A New Hobby: Blogging

[Starbucks]

Hey Everyone,

I hope you are all doing great!
A little while ago, I started a new hobby; Blogging!

As some of you already know, I am from the Netherlands but live in Argentina. Here in Argentina, they don't cover much about the situation in Europe or the US. They spend 30 minutes talking about how a taxi driver got robbed and just 3 minutes about how Russia destroyed another city in Ukraine.

So, people often ask me here about the situation in the EU, which turn into long talks. Not am I just talking about Russia/Ukraine, but we also talk about other things, such as Netflix removing its content, etc.

Some people actually told me that I should start a blog because they think I would be good at it, but I often rejected the idea because... well... I just didn't like the idea until now.

So I started blogging, I mainly write about articles I find interesting or something I like to discuss with others.
I have asked others their opinion about my articles. They told me that they like my writing style because it is conversational, gives some background information about the topics, and is easy to follow because of its transitions.

Now, I am very curious about what you guys think about my blog articles; I would really like to hear your opinion.

Here are some of my latest articles:

Netflix is Growing-Up
The West could Annihilate Russia’s Troops
A Booming Birthday Gift for Putin
NASA is Hitting Asteroids to Protect Our Planet


Let me know your thoughts!

 

[Retro]

Cool, feel free to link to your website in your siggy for a little promotion.

I'll check these out.

Looks nice, is it running WordPress?

 

[Retro]

Just got a 404 error when clicking the small block of dots at the bottom of a page.

 

[Starbucks]

Cool, feel free to link to your website in your siggy for a little promotion.

I'll check these out.

Looks nice, is it running WordPress?

Thank you so much! Will do!
Let me know what you think about the articles!

It’s running on WordPress indeed! I’m testing two different homepage layouts.. the current one is where it says “Hey, I’m Carlo”

And the second one dives right away into the articles… https://journalwide.com/stories

Which one do you think is better? Do you prefer the introduction first or dive right away into the articles?

I was running some Google ad campaigns and I’ve a lot of readers/visitors from India, Ireland and Australia.. interesting

 

[Starbucks]

Just got a 404 error when clicking the small block of dots at the bottom of a page.

Thanks for mentioning this!! I’ll fix that!

 

[Tiffany]

Thanks for sharing....will indeed take a look!

 

[Starbucks]

Thank you! I would love to hear your opinion!

Thanks for sharing....will indeed take a look!

 

[Tiffany]

Thank you! I would love to hear your opinion!

Great Blog....enjoyed reading about the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie. My daughter is pretty jazzed about it too. She's a big gamer, and did start out her early gaming on Nintendo and with Mario and Luigi of course!

It's a me, Chris Pratt! - Journalwide

Nintendo released, together with Illumination (no, not those elite guys), the very first Sneak Peak of the official Super Mario Bros. Movie.

journalwide.com

I'll catch up and read more of your blogs, thank you!

 

[Retro]

Hi Starbucks, apologies for the really late reply, since you wanted feedback.

I like both styles of homepage. However, the second, "straight in" version is perhaps a bit better, because regulars would get tired of seeing the intro slogan every time and then having to scroll to see the articles. The second version has an About link anyway, so people can see who you are from there. I would offer a dark mode as well, if possible.

Your articles are very well written (with great spelling and grammar, which is so important) and engaging. I see you stopped writing them in October after only a few, so I hope you resume your writing soon.

 

[Tiffany]

I'm glad you @Retro brought back up this thread from @Starbucks.....I just read the Nasa is hitting asteroids to protect our planet....also watched the trailer on the movie, "Don't look up". That's now on my list to watch. Looks like a disaster movie mixed with comedy which is rather an oxymoron (disaster comedy) but it works if it's done right, like the movie Hurricane Heist. I have bookmarked your website, Starbucks and looking forward to more of your blog.

 

[Starbucks]

Hi there!!

Last night I received an email from the reply of @Retro, and his comment actually made me smile! It made me very happy to read that you enjoyed my articles and hoped I will resume writing.

On top of that, @Tiffany replied which gave me another smile on my face. Thank you so much for bookmarking my blog! I'm glad to hear that you are looking forward to more of my articles!

I didn't have a specific reason for stopping with writing. I believe I was just rushing myself and putting too much pressure on constantly thinking about new articles. Perhaps it would be better for me to slow down and aim for one article per week, or every two weeks(?).

