The Problem With Blogging On Giantbomb...

Its too complicated for people to consistently find and follow user blogs.

At the moment

SOLUTIONS

I am having a hard time tracking friends blogs at the moment as well. But I dont have the feeds running down the side on my profile so I been going in the friends section and clicking on blog updtaes which is super painful. How do you add those functions to your profile? As even that would help me out a great deal.

A "See Mini Blog" preview is a great idea, I concur.

I thought the whole idea behind this new redesign would be to customize our profiles the way we want to (drag and drop tools), that must still be in the works... At least I hope it is.

Maybe a "Latest Blog" section on the front page so that every blog no matter how small get's it's chance.

a list of "popular user blogs" - could also work
and a "random blog of the day" link on the homepage would be a nice idea as well =)

"Maybe a "Latest Blog" section on the front page so that every blog no matter how small get's it's chance."

A forum in which only blogs are displayed. Who's with me?

"Here's a great page to use. It lets you see every recent blog that has been posted... as long as that person has their privacy settings set to publish such information in their feed. Luckily, I suspect most people do that. So check out that page. It's a great way to find blogs from people who aren't on your friends list and don't publish their blogs to the forums.
Once again, the link is here. I recommend using it."

"LordAndrew said:

"Here's a great page to use. It lets you see every recent blog that has been posted... as long as that person has their privacy settings set to publish such information in their feed. Luckily, I suspect most people do that. So check out that page. It's a great way to find blogs from people who aren't on your friends list and don't publish their blogs to the forums.
Once again, the link is here. I recommend using it."

Well done sir. You make a point very well. "

"Here's a great page to use. It lets you see every recent blog that has been posted... as long as that person has their privacy settings set to publish such information in their feed. Luckily, I suspect most people do that. So check out that page. It's a great way to find blogs from people who aren't on your friends list and don't publish their blogs to the forums.
Once again, the link is here. I recommend using it."

"LordAndrew said:

"Here's a great page to use. It lets you see every recent blog that has been posted... as long as that person has their privacy settings set to publish such information in their feed. Luckily, I suspect most people do that. So check out that page. It's a great way to find blogs from people who aren't on your friends list and don't publish their blogs to the forums.
Once again, the link is here. I recommend using it."

I didn't know about this, and I have been an active member since the site launched. Its hardly well advertised is it. People shouldn't have to find out about it in obscure forum posts, it needs to be more accessible. "

I thought there was going to be more made of user blogs in the redesign, getting attention on their own part of the front page?

"Sweep said:

"LordAndrew said:

"Here's a great page to use. It lets you see every recent blog that has been posted... as long as that person has their privacy settings set to publish such information in their feed. Luckily, I suspect most people do that. So check out that page. It's a great way to find blogs from people who aren't on your friends list and don't publish their blogs to the forums.
Once again, the link is here. I recommend using it."

I didn't know about this, and I have been an active member since the site launched. Its hardly well advertised is it. People shouldn't have to find out about it in obscure forum posts, it needs to be more accessible. "

I find it strange (though oddly heart warming) that Giant Bomb's resident blog king is upset that other people aren't getting attention. And I very much agree. I've missed out on quite a few blogs, only to discover them long past the point of relevancy.=/"

I love the personal GiantBomb homepage. I just wish I could click "Friend's Blogs" and get a scroll. Old new and otherwise.

"I thought there was going to be more made of user blogs in the redesign, getting attention on their own part of the front page?"

"Cheapoz said:

"I thought there was going to be more made of user blogs in the redesign, getting attention on their own part of the front page?"

Yeah, the dudes said they were integrating some slick new stuff, but it really just boiled down to moving the friend statuses and blogs off the profile page and on to the front page :|I know there's been some call for a "Featured blogs" sort of column/module on the front page, but I guess the guys aren't big on that idea.This link here is also useful for following your friend's blogs: http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/YOURUSERNAMEHERE/network/?action=blog"

"Customizable profile layouts would also shut me up"

Exclusive right here, the update is still a threat. New / already mentioned stuff may be making its way onto the site in coming weeks and months. Don't be disheartened, the Staff are always looking to improve and fix on all areas of the site. And there is some great ideas in the works.

can;t you like, aqdd them to RSS?

