A common mistake that most bloggers do is that they tend to become too preachy and too technical. Let the blog be the forum to allow ideas and concepts flourish from the readers and to let the true picture emerge.
My number one reason, at least for professional blogs I read, is to learn new ideas and concepts. It is great when bloggers seem to find stuff you never thought of or who have thought provoking ideas and ways of thinking.
The reason I visit DR is because I know I'll sometimes learn something new, learning has to be there.
Jeff does not alienate the readers. He does not make them feel like he is the great guru and the readers are his disciples. He involves his readers as much as possible in the blog discussion. He invites their opinions and suggestions, and keeps an option for them to voice their problems as well. This makes the blog more interesting. I like bloggers who try to encourage community by allowing comments and who also take the time to respond sometimes in a hotly debating manner. There are times when special interest groups or people dominate the forum however Jeff seems to monitor this well.
Some blogs exist to entertain, others to educate, others to advocate, with out the top down information flow and the paid advertisers who mask promoting their products and services in magazines and news media. We sometimes see where there are “special interests” motives behind some of the comments however the truth usually comes out in the debate and it is plain to see for most.
Thank you Jeff for creating a blog involving such an industry as ours that really needs to have forums like this to bring the change needed to allow it to improve and be succesful.
