Brothers In Blog

Online for a couple of weeks and it appears that all I’ve done is “rant.” I haven’t raved and certainly haven’t reviewed anything. Therefore it’s time to switch gears and review something — anything — how about one of my favorite blogs: Ilker Yoldas’s The Thinking Blog (your daily dose of fuel to keep you thinking)?

Why review a blog in the first place?

Okay, you caught me, shamelessly trying to generate traffic to Brothers In Blog by participating in a blog contest. In all honestly, however, I think the contest is over so my entry won’t matter in the long run. What does matter, is that The Thinking Blog is a good blog. The site owner, Ilker Yoldas, blogs about a variety of topics from site design to non-technical (yet thought provoking) topics. Because of the diverse subject matter, The Thinking Blog might be of interest to regular Brothers In Blog readers.

What caught my eye at The Thinking Blog?

I discovered The Thinking Blog as I was investigating MyBlogLog (a very interesting way to find and connect with other bloggers). I was trying to figure out the “Recent Readers” sidebar on someone’s blog (can’t remember if it was John Chow’s blog or The Instigator blog). I saw the option to “join” the community and a bunch of other images. I started clicking away and before I knew it I was at The Thinking Blog reading a post encouraging readers to join a blog meme to help protect kids against wide open adult content. As I read the post and began to think about the call to action I realized that the post had done just what the tag line of the site said it would do: your daily dose of fuel to keep you thinking. At that point I realized that this was not your ordinary blog.

What makes the blog interesting?

I enjoyed the first post I read, but why did I keep coming back? I was impressed with The Thinking Blog’s ability to touch on a variety of subjects without feeling totally random. I’ve read several blogs lately and noticed that most of them attempt to stick to one topic, those blogs that don’t stay within a specific topic or category tend to feel too random for my personal tastes. The Thinking Blog, however, managed to break the rules of focus and kept my attention despite not sticking with one topic. I suppose, however, that provided each post makes the reader think, then the blog is staying on topic because that is part of its tag line: your daily dose of fuel to keep you thinking.

Perhaps I’m getting hung up on the tag line, but consider this…the post about a kid safe Internet got me thinking, and then an old post about getting an almost free favicon also got me thinking. I don’t think Ilker intended the favicon post to be thought provoking but it certainly got me thinking about the importance of site “branding.” Despite the size of a favicon, they are very important in the context of web site branding. Branding aside, those little favicon graphics are tough which in turn got my immediate respect. Let’s face it, anyone that can toil over those little graphics and then offer to make one for $20 deserves respect.

What don’t I like about The Thinking Blog?

Let’s be honest, a review of anything doesn’t sound sincere if the writer just gushes throughout the review. Therefore, in an effort to sound objective I should point out my one gripe I have about the blog: it’s doesn’t properly showcase Ilker’s web design skills.

In several posts on the site, Ilker has shown impressive design skills and yet her own site’s design doesn’t jump out and make you say, “Wow!” I admit that good design is purely subjective, and some people may be impressed with the site. To each his/her own, however, I’d prefer to see better use of color and overall layout.

All that being said, The Thinking Blog is well worth a visit and several return visits thereafter. Personally, I don’t comment too often on the site, but I do visit almost daily to read the latest and get a little fuel to get my mind thinking. Stop by and take a look, read a few posts, and decide for yourself. I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.

Barry’s 2-Cents:

You know this blogging thing is still relatively new to me, so it’s taking me awhile to digest the morsels you’ve already thrown at me (John Chow and The Instigator) along with some others I’ve stumbled upon. As for The Thinking Blog, I actually found myself caught up reading the article on the April Fool’s Pranks, and I cannot believe I watched that Turkish Batman and Robin clip in its entirety.

I do agree that the site scores low on the WOW factor for its appearance. We have our work cut out for us on BrothersInBlog, but I think Ilker’s comment “The Thinking Blog has a great graphic design” is a stretch. However, in reviewing the replies posted on the site it is obvious that The Thinking Blog has connected with a lot of people, and that’s what it’s all about.

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