"can;t you like, aqdd them to RSS?"

I'm doing fine with the redesign's handling of Friends' Blogs. They're in the same place as Forum Topics I might like so I can just hit up the site, scroll down and grab the ones I want to read.

I agree. I dislike how my friend's blog updates are all the very last module on the right side of my profile, though, granted, they do have it on the front page as well. I hope the stuff shown here is still in development, because I'd really like to drag my friend's blog updates up to the top of my profile, as well as increase the number of blogs displayed in the module. For now though, I'm using the Blog Updates page that you can get to from the Friends menu at the top of every page.

"I agree. I dislike how my friend's blog updates are all the very last module on the right side of my profile, though, granted, they do have it on the front page as well. I hope the stuff shown here is still in development, because I'd really like to drag my friend's blog updates up to the top of my profile, as well as increase the number of blogs displayed in the module. For now though, I'm using the Blog Updates page that you can get to from the Friends menu at the top of every page."

"Exclusive right here, the update is still a threat. New / already mentioned stuff may be making its way onto the site in coming weeks and months. Don't be disheartened, the Staff are always looking to improve and fix on all areas of the site. And there is some great ideas in the works."

I just look over at the "Friends blogs" section of the front page...

I don't really spent a lot of time on my profile unless I'm writing a blog so I guess the move hasn't really effected me.

The Redesign is great as it is, placing your Friends' Blogs on the front page is a fast and a more flexible way to see those Blogs. Open the Front Page and BAM you got all the latest Blogs.

"The Redesign is great as it is, placing your Friends' Blogs on the front page is a fast and a more flexible way to see those Blogs. Open the Front Page and BAM you got all the latest Blogs."

typically when I use giantbomb I bounce between forums and profile pages. The whole point of the homepage is something you navigate away from to find other cool stuff. What was great about having a big stack of blogs on the left side of the page was it meant you could effectively bounce from one blog to the next instead of having to pass back through the homepage every time. The homepage really isnt updated frequently enough for me to need to visit it constantly. I'm all for innovative design, but If it aint broke then it don't need to be fixed. You could have a DROP DOWN list of blogs that drops when you scroll the mouse over it, for example. There are loads of great imaginative solutions other than "for the time being, we'll just stick them at the bottom, out the way". I shouldnt have to click through a bunch of  menus - I want to be able to easily pick a blog from a list of recent blogs, then go read it.

People have been providing existing alternatives to tracking down blogs which is great - but

is there currently a way of easily finding blogs written by people that ARENT already on your friends list?

Is there currently a way of easily finding blogs written by people that ARENT already on your friends list?

I would also like to reiterate that people arent going to write unless its easy for other people to find their stuff. Nobody wants to work on something which nobody is going to see. If the blogging community on giantbomb is going to stay alive then this problem needs to be addressed before everyone just gets frustrated and gives up.

Yeah, I agree with OP.

"

Is there currently a way of easily finding blogs written by people that ARENT already on your friends list?

One of the reasons behind having blogs posted to the forums was exactly this. It allows folks to start tracking and commenting on each other's work more easily. I think it would be safe to say 90% of people who blog regularly on GiantBomb make sure their blogs post to the forums, and not just to their profile. So really its very easy to find blogs created by users you might not have been tracking before. Simply check the forums. If you have the option turned off so you don't see them, then that is really your own fault.

I would also like to reiterate that people arent going to write unless its easy for other people to find their stuff. Nobody wants to work on something which nobody is going to see. If the blogging community on giantbomb is going to stay alive then this problem needs to be addressed before everyone just gets frustrated and gives up.

