I'm not sure what the deal is but lately I've noticed a rather annoying trend here at ProgressiveU. When one blog pops up about a topic, a slew of similar entries seem to inevitably follow. If one individual blogs about religion, 10 others follow. If one blogs about how college sucks, others follow with their own tales of why college sucks.
Are we lacking in creativity here? I don't think so. I think we're just feeding off of one another instead of letting that creative roam where it will. So... I have a few suggestions.
Most of those posts aren't really necessary. Put them in a comment on the original blog and be done with it. If you have done that and still find yourself reading a post and deciding to write one inspired by, in answer too, kind of like, etc... wait a day or two before you write it! If it's still something you want to blog about then, go for it (and make it good) and we won't complain.
In the meantime, blog about something that no one else is blogging about. Did you read a weird news story? How do you feel about killing spiders? Why is there such a big debate about why sex is better than chocolate? What does "I farted and a flag rolled out" mean? Nearly anything is better than reading what we just read in another blog (either in the content of the blog itself or in the comment section)
If you need ideas, check out the News Team feeds. We have created several news feeds solely for the purpose of giving you more tools with which to blog. And not too long from now, we'll be starting the Topic of the Week as well. In addition to those, you can also find ideas by reading the news from various sources (if you don't have a Google Reader account already, get one and use that to keep track of various news sources) and reading posts from past contests. If neither of those are doing it for you, consider writing a how-to post about something, or explore some of the controversial but rarely seen on ProU topics. Write us a satirical piece, or research and write about that subject that you've always meant too and just never have.
Jot down ideas for posts from conversations, daily observations, forums, random questions that pop into your head, and any other place you can think of. When you're running low on ideas, refer to that list. And remember that, as cruel as it sounds, we very rarely care what's going on in your life. Unless it profoundly affected you, is progressive, or makes us pee ourselves laughing, users really don't want to hear it, read it, whatever.
Two and a half months is a lot of blogging for one serious about winning the contest. Make those two and a half months count for more than just another post about the same old shit we've already read 6 times in one sitting! In the end, you are responsible for how you fare in this contest. If you don't make the effort and give ProU readers quality, thought provoking pieces, they aren't going to reciprocate and allow you to win the contest. Your posts will be shunted off to the "rarely read" section to gather dust and none of us want that! We want to help you succeed... but only if you're going to help us help you.
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