s not a huge amount, either. The logical step seemed to be to focus on selling the bits and bobs of jewelry that I make and sell locally. So, I set up a decent website (something I know how to do), took some halfway decent photographs, and started to work. Search engine optimization is the key, and there’s an app for that. Actually, there are hundreds of apps, but there’s a really good one that runs with WordPress (which is what I used to set up the site).
I thought it was going to be fun to describe my little bits and bobs. I collected the components, I designed them, and they’re my little brain-children. But writing those descriptions has turned into an ordeal past all telling. As soon as I get finished with a description, I have a report card I have to look at, telling me how I did. Too many red marks, and I am doomed to search engine obscurity. There’s even a checkmark for which reading grade level I’ve written my deathless prose (at). High school is the coveted level. Stray too far into university, and you’re doomed again to obscurity.
The only other serious (as in “got paid for it”) writing I’ve done as an adult was technical writing–documentation for network installations, project proposals, statements of work, the odd training manual. I always thought that was awful. This is a hundred times worse!
The only side benefit is that Spencer and I take a nap each afternoon. I pretty much have to in order to remain sane.
Comment from Denise
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Excellent post. Sadly, the celebrity news is what most people want to read about. That way, they don’t have to think about the dogs that are getting eaten in South Korea. I think your site does a great job of bringing the fun together with what needs attention. I commend you for your work to help animals. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own bubbles, where our dogs are treated like people. If we had more people like you, and more people would educate their children to what is truly important, then the world would be a better place. In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing and reaching out. I have faith in most people and think that we are on the right track – even though it’s frustratingly slow. We have to keep moving forward.
Comment from Emily on the Prairie
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:15 pm
I blog about gardening, homesteading, simple living, etc. I get decent traffic. I made an analogy in a post about … lord knows, was it composting? … how X was dumb but truly beautiful, just like a young Matt Dillon in the Outsiders.
For weeks that post would get hundreds of hits a day from people googling Matt Dillon. It made me crazy so I took it down.
Yours in the struggle!
Comment from Sue
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:19 pm
No thanks on the tattoo (just not into ink), but a great post with which I totally agree. And if you feel the need to blog about Aniston, et al, I understand and accept that. However, what I really appreciate is the quality reporting and opinion that I’ve come to expect from you. That’s what makes Ohmidog! … Ohmidog!
Comment from KateH
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:35 pm
I don’t comment much, but I try to read all your posts, even the tough ones, because you do put a lot of work into both finding the stories, and in writing intelligent background on them. I’ve got to tell you, however, that I didn’t read the JA thing (because I don’t care at all about anything she does – unless she runs into a burning building to save a pet) and I didn’t read past the first few paragraphs on the Korean dog story, because the whole thing turns my stomach. I know it’s an important story, and I appreciate you writing it, and I’ve read about horrible humans before (the vile scumbag that killed the Italian greyhounds, for example), but each day I can only take a certain amount. Please continue with the good work that you do, and I’ll read as much of it as I can.
Comment from Jan
Time August 16, 2011 at 2:39 pm
I know what you’re saying.
A few years ago I did a single post about Paris Hilton, not in a flattering way. I had SO many hits on that post and so many comments like: “Well who cares about her, why do you all keep writing about her.” These are people who came to the blog to read about her and then got upset because we “keep writing about her.”
I did one follow up post about She-who-won’t-be-mentioned on this blog.
Comment from sylvie
Time August 16, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Cheer up ! I read your blog almost everyday and I don’t even know who is Jennifer Aniston…
Comment from Pat DeWald
Time August 16, 2011 at 3:28 pm
I’m not too sure that celebrity has anything to do with it. Many readers lack the stomach to read stories that are about actions that we consider heinous, such as consuming man’s best friend. And some will also avoid a story they suspect will illicit a lot of sad emotions. So I’m sure your numbers are accurate, but not so sure you have pin-pointed the reason. That said, I hope you don’t just revert to the warm fuzzy stuff. It’s important that we be exposed to the hard to take stories as well.
Comment from vida
Time August 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm
You’re on my “must hit daily’ list, for the quality of your writing and the interest of your stories. And kudzu dogs, can’t forget them. And I have zero interest in celebs and their ink or anything else. You write about real dogs and real people in a grand way. Please keep doing it. Or just throw a celeb name in parenthesis for no good reason to draw new eyes, we’ll just skip that line, lol.
