Blogrolling: Building A Meaningful Roll

It's hard to find a blog worth reading, many boring you to tears with chili recipes and truck stop reviews. Sidebar blog rolls would be useful, but the notion of increased readership through reciprocal linking has made most of these lists too long to be meaningful. Blogger's "next blog" button is as likely to drop you off at Yumi or Sangre En Tus Manos as it is a gem like huff.photo.blog. I have a few simple conditions for adding a blog to my reader - well written, regularly updated, and readable in 3 minutes or less. You'd be surprised at how effective these guidelines are at filtering out 60% of blogs. I reject another 39% based on two personal preferences. First, I don't read blogs that practice virtual navel-gazing by blogging about blogging (Dave, you kettle, you should read your own post). Second, I loathe the memes, tags, and games that take the place of original content, and which I compare to collecting stickers.

I've listed a few sites along the side of this blog that I regard as top-drawer, but title alone is insufficient to persuade readers to follow the link. Over the next few weeks, I'll briefly write about why I enjoy these sites and include a blurb in the sidebar with each link. As I continue discover good blogs, I'll build a meaningful blog roll.