Why do so many blogs repeat the same posts?

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Recently I have started reading an increasing number of blogs.  Most of the blogs I subscribe to have their own style, a specific focus, and good, quality content.  However, even some of the blogs I really like post a few things I'm not all that interested in.

Previously I asked if it is ever OK to write off-topic posts.  I don't subscribe to any blogs that go overboard with off-topic posts to the point that they are more common than the on-topic posts.  But there does seem to be a trend where a lot of bloggers say a lot of the same things.

Here are a few examples.

Several bloggers writing similar on-topic posts.

As long as people are not blatantly copying other people's posts, I think this is something that is very difficult to avoid.  With so many bloggers writing so many posts, it's inevitable that some of the comments are going to overlap.

Sometimes you may find that another blogger writes a post that gives you an idea for a post of your own.  A good thing to do is to link to the blogger who gave you the idea - just don't try and steal other people's content.

Reporting the same news.

This is what made me write this blog entry.  A lot of people use WordPress - a popular blogging platform - for their blog.  Whenever a new version of WordPress comes out, loads of people post about it.  They simply tell their readers that WordPress version x.y.z is now out.  That's it.

How many people really need to report this?  Why aren't people commenting on it, e.g. to say what they think of the latest version, or to say that they've installed it and how well it went?

The main gripe I have with this kind of thing is that not everyone uses WordPress, and blogs are not only read by other bloggers.  This kind of assumption is cutting out potential new bloggers who want to learn about blogging but feel like they need to go on a training course just to be part of the crowd.

Unless you have a dedicated WordPress blog, how many people read your blog to find out about the latest version of WordPress?  Furthermore, how annoying is it going to be if someone subscribes to 100 blogs and every single one of them reports the new version of WordPress?

Fishing for people to join affiliate schemes.

This is one of the biggest turn-offs I have with blogs at the moment.  If the first post I read on a blog tells me the benefits of rssHugger, why Yuwie is better than Facebook, or how great Pay Per Play advertising is... I'm gone.

This goes above and beyond the WordPress problem.  People aren't just reporting the news, they're hoping you'll click their affiliate link and sign up to help make them rich.

I haven't got a clue what rssHugger is, but I have seen too many blogs raving about it to take it seriously!  That may sound backwards, but when you read the same post on dozens of blogs and the link has an extra bit of information on the end, like this - www.somewhere.com?id=12345 - see that bit at the end?  That's a sign that the person who linked to the site will get some kind of monetary benefit if you sign up.

Think of a car salesman... his job is to sell you a car.  Will he tell you if it's actually not a good deal when he knows he can make money out of it?  This is how I feel about affiliate schemes like this, and I usually avoid them like the plague.

So, before you do any of these things...

...ask yourself a simple question: What will your readers think?  Do they get anything out of the blog entry you're writing?  Will it help them?  If not... is it worth posting?

What do you think?

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