Humor is a powerful thing when it comes to communication and has the potential to engage your reader on an emotional level.
Not everyone will succeed with it – but if you’ve got something funny to share don’t be afraid to share it.
A Word (or four) of Warning:
Of course – keep in mind that everything that goes up on your blog has the potential to add to or detract from your blog. As a result – when using humor consider asking yourself:
- is it relevant to your topic? – telling a joke just for the sake of it might not add anything (in fact it could be a distraction)
- could it be misunderstood? – blogging is global medium – is your humor global in it’s appeal? Could it do more harm than good to your reputation?
- is it actually funny? – I’ve just become a Dad – as a result my humor has apparently gone to the dogs (Dad jokes now abound). Perhaps it’s worth running your joke by someone before hitting publish
- use sarcasm with caution – while I love sarcasm (and use it a lot in real life) I’ve discovered it generally doesn’t translate in a written form and is consistently misinterpreted. Use it with caution.
I hope that doesn’t dissuade you from using humor in your posts completely as it does have a place in blogging and can be a powerful way of engaging with readers.
