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November 25, 2007
How Smart Is This Blog?
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| Image: Commission
Impossible did not reach the "genius" level shown above. Anthony Watts sent me a URL that shows what level of education is required to read your web page or blog (here is the page). I think he was really trying to point out that his blog is smarter than mine. But I think it's important to realize that although my blog never finished college it does have some really valuable trade skills. These can't be simply converted to a formal "education level". For example, my blog has some fine carpenter skills, and an in depth knowledge of woodworking tools. One thing that people don't realize with my publication of this blog is that I treat it just like a business. I've done a lot of market research and my key demographic seems to be 7th graders who are also fans of Jessica Alba. So my blog is specifically targeted at that demographic. I also treat writing this blog like a real job. That means I show up late, do a half-ass job, and complain about it all of the time. But without further ado, here are the education rankings of the Norcal Blogs ranked by smarts required to read them (not all of them, that would be too much work). Debunking the Bunk - Fred Davis: Genius Dog's Breakfast - Alan Chamberlain: College (Undergrad) Watts Up With That - Anthony Watts: High School Post Scripts - Jack Lee and Tina Grazier: High School Bullfight - Dan Nguyen-Tan: High School But this is Chico, too - Steve Brown: Junior High School Commission Impossible - Me: Junior High School Iconoclastic - Meagan Dixon: Junior High School Buzz Blog - Ryan Olson: Elementary School Chico, Sustainable - Jeremy Miller: Elementary School EdSuccess - Dr. Joni Samples: Elementary School You can also use this important web development tool on web pages. Here are some local results. Chico ER - College (Postgraduate) Chico News and Review - High School Chico Beat - Junior High School City of Chico - College (Undergraduate) So what does this mean? Well I think it means I need to write more about cool rock bands, fast cars, and convert my blog over to a my-space page. I'm not about to bow to societal pressures and start writing to please elitist snobs with their high brow high-school educations. However, for those of you that do want to upgrade your blog's readability here are some hints. Fred Davis doesn't use images, post reader comments, or update his blog more than a couple of times per month. Fred's got the highest ranking of the blogs I checked. Based on Fred's modus operandi I suspect that if a blog writer took the additional step of never actually writing a blog it would move you to the pinnacle of the smart ratings. For those of you in the elementary school level that would like to move up a notch I've got one word for you. "Jessica Alba". Try it, it works. |
| Lon "The Councilornator" Glazner
- Party Ordinance Debate: This series of debates stem from Tom Gascoyne's endorsement of me for 2008 City Council (see endorsement here). Together we formed the Hooker Beat Alliance and are inviting experts from around the globe to debate important Chico topics. Spuds Mackenzie showed up drunk for Friday's debate, which was anticipated. That was bad, but then Sergeant Joe Friday never made it all. He was reportedly whacked up on goofballs and found washing himself in the downtown fountain. Which is not illegal, but unsanitary. The debate has been rescheduled. Tonight's debate on the future of local water resources should be a good one. Expect seating to be limited as one of the debaters is the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area who often brings a substantial crowd of supporters. |
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CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Gregg Payne, see comments below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at November 25, 2007 08:11 AM
Comments
Dang! That's valuable marketing information. I just did a check on my site greggpayne.com and found that I'm completely missing my target demographic.
Guess I need to dumb it way down.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at November 25, 2007 09:03 AM
Oh yeah, that's the Mensa logo.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at November 25, 2007 09:06 AM
Hi Lon,
I'm actually pleased that my blog is at the High School level, mainly because I write about sometimes confusing science topics. My goal when I was on TV was to always make the subject matter understandable to a wide range of people and I ported over that goal to writing my blog as well.
For those in the junior high level, fear not. It has been said that Readers Digest writes to a Junior High level so that it can reach the broadest demographic possible. So consider that a good thing.
Posted by: Anthony at November 25, 2007 09:49 AM
One thing that's interesting about this rating, is that it can change dramatically based on the content.
For example, today (Monday) the E-R is at high school level. When I first tested it it was at College (Undergraduate) level. I think when I first tried it the CNR and Beat were a little higher as opposed to when I wrote the blog.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at November 26, 2007 09:51 AM
Maybe you should have a "big word Mondays" feature to offset the Alba factor
Posted by: Anthony at November 26, 2007 11:07 AM
My site has lots of pictures, very little writing and hardly any complete sentences. Just like how I used to like my storybooks.
This is the complete opposite of the Fred Davis Theory.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at November 26, 2007 06:16 PM