Comment from Judith Pannebaker
Time August 16, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Just so you know, John, I didn’t read the Jennifer Aniston – EEEEUUUUU – foot thing yesterday, but I did peruse your most interesing international, national and local postings. Even here in Bandera, we have some pride!!!
Comment from debbie
Time August 16, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Just wanted to add my 2 cents to say John I appreciate you, your insight and your ability to stir emotions through your writing. I believe that We( collectively) need that artistic gift from the wordsmith’s among us, for our souls. I saw an intriguing futuristic movie from the 1960′s called Fahrenheit 451 about a possible future where books are deemed dangerous and illegal and thus burned by the powers that be. What a frightening thought.!
John, I also want you to know that I for one actually donated money to Michael and Topaz ( the homeless man and his dog) because of your blog. I had read about the latest situation with Michael and Topaz on another blog and recognized the story right away from reading your write up some while back. I wanted to donate,( after reading the story on that other source ) but quite honestly I hesitated, I don’t know why, didn’t quite ‘trust it for some reason.., but when I read it again on your site, I clicked on the link and donated.
So John….. don’t feel powerless,
Continue on stirring emotions. One can make a difference…
Comment from Kelly
Time August 16, 2011 at 7:07 pm
I had a professor tell me once that it was more important to paint what I know/feel. That is true in writing as well. Stick with it, John. if your heart is there, the road less traveled is more rewarding. If it’s money you want, you are in the wrong biz.
Comment from Chris
Time August 17, 2011 at 10:41 am
First off, congratulations on your 3 yr blog anniversary! Most don’t make it past the first year, so you must be doing something right. It can be aggravating when you put some much thought into a particular piece about an important topic and it doesn’t get the views you think it should. I have days when I just can’t stomach any more abuse stories and I need to post something silly, something fun. Apparently my readers feel the same way because the most viewed post on my blog is about a dachshund themed winery. Who knew? It’s frustrating but I’ve had to learn to let go and not worry about what people choose to read. Keep up the good work and stay true to yourself.
Comment from smoketoomuch
Time August 17, 2011 at 11:45 am
Celebrities, fluff, lowest common denominator media fodder? Merely more grist for the greedy Search Engine mills, and the small minds of those who, without quite realizing it of course, worship at the feet of idols.
The good people who visit this site daily (and you know who you are) have little to no interest in that crap. We come here because you speak to us from an enlightened place, and in a lighter-than-air, engaging, and honest way, about a subject that interests us – a life choice that we share.
Like many of the commenters before me, I too skipped right over the Anniston piece. Dog folks love their dogs, and how they choose to memorialize them after they’re gone is a personal decision. She cared about her Norman – great. She’s good people I suppose, but she still pulls her pants up one leg at a time, and frankly, why should I care? Because she’s ‘famous’? Please.
Your site is a breath of fresh air in what is rapidly becoming a vacuous and an overly commercialized time sink. Unlike the cyber-norm, Ohmidog! is WORTH IT. What percentage of other sites elicit such loyalty do you think? Keep doing what you do John. You make a difference. You are valued.
Comment from Shauna (Fido & Wino)
Time August 17, 2011 at 11:53 am
Just wanted to let you know I read your story about the homeless man and his dog 
I know it’s frustrating, but sometimes the sugary stuff helps the cut-to-the-bone stuff get some air. Keep it up!
Comment from Crystal
Time October 1, 2012 at 12:14 pm
I don’t often comment on blogs, I’m not a blogger (although I love the idea of being one), and I’m technically savvy just beyond the point of operation, but I don’t know how your numbers are driven so I wonder if you can identify where your traffic originated? I was attempting to explain a tattoo to a friend and went to Google images to give her a visual, and it was there that I saw the Jennifer Aniston image of her w/her dog and I clicked on it. So I was unwittingly driven to your blog and could potentially become a follower if it weren’t for being made to feel like a bottom-dweller who is apparently only interested in celebrities. However I assure you that that is not the case; I subscribe to several dog blogs, donate to several worthy causes and was raised to be a dog rescuer (although admittedly they usually end up rescuing me), but you’re only looking at statistics and therefore my click is just a number. I would think that what’s truly important is not the means in which people are driven to your site, but the fact that at least we end up here.
Comment from Aleksandra
Time August 16, 2011 at 1:22 pm
if it makes you feel any better, we didn’t give a tiny rat’s ass about jennifer aniston’s foot, but we very much enjoyed the story about the homeless man and his tripod dog. keep up the great work, woestendiek.