You may be getting a lot of traffic on your blog. You may even be making a lot of money from your blog. At the same time, however, you may be feeling that your words would not be taken seriously if people did not know that you made money. You may even feel that many other bloggers, no matter how popular their blogs may be, act really childish in person or when it comes to different things. When it comes to being a blogger in the blog world, which you can compare on a rainy day to being a human on planet earth, how do you figure out the maturity level of bloggers?
Following are 5 important ways to gauge and examine a blogger’s maturity level, which you can also apply to your own character and blogging traits in order to figure out how mature of a blogger you yourself are. There are many other ways to observe bloggers and see how mature they are, but these 5 ways observe specific qualities in a blogger that determine how mature a blogger may be in both the online and the offline worlds:
5 ways to determine a blogger’s maturity level
- Communication skills
One of the most fundamental ways you can figure out the maturity of a blogger is the way that blogger communicates with the readers through blog content: written, photo, audio and video posts. Whether it is a one line post or a post consisting solely of 20 video files, the message a blogger tries to convey to the readers and the way a blogger conveys that message tells you a lot about the maturity level of a blogger. A blogger may communicate about interesting topics in an effective manner, showing signs of maturity on some levels related to conveying messages that a blogger considers important.
However, a blogger may also communicate about interesting topics in boring ways, or boring topics in boring ways, simply to fulfill the obligation of posting something in order to gain traffic. While it may seem cunning that a blogger is posting useless or poorly written stuff in order to gain more posts, it will also be clear that the blogger in question does not know how to provide a good service to readers in order to be able to claim something back from readers, like loyalty and repeat visits.
- Interaction with readers
This is probably the most crucial thing to observe, if you like observing bloggers. I observe bloggers regularly, and this very point tells me a lot about the maturity level of different bloggers. The way a blogger responds to reader comments, e-mails, instant messages or even over the phone or face to face messages, tells you a lot about the maturity level of a blogger. A blogger may fake a character on his or her site that sends a feeling of “I appreciate my readers” to everyone, but when it comes to actual interaction, such a blogger does not know how to interact with readers. If a blogger does not know how to interact with readers and still keeps posting about the benefits of interacting with blog readers, you can probably figure out that on some levels the blogger in question is not fully mature when it comes to the idea of honesty or interaction skills.
- Biases and Stereotypes
Many bloggers these days have biases or stereotypes against others due to various insignificant things. A blogger may be rude to a reader who belongs to a different country or religion, and a blogger may even write and promote stereotypical views related to certain ethnicities or even a specific gender (male or female). In this point, it is not the amount of bias or stereotype a blogger has about things, but the level of attachment a blogger has to his or her biases or stereotypes. If a blogger is stubborn and not willing to let go of certain biases or stereotypes simply because of self pride or the popularity of the blog, that blogger is most probably immature when it comes to dealing and balancing life with other people and the concept of appreciation.
- Level of integration of the blog into personal life
Some people talk about everything personal on their blog and ask their blog readers for help. Then, they actually implement advices they get through their blog and apply it to their real life without considering the fact that giving an advice online is much easier than giving advice in person. You might post about your boyfriend or girlfriend not listening to what you have to say, and I might respond with a “He/she is not the right person for you“, but that advice is not good for you if you do not tell me that the reason they do not listen to you at all is because they found you cheating on them, that you stalk them on a regular basis, or something else along the same lines.
You are probably immature because you want to run to online people to seek advice, as those online people do not know the whole story, and thus you can distort the story in any manner you wish. How can anyone trust a blogger in person who listens to advice from online people simply because of the fact that those online people do not know about the bad qualities found in that blogger? Such bloggers are probably not mature when it comes self confidence and also when it comes to dealing with relationships and their personal life.
- Seeing the big picture – it is not always about you
It is not necessarily about your blog. It is about others. Sure, you can post about what you are, what you wore, how much you made and so on, but in the end, when history looks back at blogs from today, you and your posts will be considered of having “inferior” quality and value compared to bloggers and blog posts which actually help people in addition to gaining something themselves at the same time. Now, you may want to argue that you do not care about what other people think, but consider this: if you really did not care about what other people thought, you would not be posting things on the internet in the first place, no matter how public or private your blog is, and no matter what the topic of your blog is.
Since you cannot see the big picture, you are probably not mature as you cannot realize the fact that you are living in a world where others also have needs. You are not the only one who needs something, so realizing the fact that you can also give something to others while asking something from them can help you be more mature when it comes to co-existing with others in this world, both online and offline.
These 5 points can help you measure the level of maturity a blogger exhibits and possesses. These points in turn can help you think objectively about the level of maturity in bloggers, as without the ability to think objectively, it is very hard to be mature yourself.
While you can earn a lot of money or gain a lot of traffic by talking about things that everyone wants to hear, think about this: a lion roaring at a zoo because of warning visitors to not touch its children, the cubs, makes a better impact at leaving long lasting impression on others compared to a lion roaring at a circus because of being trained to make people laugh. What do you think?
This post was written for the ProBlogger May 2007 Top 5 Group Project. This article was born while I was talking about similar things with Ronald when he came up with many of the above really good points.
...paul (5)
Mark (5)
The Nerdy Nurse (4)
Dave from HootSuite (3)
agen888 (2)
Andrew Escar (2)
Anthony (2)
brad barfield (2)
Chris L (2)
dave (2)
Hahah about the 4th one… You were probably thinking of the stuff I went through when you were writing that, huh?! =P
a lion roaring out in the wilderness makes a much bigger impact on people nearby than lions at the zoo and circus combined.
