I learned a lesson earlier this year: blog readers take things too seriously. For all the nice comments I receive, I still remember the rude ones that may or may not be uncalled for.
Specifically, I’m talking about the United Airlines post and the overdone Denmark fare. I made a joke about United honoring the fare (from DTW to ORD mind you) and the reaction was far from pleasant. That is why this year I’m skipping an April Fool’s joke. The fact of the matter is some readers can’t discern when I’m being sarcastic and when I’m being real. I get that people read points blogs to find out where Lucky is hiding Cortez’s treasure trove of points gold and do not have time for antics but what’s wrong with a little comedy from time to time?
The content of blogs, especially points blogs needs to be put into perspective. Apart from affiliate links (which I’m not lucky enough to have), the information on a blog is completely free and the trips planned as a result of the content is, for the most part, free. So using ‘bait and switch’ and ‘unprofessional’ to characterize a post’s contents are off target because nothing was ever for sale.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
I call ’em April babies ’cause they fools.
Well said and sorry for the rude comments you received. This should be a fun hobby; no reason to take it so seriously 🙂
Exactly! Have fun, fly for free. It could all be over any day.
I have no problem with comedy on blogs at all. I saw some solid April Fools posts on travel blogs today. The key thing is they need to actually be funny.
Another blogger posted a fake mistake fare today. There was nothing in it that indicated that it was a joke until the very end, where he reminded people of the date. It was something that actually could have been funny, if it had been done properly. Instead it was just annoying.
I hadn’t seen that post you linked to prior today, but I really don’t see anything wrong with it. It was pretty clear that it was a joke, unlike the post I just mentioned.
Ultimately it comes down to trust: If jokes are done right, bloggers aren’t going to lose anyone’s trust (and they might actually gain some fans), but if they mess up & nobody gets the “joke”, they might lose the respect of their readers.
Agreed on all points but I will say on behalf of all bloggers that readers should appreciate that the forum is a blog, not real news.
To that end, though it may be harsh and unpopular to say, who needs the anonymous, criticizing readers who hide behind an IP address and only voice their thoughts when it is negative.
I know I want tons of readers because it’s not fun only talking to myself. At the same time, it is a shame that a fun hobby like points has created entitled enthusiasts, myself included, who only come for the mistake fare headlines, the new 100k offer, and the latest way to manufacture spend. Write about anything else and where’d they go? Mischaracterize any of the above and the online bullies call you out faster than a Delta devaluation.
Thoughts?
I agree 100% about those commenters. It cracks me up to see some of the vitriol thrown at people sometimes. Especially on the mistake fare posts where people whine about the “evil bloggers” posting about it.
Not all negative comments are bad, sometimes they can be constructive. But if they are just haters, then I see no need for those comments to stay. The key is to remember that the people commenting on any site are just a very small percentage of the actual readers, and not to let them be discouraging.
Like it or not though, as bloggers, we are still considered a news source, especially in this space. It’s not as if the New York Times is writing about credit card deals. If I get something wrong in a post, I am going to correct it. I don’t want misinformation out there.
Personally, I try to read as many of the “other” posts as I can. I know just how time-consuming it is to write up a trip diary, so I usually enjoy checking those out. It sucks to spend hours on something, only to realize it’s not going to get shared very much, and probably won’t even get much search engine traffic. That’s why I originally started my site though, so I’d never give that up, even if the only people reading are family & friends.
Well, maybe I would if I got some of those credit card affiliate partnerships….. 😉
We are on the same page.