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Oh well, I've started so I might as well finish... or at least continue with the reviews I haven't done yet. So without further ado, here's the next review: Caledonian Comment.
The screenshot is a bit misleading as I saved it a couple of weeks ago. The latest post is dated August 11th.
The background of the site is a bit longer than usual but it's interesting to read the site's history;
Caledonian Comment first appeared as a live daily slot on the award winning Les Ross Breakfast Show on BRMB Radio, Birmingham, UK. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the feature grew in terms of both its popularity and its notoriety, with cutting satire and withering abuse aimed at as many deserving victims as possible. Now, after years of self-imposed exile and quiet retreat while he waited for a male menopause that never happened, Caledonian Jim has now returned, refreshed and as acid as ever, to enrich your internet experience with cynical world-weary observations designed to prick the baloons of the pompous, the politicians, the jobsworths, the incompetent and the politically correct idiots who seem to inhabit positions of authority with ever-increasing depressing regularity and cause us all grief.
Sounds like quite a site, doesn't it? And it is. Read on to find out why.
Content
There's no doubt about it, Caledonian Comment is authored by an excellent writer. The posts are engrossing and entertaining with plenty of satire.
A quick look around the site shows that it's filled with moderately lengthy posts broken up with relevant photos. It's a cross between a newspaper (due to the writing style) and a magazine (from the photos and the layout). It's an interesting mix and works well on a blog.
As far as I can see, a new post is added every day. This is a good thing, although it may prove too much for someone who wants to trawl the archives. Then again, as the content focuses on recent news, you probably wouldn't scroll back too far.
The only criticism here is that the posts may be a bit too long if you don't keep up with them. But this is a minor point really.
Community
I don't see many comments on the posts. However, they are not really the kind of posts I'd expect loads of comments on. You can read and enjoy them without feeling the need to comment.
For me this raises the question of whether some blogs can do well without comments, or whether an occasional open question should be used. Perhaps a forum. I'm not sure, but I think it would be good if more readers added their comments.
I guess this is a good question for Caledonian Jim. Are you looking for comments? Is this likely to change in the future?
Focus
The focus on current affairs is very strong indeed, but it's the style of writing that gives Caledonian Comment an edge. News websites are informative (sometimes), but if we only ever heard the cold, hard facts, the information sharing process would be a bit lifeless.
This is a blog that kicks life into the age-old concept of reporting the news. Sure, news sites have their place. But once you've heard the news, don't you want to know what other people think of it and what it means for them?
That's where Caledonian Comment stands out. Having a voice is very important if you want to be recognised for doing something a bit different.
Design
The design of Caledonian Comment is quite simple but it does the job well. I like it. The banner at the top seems to change from time to time - I haven't figured out how often it changes or how many different banners there are. I particularly like the one in the screenshot I used for this review.
The sidebar has a different colour to the main content section, which is subtle, but it works. I'd like to see more blogs doing this - in my view, the sidebar should not have the same background colour as the content.
Perhaps there are a few too many bits and pieces in the sidebar that don't really add much value for the reader - but on the other hand, the content is quite long, so it would look odd if the sidebar was very short. Maybe the sidebar could be put to better use. A minor quibble though.
Summary
Caledonian Comment is a top notch blog that is well worth a read if you like a bit of satire. Even my critical (though constructive) reviews can't find anything wrong with the site, nothing major anyway. Check it out.
- Want a review? Contact me.
Tags: blog reviews, caledonian comment
Posted by Ben on August 11, 2008 21:28 / Edited: August 11, 2008 22:17
Comments
Simple designs is a very safe way to go. Sometimes it is really difficult to decide how you want your website to look. It is better to go to simple than to go to extreme though.
I'm looking for a standard format for blog review and I found yours to be what exactly I'm looking for.
Great review you have it here. On a side note, I'd love to hear what you have to say about my blog in a review if you think it's worth the effort.
Yan
Hi Jim, like you, I'm starting to think about whether I want the comment count to be high. Some of the bloggers whose work I read are obviously picking on comments to reply to. They still read all of them, just not reply to all of them.
This could be an interesting read: www.43folders.com/2008/08/06/your-real-job
I also read somewhere (can't remember) that the comments and responses could be happening away from the blog. Some social tools such as FriendFeed captures feed content and allows users to have a conversation at that site, not on the blog. That could be happening to you.
Thanks for the supportive comments, glad to see these reviews are proving to be useful. :)
I've come to the Caledonian blog through EC but I don't have enough interest in the topic of politics/ current events to be a regular reader. The blog does look nicely done. As far as comments, I think long posts and a blog with a critical/ cutting tone discourage comments as they just don't seem reader friendly. Or at least not very welcoming of other points of view or just a friendly hello.
Yes Laura I think there's something in what you say. It may well be that the tone of the posts discourages comments . The trouble is, if I change the tone, I lose the flavour of the blog .
I've been reading Caledonian Comment for months. It's one of my favourite blogs of all time. I rarely comment though. The reason has nothing to do with the tone which I very much like, but more because of the fact that the post covers so many different subjects. Sometimes I want to comment on what seems to be a trivial part of the post as a whole, and I find that inhibits me.
I personally would like to see more comments, especially more meaningful ones, whether answered or not. It is good to have response from the author, but I can very well appreciate how much time that takes.
I really like to read Caledonian Comment on a daily basis! It's one I miss drastically when he goes off on some golfing trip. Reading Jim's daily entries is like tuning into an online version of a radio commentary or listening to that old guy at the end of "60 Minutes" (I can't remember his name). I wouldn't change a thing, Jim, because I think it's all you and your voice and your hard work.
Ben,
Thanks very much for your comprehensive review . As I enter the 4th month of daily blogging your views are really encouraging .
A couple of your points : -
COMMUNITY - Yes the number of comments is low and I do find that a bit strange. Reasons ? (a) No-one is reading the blog ; well I'm averaging about 350 visits a day, although one or two recent "Stumbleupons" have raised that to over 1000 on 4 daily occasions recently .(b) The opinions I express are too definitive and discourage comment . (c) The political "slant" of the blog is neither left or right, but rather attempts to slag off everyone - maybe people are uncertain .(d) The blog is too wordy and discourages responses .
I myself am not sure whether I want to encourage too many comments - frankly it's hard and time-consuming enough writing the daily output without getting bogged down in detailed debate . Having said that, installing SezWho hasn't encouraged many "rate this" clicks either and that IS worrying . My daily Digg counts and Technorati count are still low too .
DESIGN - I've got currently 24 different banners which I rotate randomly, they include political themes, Scottish scenes and some abstract views . I'm not sure whether it's good to chop and change to suggest variety or whether I should chose one and stick with it .
Thanks again for all your time and trouble Ben .