It’s all about the lifestyle

The next post in the b5media 12 days of Christmas is from one of the first bloggers to join b5 – Jayvee Fernandez who is one of our tech bloggers. He’s also one of numerous b5 bloggers from the Philippines. I’ll allow him to share more…

I’m Jayvee Fernandez, editor of Cellphone9. Though I feature a lot of tech news and product reviews, I believe the competence of C9’s content hinges more on buying advice, product comparison and taking product reviews one step further from being more that “matter of
fact.”

Though it may not seem like an obvious difference, there’s a big shift in focus when people talk about blogging about technology versus blogging about the technology lifestyle. Case in point – when people turn to me for buying advice on what the best gadget there is out there, I always throw back the question – “What are you going to use it for anyway?”

If you take a look at the bigger tech blogs in the blogosphere, you’d notice that they are characterized by a witty pen (err keyboard), pre-press release rumors, and product reviews slash features in various forms. Engadget for instance does the whole Unpacking thing, which is sorta like a geek strip tease and can be, often times, arousing to the geek eye.

There are so many tech blogs around, maintained by enthusiasts like you and me. But how does the small gem outshine the big one? Sometimes it just has to do with the polish. What I’m saying is, if we take tech blogging from the point of view of a gadgeteer’s lifestyle, then I think we’re on to something.

Blogging with the tech lifestyle in mind is a very huge niche that offers several advantages to aspiring bloggers:

First. Like all lifestyle blogs, they tend to get very personal. This is the nature of the beast and you will agree with me that if Ronald McDonald blogged about his burgers, it will be a better read than the greasy diner guy who fries burgers all day. The tech lifestyle is no different. If you’re famous like Leo Laporte, then great. If however, you fall into the category of the geek next door (like the rest of us), it would be great to start out by introducing yourself through your gadgets. You get to answer questions like:

What was your first phone? Why did you buy it? What clothes do you wear to hang all your gadgets? What do you do for a living? How do these gadgets help you cope with work?

You are the authority of your own gadget life and people will, hopefully, read you when they discover why you bought the gadgets you have.

Second. I’ve been checking my blog stats and it seems that the two more popular entries being visited / commented are the ones that have reference to commercial titles like the Ragnarok Poring Mouse and the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children mobile phones. The post title really counts.

If you want to increase your page views by a few, it could help to include already-popular pop culture references. Everyone loves Final Fantasy. Ragnarok has a strong cosplaying cult following. It’s very Google-able. Think of topics where pop culture and technology mesh. I can think of several already, by just mentioning Sanrio’s Hello Kitty technology line.

Third. When doing product reviews, it could be helpful to measure by comparison, and not by numbers. Whenever I assign product reviews for my magazine, I always make it a point to tell my writers to do a “while you use it” review. Compare the two sets of sentences:

Set one: The Palm T|X measures 4.76 x 3.08 x .61 inches and weighs 5.25 ounces. It has a 312MHz processor and 128MB of flash ROM.

Set two: The Palm T|X is as it is named, the size of your outstretched palm. Because it is rather long and thin, it is advisable to immediately purchase a hard case to avoid a snapping disaster in your pocket or in your bag. It weighs as much as a desktop mouse and will easily fit your shirt pocket without being too droopy.

Though readers do love the tech specs, it would also be good to provide some real world feedback on how these gadgets all fit into your person.

For questions, comments and suggestions you could send me an email to jayvee[at]b5media[dot]com. Cheers!