Do Blogs Need Opinions?

Posted on June 10, 2005

Steve Rubel at Micropersuasion writes in a recent post: "Good blogs don't need to have opinions to become well read. They do need links; it's their air supply." This has started a mild debate on various blogs. Steve Rubel is correct that there are many popular blogs that do a great job of simply connecting readers with relevant news articles and information through web links and short summaries. However, many of these blogs have a general theme or style that attracts return readers which could be considered an opinion. For example, a reader could come to the conclusion that Micropersuasion is bullish on blogging and thinks that blogs offer great marketing and PR potential. That's an opinion.

Here is blog posts that disagree with Rubel's post. Andrew Lark disagrees with Rubel and says his notion is flawed:

Really? IMHO, this notion is flawed in absolute terms - the best blogs aren't purely pointers or linkers. And, great blogs are rich with opinion.
"Best" is in the eyes of the reader. For instance, I tend to migrate towards bloggers crafting opinions and views that I might not get somewhere else.

And Chris Colby at Netcom also thinks blogs need opinions: "I'd argue that blogs need opinion; it's the air supply that makes the blogosphere worth reading. While it is useful to have a connector, the real value is in the content they link to and the debate they engender. Links are easily replicated but opinion is the end product that the connectors need to survive. If that original content dries up, then the value of a connector that feeds upon them follows suit."