I could use your help with this.

[Adamant1988]

Hey all.

I have been authoring a new blog recently and frankly, I'm in need of some criticism and basic commentary on it. I know you're intelligent, responsible, and involved people so I can't imagine that there is a better group of people to ask for suggestions on how to fix up my blog and improve on it.

In particular I'm looking for some critique of my latest post which can be found here (http://reservedcurrent.blogspot.com/2009/03/having-healthy-news-diet.html).

I really want your advice on how to improve this so as to make it more readable for everyone. I know you guys can think big, I've seen it, so don't be afraid to toss the kitchen sink in with your suggestions. I'll make every attempt to use your suggestions to improve my blog; whether it be topics I can write about or simple wording choices you think I should change. I want your feedback and I will be immensely grateful for anything constructive you can find the time to offer me.

Thanks guys,

Adam.

(Blog URL: http://reservedcurrent.blogspot.com)

[cardinals_fan]

I like the posts. I'll leave you a comment.

[Adamant1988]

That's just awesome of you. I think I'm going to make a "wall" for the names of people who are helping me fix up my blog to make it worth reading. I certainly shouldn't claim all of the credit for the improvements.

[dragos240]

Not bad, I don't have too much time right now, but it looks nice.

[bodhi.zazen]

I am going to close this thread now as I do not want to see a thread full of personal blog pages asking for support.

I am willing to allow Adamant1988 as he has been a member of the community for some time and I believe it is a legitimate request.

That is not to say I wish to promote this kind of behavior ...

[matthew]

It's a fine line sometimes. We want to support forum members who are active in the community and who have real questions, but we don't want to encourage everyone and his brother to post "Hey, look at and evaluate my site for me" threads. We really don't want to give any cover to those looking to post subtle spam on our forums.

After some thought, I am going to open this thread. I don't see anything specifically wrong with it, other than our overall uneasiness at accidentally promoting the behaviors listed in the previous paragraph.

Best wishes on your site. I used that theme on my first blog. :)

[Adamant1988]

It's a fine line sometimes. We want to support forum members who are active in the community and who have real questions, but we don't want to encourage everyone and his brother to post "Hey, look at and evaluate my site for me" threads. We really don't want to give any cover to those looking to post subtle spam on our forums.

After some thought, I am going to open this thread. I don't see anything specifically wrong with it, other than our overall uneasiness at accidentally promoting the behaviors listed in the previous paragraph.

Best wishes on your site. I used that theme on my first blog. :)

Thanks, I thought simple might be best for starters.

[forrestcupp]

Hey, Adamant. We haven't seen you around for a long time. How have you been? The last I knew, I think you were going to boot camp. I'm glad to see you made it through ok.

I read your blog post, and I think you made some good points. We definitely need to be aware of what we are taking in.

It's obvious that different news sources have different biases. If someone doesn't believe that, all they have to do is spend an hour each on CNN then Fox News. I definitely think that there is some "telling us what to think" involved. But I also believe that a lot of people already know what their values and opinions are and they flock to the sources that are going to feed their appetites. There are a lot of mindless sheep out there, but I don't think we give enough credit to the general population. They know what they believe and they choose their news sources based on those beliefs and opinions.

So, in effect, we're not really being told what to think, but rather, we're feeding what we are already thinking. Even though you're right about the importance of separating commentary from real news, you'll never take away people's personalities.

[Adamant1988]

Hey, Adamant. We haven't seen you around for a long time. How have you been? The last I knew, I think you were going to boot camp. I'm glad to see you made it through ok.

I read your blog post, and I think you made some good points. We definitely need to be aware of what we are taking in.

It's obvious that different news sources have different biases. If someone doesn't believe that, all they have to do is spend an hour each on CNN then Fox News. I definitely think that there is some "telling us what to think" involved. But I also believe that a lot of people already know what their values and opinions are and they flock to the sources that are going to feed their appetites. There are a lot of mindless sheep out there, but I don't think we give enough credit to the general population. They know what they believe and they choose their news sources based on those beliefs and opinions.

So, in effect, we're not really being told what to think, but rather, we're feeding what we are already thinking. Even though you're right about the importance of separating commentary from real news, you'll never take away people's personalities.

Yeah, I was disallowed from joining based on medical reasons. In hindsight, I'm glad for it.

Concerning your response: Excellent counter point, perhaps people are flocking to a place where their views are being promoted. But that begs the question in my mind: Are those same people spreading what they hear on FOX,CNN, etc.?

EDIT: I just added a new post and I would just be absolutely thrilled if you could all participate in this one. It's more of a group project than anything else.