Bloggers, please blog responsibly or not at all. Let's face it. Sometimes we all make mistakes. When we do most of us will go back and fix it the best we can. The bad news is that some bloggers don't and that casts a dark shadow over us all.
I had a discussion with a reader today who commented on my blog. She shared her frustration with me about blogs with erroneous information and with blogs that are rarely updated. I was able to reassure her that those of us who blog responsibly far outweigh the bloggers who don't.
She agreed. In fact, she said that she comes to my travel blog because I to my best to provide quality information. I'll phone restaurants and travel spots to verify information before posting and link to primary sources whenever possible.
We have all heard the adage that content is king. It is up to us as bloggers to blog responsibly by verifying facts before writing any article. I have found that it only takes a minute to pick up the phone and verify information that I'm uncertain about. If I'm not sure of the facts then I don't write the blog article.
Some facts will change and there is nothing that we can do about that. Travel articles that lists prices or fees are notorious for having out of date information. Tourism and travel prices and phone numbers change, businesses close and streets get renamed.
Bloggers can't do anything about these changes but we can link to the primary website. When we find incorrect information we can update our article. Failing that we can at least put a message in the comment section. Readers may not always find the comment but at least the update is there to be found.
Like most other bloggers I value all of my readers are valued. It is frustrating for all of us when bloggers don't blog responsibly. Keyword stuffing by spammers is especially maddening. Steps are being taken in the internet world to weed out the spammers from legitimate blogs like my travel blog that you are reading.
I have a lot riding on this travel blog. My name is on it. When friends or family find something that's out of date they'll let me know in a big way. I've had people stop me in stores or at events and comment about my blog. The feedback has always been positive and I'm grateful for it.
Readers can help bloggers by promoting responsible bloggers and reporting blogs that have been stuffed with keywords. Tell your friends about responsible blogs by sharing the urls on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or your favorite social media site. If possible, report sites that are keyword only and have no content.
Blogs with questionable content should be skipped. Doing so is easy. Just go back to the search engine and click on another url.
Good guys have to stick together. Responsible blogging helps everyone. So please, blog responsibly. Your readers deserve it.
Other online articles on blogging responsibly:
How to be a responsible blogger
Blog responsibly respect copyright
great post for bloggers. I don't often blog but I always try to visit my blogs and update them. thanks for sharing this post to everybody.
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