A Billion Blogs in a Million Niches........That are all the same!

This is a follow up to my little rant last night about people trying to create rules around Twitter.

I should preface this with some background. I live on a small Spanish island, off the coast of Africa, and have done for 8 years. I didn't realize it at the time, but one of the things that attracted me to the island was the fact that we have very few rules and regulations here. Let me give you an example: There's a path near my house, which runs along the edge of a cliff. It's a difficult and sometimes dangerous path, with rock slides and parts where you have to cling to the edge. But, it has some of the most amazing views you will ever see in the world, and you can only see them from the path, so we regularly take friends along it. And they always make the same comment "In our country, that path would be closed off, so nobody could use it." It amazes them that we can walk the path, ride our quads where we want, parascend where we like to, and swim whichever part of the ocean we choose. The local view is very simple - we're adults, we can calculate the risks and make our own decision. As long as we don't hurt others, we can do it. This attitude is now part of my life, and I become increasingly irritated with rules and regulations imposed on me in other societies.

I'm concerned that blogging is trying too hard to create rules and norms. Everywhere I look online I read how I should be doing this, how I mustn't ever do that, and it's worrying me. Isn't Web 2.0 all about breaking the shackles off the internet, about everyman and his dog being able to express pretty much whatever he wants, in whatever way he wants? Why then, are so many people trying to stifle that creativity with rules?

And when they're not creating rules, they're coming up with formulae -

• Find a niche
• Write 6 posts
• Write 6 more to bank
• Use Thesis
• Use these 18 plug ins
• Launch blog
• Comment on other blogs
• Start Tweeting
• Monetize the blog
• Sell membership
• etc etc

Are we in danger of creating a billion blogs in a million niches, that are all the same? It may be a route to mediocrity.

What is interesting is that the superstars in our market, are the ones who aren't obeying the rules:

Don't do paid reviews or overtly monetize your blog

Tell John Chow

Your blog must use your own domain and should have multi-media content

Tell Seth Godin

Your blog posts should use short paragraphs and be read in a couple of minutes

Tell Steve Pavlina

It's interesting, isn't it?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you that you shouldn't buy a blogging course from a master, or that you mustn't read and learn from the professionals.

But I am telling you this:

• Rules stifle creativity - so join with me in resisting them
• Following formulae can only lead to mediocrity - so look hard for your difference, your edge and break the mold!

Am I being obtuse and a little cranky, or does this make sense? Please let me know in comments.