Support for Catholic blogs

YoungIreland · #1 Apr 26, '12, 3:27 pm

Having been on Catholic Answers, I am rather disappointed at the attitude of the forum towards the blogging community. We are discouraged from giving our opinions on news and issues important to Catholics, and if we do, there is a risk of infractions. Other forums I have been on have been much more supportive of blogging and the administrators have even promoted the blogs of forum members. In contrast, on Catholic Answers, bloggers are restricted to the Water Cooler forum which barely sees the light of day and is hardly the way to encourage a grassroots Catholic media. At a time when anti-Catholicism is on the rise, and the recessoin means that people may not be able to afford Catholic newspapers, Catholic blogs do valuable work in evangelising and spreading news and opinion from a Catholic perspective.

So what am I suggesting? Well, how about setting up a forum especially for the blogging community where registered members who run blogs can promote their work ( vetted by Catholic Answers for orthodoxy and spam-proofing ) and realistically increase their readership without fear of infractions or bans. That way, the bloggers can exchange articles, while Catholic Answers will need no longer worry about "spammers" who simply want to get a few extra readers. I'm not sure if it will be taken up, but hey, it's a suggestion and will save both bloggers and CA a lot of problems.

**Dale_M** · #2 Apr 26, '12, 3:52 pm

I understand the desire to advertise one's blog. This is a big site, and if it can be used to drive traffic to a blogger's page it might make the process of blogging seem worthwhile. After all, blogging day after day, month after month, when only a few people are reading it can begin to feel pointless. The blogger is putting in hard work, but that work is unnoticed.

But isn't what we do here in the forums is pretty much the same as blogging? We offer our opinions, insights and experiences and supplement them with links to authoritative documents or news articles. I wonder if that isn't part of the unfavorable reaction you are getting. Why would we want to visit another site when the blogger could just as easily express his thoughts here?

YoungIreland · #3 Apr 26, '12, 4:09 pm

Dale M,

I understand your point. It might be an annoyance for some people to have to link to another site. But the main difference between posting on a forum and blogging is editorial control. In a forum, your views are vetted by moderators and you may be banned from discussing certain topics. On a blog though, since you are the boss, you have much greater freedom to post on anything, and can talk about things that mightn't be allowed on a forum (e.g. Medj, radtrads, evolution,etc.) . This allows for more vibrant discussion than would otherwise be possible if blogs didn't exist.

bmullins · #4 Apr 26, '12, 5:03 pm

I'm not sure I've ever experienced the particular issue that you are mentioning? I've linked my blog a time or two, only when it pertained immediately to the topic at hand; and never had any issues. The only forum I can think of that it would be an issue is if you link an 'opinion' piece of a controversial nature in the 'news' section. That of course would be problematic as it would be perceived as 'news' when it's actually opinion.

Or if you link things completely off topic.

YoungIreland · #5 Apr 26, '12, 5:09 pm

The link contained very little, just an article from the BBC and a couple of lines of background.
BTW, great to meet another blogger.

Have seen your site, its very good, much better than mine.

bmullins · #6 Apr 26, '12, 5:33 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoungIreland

The link contained very little, just an article from the BBC and a couple of lines of background.
BTW, great to meet another blogger.

Have seen your site, its very good, much better than mine.

It needs a lot of work, but it's like me; a work in progress. (My grammar is horrible!) I just subscribed to yours and will try to check it out.

Luigi Daniele · #7 Apr 26, '12, 5:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmullins

It needs a lot of work, but it's like me; a work in progress. (My grammar is horrible!) I just subscribed to yours and will try to check it out.

Dumbest question of 2012 nominee

How does one start a blog?

YoungIreland · #8 Apr 26, '12, 5:53 pm

Simple really, there are many platforms where you can set up a blog for free. My personal favourite is Blogger. ( I'm not trying to be facetious or anything like that, I just want to help ).