Blogs Are Cool

I often get responses via email to my blog posts. Almost all of those responses would make great blog posts on their own — and, in fact, I wish they were on the web so I could link to them, so you could read them too.

Now, plenty of people do post responses to their blog, and I see those in my RSS feeds, or they mention me on Twitter and include a link. That’s awesome.

But, to the people who send email, to me or to any blogger: please consider publishing what you write instead of emailing it. Not because email sucks, but because more people than just me should be able to read what you wrote. You have something to add to the discussion.

If it makes it easier to compose in your email app, then that’s fine. That’s a good approach to writing blog posts — imagine you’re writing an email to a friend, but then publish it.

And then let me know that you’ve published a response. Send me email or get me the link via Twitter. Easy.

* * *

Slight tangent: I’ll plug MarsEdit.

Ten years ago I wrote about MarsEdit’s design — and the gist of it was that it makes it feel more like you’re writing an email to a friend than Writing an Important Blog Post.

My goal, in other words, wasn’t just to write a good app that people like, but to write an app that makes it more likely people will write for the web. It was designed to take the pressure off.

If you’re not using MarsEdit, and you’re having trouble getting your thoughts on your blog, give the free demo a try. You might find that it helps, that it makes it easier. (And, if not, no sweat.)