Many writers identify the importance of a personal voice in maintaining a weblog audience. A common attribute of many popular weblogs is the extent to which they project the individual personality of their author.

In TheWeblogHandbook, Blood repeatedly recommends a very personal approach to weblog composition (see also [1])

"The more your weblog reflects your interests and your world view, the stronger your voice will be. Write as if your life were an exotic country, describing it as though it were, describing it as though it were unfamiliar to you. Work hard to share your unique view of the world with anyone who stumbles across your page. Though you may think you are boring or commonplace, your are unlike anyone who has ever lived or ever will.... Your singular way of experiencing and interpreting the world is the only thing that distinguishes you from a hundred thousand other webloggers."

PersonalVoice is Bernstein's 7th rule for effective weblog writing: Stand Up, Speak Out [2]:

Do let your work on the living Web flow naturally from your passion and your play, your work life and your life at home. Establish a rhythm, so your writing comes naturally and your readers experience it as a natural part of their day or their week. But if the rhythm grows onerous, if you find yourself dreading your next update or resenting the demands of your readers, if you no longer relish your morning Web routine or your evening note-taking, find a new rhythm or try something else. Change the schedule, or voice, or tone. Switch topics. Try, if you can, to resist the temptation to drop things entirely, to simply stop.

Many successful weblogs project the personal voice of their author (see, for example, Dave Winer's Scripting News [3] or Dan Bricklin's Log [4] for personal voice in business weblogs). A few popular weblogs intentionally suppress personality [5] to gain authority, but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. (--MarkBernstein)

Jennifer Balderama, My blog, my self [6]

-- Last edited October 27, 2002

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Personal Voice