I like both styles of homepage. However, the second, "straight in" version is perhaps a bit better, because regulars would get tired of seeing the intro slogan every time and then having to scroll to see the articles. The second version has an About link anyway, so people can see who you are from there.

I agree with this! I will update the homepage and show my articles right away, instead of the intro slogan.

I would offer a dark mode as well, if possible.

Dark mode seems also pretty important, I will have a look at this!

Now, something I need your help with is... what would this kind of blog be called?
Personal blog? Column? This is something I have been struggling a lot with... I really need your help with this, because I don't know how to "categorize" myself.

A columnist writes opinion pieces for publication in newspapers or on news, or general interests. I do give my opinion on the current situations that caught my attention and interest... but I can't call myself a columnist, I think.

 

[Retro]

Hey Starbucks, great to see you back.

I get where you're coming from when it comes to having too much on your plate and not getting round to stuff. Thing to remember, is that your writing is something that you do for pleasure, as a hobby, so there are no deadlines. Just do what feels good to you and gives you satisfaction, it doesn't have to be on a regular schedule, either.

Glad my suggestions helped. If it helps any, you're welcome to PM me if you wanna bounce article ideas off me sometime, or perhaps prototype an article and get some feedback on it, etc.

You already have a name: Journalwide and it's a pretty good one too, plus a description underneath of what it's about. The logo looks good too, so I don't think you need to change anything there.

 

[Tiffany]

Here's an extra smile for your day, @Starbucks


​

 

[Crims]

Now, something I need your help with is... what would this kind of blog be called?
Personal blog? Column? This is something I have been struggling a lot with... I really need your help with this, because I don't know how to "categorize" myself.

A columnist writes opinion pieces for publication in newspapers or on news, or general interests. I do give my opinion on the current situations that caught my attention and interest... but I can't call myself a columnist, I think.

We usually call it opinion columns, though online there's a lot more legitimised opinions where nerds are, so its wta. Whatever you like. I freelance, the prescience of respectable journalists at the moment is rare, so good luck

 

[Starbucks]

Hey Starbucks, great to see you back.

I get where you're coming from when it comes to having too much on your plate and not getting round to stuff. Thing to remember, is that your writing is something that you do for pleasure, as a hobby, so there are no deadlines. Just do what feels good to you and gives you satisfaction, it doesn't have to be on a regular schedule, either.

Glad my suggestions helped. If it helps any, you're welcome to PM me if you wanna bounce article ideas off me sometime, or perhaps prototype an article and get some feedback on it, etc.

You already have a name: Journalwide and it's a pretty good one too, plus a description underneath of what it's about. The logo looks good too, so I don't think you need to change anything there.

Thank you so much, Retro!!
You’re completely right, I should remember it is a hobby and that deadlines do not exist with that. Which is something I forgot back then. I felt I needed to post at least two articles a week, or so.

These past few days I’ve been thinking what you’ve said and I really appreciate it!

I'll keep your advice in mind as I continue writing. I've been researching topics to write about and will inform you when I've written something.

I'll be going on vacation to the Netherlands next week. It's been almost two years since I moved to Argentina, but I’ll keep on working and… writing!

 

[Retro]

Cool, glad to have helped!

Enjoy your holiday and perhaps share a couple of pictures with the community if you'd like.

 

[Tiffany]

Bon voyage @Starbucks or should I say in dutch Veilige reis.....hope that's the right google translation for safe travels.

Your fellow nerds look forward to your future blogs when you have time to share.

 

[aussiefooty]

I'm one that won't do blogging.
Got into some trouble over a few of them i used to do.
You have to make sure that you do not defame anyone.
Hope i'm not putting you off your hobby @Starbucks but please be careful.

 

[Crims]

I'm one that won't do blogging.
Got into some trouble over a few of them i used to do.
You have to make sure that you do not defame anyone.
Hope i'm not putting you off your hobby @Starbucks but please be careful.

He's in Argentina, if anything they'd commend him. Good advice though!

 

[Tiffany]

It's a shame that there's so much censorship, that people are easily offended (like "they" purposely look for it), comedians are threatened by their comedy and in general you literally can't write an op-ed, or blog without fear of "someone" coming after you for "misinformation", or whatever the word of the day is that someone will use against you. Then "they" use that censorship key word as the label used for your penalty for sharing thoughts.