Six Questions for Blogger

But first, this statement: I’m new to blogging, and I'm impressed. Getting started on Google’s Blogger is quick and easy. It's a cinch to name the blog, check template options, and start entering text. So, a bow to the creators, engineers, and product managers behind this media resource as it approaches its tenth birthday. (Blogger launched in 1999 and was acquired by Google in 2003.)

There's more, though, to becoming a happy Blogger (with a capital B) than picking a template and writing that first blog. If Google's Blogger earns an A for "Getting Started," it gets a D- for follow-through.

This adopted child, I'm sorry to report, shows unmistakable signs of parental neglect. When I mentioned this to web-savvier friends, including some Google staffers, they shrugged as if this is old news. Several urged me to check out Wordpress, an alternative blogger site.

Here’s the biggest sign of neglect at Blogger—of course, it’s related to writing quality—for a neophyte like me: If you want to customize the look and feel of your blog, you soon discover that the information provided by Blogger is not only inadequate, it's inexcusably amateurish. Coupled with bewildering or missing tools and circuitous paths to check or modify your work, this shortcoming is maddening.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t mind the informality of directions and explanations on the site; in fact, I prefer it. But effective informal writing depends on knowing the rules, and whoever’s writing or editing Blogger text doesn't seem to be aware of them. So... my Six Questions for Blogger. I’ll address these further in upcoming posts.

My Questions...
1. Who is the target audience for your house-written text, for example the text displayed on the “Basic” page under the “Settings” tab, including “Let search engines find your blog?” and "Description, among others?

2. Are you familiar with the editorial verity, "Writers and editors know more than readers"? Are you familiar with any editorial verities?

3. Are you aware that there’s a difference between American and British punctuation? If so, why do you use British punctuation, which, incidentally, is not the norm on other Google sites?

4. Is style consistency in written text—generally considered helpful, even essential, to effective communication—valued at Blogger?

5. Are your writers and editors familiar with in-house stylebooks for published—posted or printed—texts?

6. What's the process for writing and reviewing house text at Blogger before and/or after posting?