Well, I have to be honest… my first look hasn’t done much to dispel my suspicions. On the contrary, my first 15-minute foray into the blogoshpere has done a rather grand job chiseling a 40-foot tall, 300 ton stone edifice to pandering to mankind’s lowest common denominator.
Take for instance one of my very first random selections, http://electriccarconversion65.blogspot.com/. Having a particular fondness for technology and automotive topics, I was immediately intrigued… could this be my first example of a blog that provides information that would actually be of value? I mean, at first blush you might assume so, especially taking into account the current economic situation … although fuel prices have subsided quite a bit… and the seemingly surging tide of consumer support for all things ‘green.’ If this site really has useful, practical information it could be…
Nope!
Literally the first two things I read when the site popped up on my screen said it all. The blog title reads “Electric Car Conversion Kit, Cut Gasoline Expense by using a electric car conversion kit” and the first sentence… “Waht to know whats the prefured electric car conversion kit available?” I mean, come on… at least take some time to think about and PROOF your posts before putting them out there for all posterity! If you feel strongly about a topic, as I initially assumed HAYNES was about electric cars, the last thing I’d imagine you’d want to be is written off as some sort of hack because you write with the skill of a second grader.
And that got me to thinking about the apparent failure of our educational system. Are schools no longer teaching people how to communicate via the written word? It also raised questions in my mind as to the role this wonderful new electronic medium (email, blogs, text messaging, etc.) has played in the downfall of this important skill. A side note here: I firmly believe that being able to clearly articulate thoughts in writing is a life skill that everyone needs to master. Parents and schools fail children when they are permitted to make it out into the working world ill-equipped. I’m sure I’ll eventually get to a post that is a diatribe about education in our country, the rise of standardized testing, social-promotion, etc. as well as the role of email, text messaging blogs in the downfall of our nation’s ability to communicate at some point… but I digress.
I suspect that HAYNES spent all his time jumbling together information he had grabbed from elsewhere to create his blog. I have not done a search to see if I can come up with where the information came from, or to confirm if, in fact he did poach it, but the poor grammar, large gaps in what should be a logical progression and the language… I mean “We will be using acid type batteries…”? Come on! It sounds like it was literally pulled straight from an instruction manual or hands-on classroom demonstration.
The one smart thing he did do, however, was to provide the following link: http://www.electric-car-conversions.info/. This site, written by John Richardson, is apparently what he was trying so hard to emulate. What HAYNES seems not to understand is that the other guy actually converts conventional cars into electric cars! If you believe what he says on his site, the guy has actually ordered various conversion manuals and kits and tried them out… successfully converting his 1998 Volvo into an electric car that drives 200 miles per charge and tops out at 55mph.
If the information you highlight on your site is not yours – at least let people know where it comes from. If you are not providing new information (like John Richardson did… having personally tested the information/products he discusses) – you owe your readers enough to let them know that. If all you have is an opinion – at least take the time to string together a couple of coherent thoughts without butchering the English language.
Just like my site, there is no personal information on HAYNES’ profile. I can respect that. For various reasons, most importantly personal privacy, I’m not planning on putting my information out there either. However, his profile did offer some telling tidbits… he has/had a few other blogs, including: Don't Whiten Your Teeth Until You Read This, Best Teeth Whitening At Home Kits and mystuff341431… all of which, to my great chagrin, were empty.
The several blogs my aimless clicking took me to after HAYNES’s little gem did little to change my mind about the inability, or lack of effort, many people put into communicating their thoughts in their blogs. I'm sorry, but unless I’m sorely mistaken, doesn’t just about every computer come with a word processing program that includes at very least a rudimentary spell-check function?
I’ve got to find a better way to find a higher quality of blogs…
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