SP – of course, you were part of the inspiration too! I know that you do not follow other people’s advice blind folded, so you are way too mature for many on that level. =)
Vivien – Inspirationbit, good example! The reason I chose circus and zoo was to signify the stage-act like nature for the circus and the closed, not 100% natural environment in case of the zoo, since many blogs, if not most, do not act natural when it comes to being themselves and helping others.
SP’s comment above and your example of the wilderness just gave me some inspiration for another post.
Thanks!
Uh oh, now I’m scared of what the next post’s going to be about… LOL…
Oh, and thank you for the response to my comment! =)
Inspirationbit,
How about a tiger?
Simply Precious,
This must be an inside joke, so I’ll nod and pretend like I know what’s going on.
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Haha, by this list I’m a very immature blogger. I knew that anyway though, I’m a 6 year old trapped in a 23 year old’s body.
I want cake.
Interesting. I’m thinking that a couple of the points you’ve mentioned have as much to do with general writing skills as they do with maturity. I’ve met some very mature people who just can’t write. And vice versa.
Good thought-provoking post, I like it
It leads me to think that it is all about “blogging from the heart” – saying what you really feel.
Cheers, Andrew
SP, no need to be scared, I think.
No, thank “YOU” for commenting and sharing your opinion. 
Ronald, how about a liger?
And yes, the SP thing is an inside joke that you can probably guess easily.
I can imagine you nodding your head the way Ace Ventura was being forced to nod his head against the drums, when fighting the other fighter. Remember that? 
Hawaii Pictures, could you elaborate a bit more please? I think I must not be getting some hint or a point in your comment, sorry!
Rhys, thanks for stopping by and commenting. If you think you are a 6 year old trapped in a 23 year old body, then you do not need to think about the above list at all: realizing that specific fact itself gives you many opportunities to be, and probably already makes you, more than mature.
I am probably someone even younger, or a few kids combined, trapped in the current body.
I want cake too, chocolate cake, that is. Does that make me an immature blogger? If so, then I love being an immature blogger because of chocolate and chocolate cakes.
AuthorMomWithDogs, good point. Thanks for commenting. General writing skills help, as they portray some kind of a character of the writer. I like that you mention mature people who can’t write and vice versa; they should be kept in mind also when the above list is read. Maybe a new top 10 list is in order?
Andrew Boyd, thanks for the comment! I am glad that you like the post. I like that too: “blogging from the heart.” If it is sincere, it should portray a human side to blogging and hopefully convey honesty and sincerity.
Thanks everyone.
Thought provoking post Bes. I’m glad I found you through the Problogger project. I have more posts to go through on the list right now but I’ll be back to read more of your site later, thanks!
JoLynn
The best way to gauge a blogger’s maturity level, IMHO, is to look at their response to rude and abusive critics.
I can tell you are a mature blogger by your sentence structure, proper spelling & punctuation, intelligent & thought out post, response/trackback separation, your blog layout/format, and the way you reply to commentors on your blog. And yikes, that’s just a first impression. Well done.
I personally find myself immature/lazy when it comes to the internet, so I just back out of all that responsibility with a humor blog.
I’m not holding my breath for Responsible Blogger Magazine’s “Most Mature Blogger 2007″ award. But I would dress up nice if I was nominated.
JoLynn, thanks for the comment.
I am also glad that I submitted to the Problogger project; that resulted in all the wonderful people like yourself to come here and let me know what you think about this. Thanks for the kind words, and I look forward to your opinion on the other posts.
Chris – Martial Development, thank you for commenting. That is an interesting point; responding to criticism is indeed a good way to look at someones’ maturity level. I am seriously thinking of making another list also because of your and Karen’s (AuthorMomWithDog) suggestion.
You might be interested in my article, “The Art of Reacting to Criticizing comments.” Thank you.
Joe – Funny & Interesting Stuff, thanks for the kind words! I am not sure how to respond to such a nice complement. Thank you!
A humor blog helps a lot in interacting with others at a comfortable level, and if one can communicate honestly and comfortably, then it is much easier to be mature instead of trying to act mature. Also, we should definitely have the “Most Mature Blogger 2007″ award. I think we first need a Responsible Blogger Magazine.
Thanks for the comment Joe. I really appreciate it.
Bes,
This is a great article. And you picked the perfect picture
Now I’m wondering where I sit on the maturity level. I mean I look at topics that could bring in traffic because then I get my blog out there and known. But then I like to blog about things that happen during my day, happened in other peoples’ day or something that might help other people.
I guess my blog is a mix
Ronald, thanks for helping with this topic. You are always helpful, as usual. Maybe we should have a rating system to actually rate blogs?
Tyler, thanks for the comment and thanks for coming here.
Everyone should at least have an idea about it, or they should at least realize that such a thing can be observed on some levels. I can see that you do blog about things you want to, like your recent dr. appointment [hope you can walk again soon....I do not know much about that operation/surgery, but it sounded scary!]. The “something that might help other people” is a nice mentality that gives you extra bonus point at being mature when it comes to helping others and helping yourself also.
A “mix“, that is a nice way to put it. I think a mix or a balanced out blog can be amazing or better than a blog that is always acting serious/mature or always acting non-serious immature. Thanks Tyler.
Hi Ronald,
It was just a lame attempt at humor. I wasn’t trying to hint at anything. I thought it was a great post.
It is great post but I could no trying to any thing for blog.
BTW – I love the photo you choose for this blog post. The crying baby..haha.
5 ways to gauge a blogger’s maturity level by Bes Zain
5 ways to gauge a blogger’s maturity level by Bes Zain
Your post gave me some nice new thoughts. Keep up your work.
It is great post but I could no trying to any thing for blog. thanks admin..
It is great post but I could no trying to any thing for blog.