I remember a time when newspapers were about news.
Flemish newspapers have evolved into something like lifestyle magazines. They write about gastronomy, where to get the best champagne, travel, clothes, fitness and sex. They all have sections where you can read about the sexual antics of their readers.
I have nothing against that. There are articles about sex on this website as well. There will likely be more in the future. I just find it a bit bizarre that almost all Flemish newspapers are doing this now. They have almost become like Playboy, but without the nude pictures and – sadly – without the hard-hitting articles Playboy was known for, at least for a while.
I believe these articles are very popular. Maybe they are among the few articles that actually get read beyond the headline and the intro.
Also on this website the articles about sex are the most read. We don’t have the means to be a full blown newspaper, so we can’t compete with any major publication. We’re doing this on the side of making a living.
We are however considering to start writing mainly about sex, since we do like having readers.
Politically all we want to express is almost always already being expressed by people like Jimmy Dore, Lee Camp, Aaron Maté, Chris Hedges and others. And yes, they are just better at it than we are.
How would anyone interested in politics find his or her way to this obscure website?
The trick would be to write spunky erotic stories – realistic ànd arousing – and to slip in political discussion, via the dialogues between the überhorny, but philosophically inclined characters.
That may be a case of raising the bar, way way way too high. And it would require a much bigger effort. Lately we’ve been slacking on this website, cause almost nobody reads us anyway. That’s just the way things are. It’s incredibly hard to break through the noise. There is a lot of superficial shit out there, but we are also the first to acknowledge there are lots of incredibly creative people out there who make content that is catchier than what we have offered on this site so far.
We hope to grow in the future, but we don’t really know which direction to go in.
It’s rather depressing to write – sort of ok – political stuff and then to be completely ignored and see Twitterati getting loads of attention for repeating the same simple ideas, ad nauseam.
Just an honest musing triggered by seeing yet another Flemish newspaper peddling reports on sexual encounters.
Thoughts very welcome. Preferably without meanness.
For what it’s worth, I enjoy both your political articles as well as the, uh, others. But I don’t really have any suggestions on how to boost your readership. Are you writing this blog because it’s your passion, or because you expect to monetize it somehow in the future?
LikeLiked by 1 person
A reader!! Well, it’s a combination of both. It’s definitely my passion. If I was the last person on earth I would still write, but I do need money and this blog takes a lot of my time to keep it going. Every second I put into it is a second am not putting into things that actually get me money (teaching, psychotherapy and interpreting). And I have no idea how to boost the readership of this site other than to write about sex. But then am that superficial moron who writes only about sex…
LikeLike
If I am your only reader, you could just email me your articles 😉
I think if you’re passionate about writing in general, your best bet is to write about whatever you really want to write about. If the blog isn’t making money anyway, you don’t have anything to lose. But if you stay true to yourself, the blog will be much more unique than it would be if you just wrote stuff that you think will attract readers.
And maybe, just maybe, there are people out there who will like your unique blend of politics, self-development, book reviews and raunchy sex stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent advice. Thank you. Lots of food for thought. Where are you from?
LikeLike
Sorry, hadn’t seen your answer to this before. But as you might already have deduced from my answer to the other post, I’m from Germany.
LikeLike
Ja, genau. Ich unterrichte Deutsch heute, aber auch Niederländisch und English. Was machst du heute?
LikeLike