Posting blogs to the forums gives everyone's blogs an equal level of exposure to the community. Like I said most people who blog post their blogs to the forums, why? They know it will generate more comments and be viewed by more people that way. A lot of new users who have created introduction blogs after just signing up recieve a flood of views and replies from the community because they posted the blog to the forums. Posting blogs to the forums is probably the easiest way for others to find their stuff.You could argue that people with the option to view blogs on the forums turned off will reduce the level of exposure blogs get from the community. But is that any different to having all the latest blogs appearing on the homepage?"

"Here's a thought - Just because you can cross-post your blogs to the forums, doesn't necessarily mean that you should.  After you submit a blog entry, simply navigate away from the next page where it asks you which board you'd like to publish it to.  I'd say about a third of all blog entries fall under this category...the ones that are like, "I ate a sandwich for lunch today."  That probably doesn't need to be cross-posted to the forums.Other than that, the line between blog post and forum thread is practically nonexistent on Giant Bomb because of the cross-posting feature.  Same rules apply to both."

 "I ate a sandwich for lunch today"

Many of my friends on GameSpot are bloggers. I track them because I enjoy reading their blogs. Many of these bloggers rarely use the forums, and they shouldn't have to use the forums to get people to read their blog. This video blog should help demonstrate my point.

When you post a blog on the forums, people treat it like a forum post, not a blog post. Here's a recent comment from Player1's most recent blog.
Karmum said:

"Kind of surprised I'm the only one who is going to mention this, but I like how the post went from being about advertisements on GB to your website. No offense."

I love your ideas, Sweep. I agree that the blogs are always overshadowed on my profile, and they all disappear very quickly. I hope your ideas are put into action.

My biggest blog gripe is when I happen to post a reply, regardless of how analytical it is, the blog's creator skips over it and thanks/replies to other users. This is especially odd, considering that my own blogs fair pretty well.

"My biggest blog gripe is when I happen to post a reply, regardless of how analytical it is, the blog's creator skips over it and thanks/replies to other users. This is especially odd, considering that my own blogs fair pretty well."

"BiggerBomb said:

"My biggest blog gripe is when I happen to post a reply, regardless of how analytical it is, the blog's creator skips over it and thanks/replies to other users. This is especially odd, considering that my own blogs fair pretty well."

I just don't want to get hypnotised by your beautiful.... lucha...cake...........

*drools*"

I agree totally with the OP. There's a huge dis-incentive to writing blog posts at the moment.

Well, Sweep...I think one of the lines you said might be a little skewed:

Yeah, they're making changes, but they have to know how important blogging is to their members.
I personally have a few issues with their new image tool. As a frequent image uploader, are my views skewed as well? Perhaps, but it's an important feature for anyone who uses the site. I do intend to make my issues known so they can improve upon it, and make it better for me, you, everyone who uses it.
Sweep is doing the same, but with blogs. He doesn't need help making his blogs known. He already has an audience. But for a lot of other bloggers, the system just doesn't work well for them.

"Technically...it's their site...and they don't HAVE to promote anything from the community. "

"Fuck you dude, don't tell me to calm down."

First off.... 100 friends is a rarity. Seeing as we currently have about 40-70 new blogs coming out of the community each day, the chance that you have more then 10% of them as your friends is not common and the limit of 8 is not a huge concern. If it is a problem, we already have a page for this....

"I'd argue that we float user content more prominently then any site we compete against. There is a line where floating unfiltered content onto prominent pages becomes a bit dangerous."

"I been going in the friends section and clicking on blog updtaes which is super painful."

A favorite bloggers feed wouldn't be a terrible idea. I'd be interested to see something like that implemented.

"Fair enough - so how about a way to distinguish high quality blogs? Not just a single post, but a blogger in general. There are some people on my friends list who I would like to keep a closer track of because they are making extra effort with their blogs but I cant because i have to keep going back to my profile or the homepage. A customizable list offavorite blogs on profile pages perhaps? Lists is a feature that is fairly under-used at the moment."