PAX 08: The Dtoid-Japanator Panel, part four: Writing for your audience (Dale)

5:06 PM on 08.31.2008   |   Niero

9 comments

Its no secret -- Destructoid is a sausagefest, and we love our sausages. Um. Ok, I think I should start over. This is only going to get progressively worse, especially when the topic at hand is Japanator.com: One of the internet's leading sources of salmon pornography. Why must they post about tentacle insertion? Its obvious -- its what their readership wants, and Dale is happy to facilitate that need to keep his otaku kin happy.

Writing for your audience is critical for a blogger. We see the opposite happen all the time in people that get chased away from the community blogs section because they simply don't understand or respect their readership. In the general internet we often find blogs that seem to write for themselves with little or no regard for the public, which is one key reason many blogs don't receive comments. In this panel Mr. North talks about getting out of that rut and applying a simple formula that works: Introduce, Inform, and Invite. If I may add something to that, I think the greater problem is that you actually have to give a shit about your community.  If you don't, then that engage part is hard to fake. Authenticity goes a long way for a blogger.

Dale also touches on how not to be a douchebag, how to prevent your editorial from insulting your audience, the dangers of writing jargon, and life lessons from none other than the king of pop. Warning: some photos attached cannot be unseen.