I often spend a little time over at Blogmaverick.com, where Mark Cuban recently sought to give the world of blogging a little of his insightful perspective. It seems that Mr. Cuban finds little to respect in the world of blogging, or at least in the world of slipshod ,cookie-cutter blogging. Though I found Mark's blog entry a trifle difficult to read, which is quite unusual coming from him, I nonetheless agree with most of the body of his post. I especially agree with his assertion that just because a blog is backed by the name of a well-known media organization does not in itself render that blog worthy of special notice.

Mark Cuban wrote, "...newspapers having 'bloggers' is easily one of the many bad decisions that newspapers have made over the past 10 years." If newspapers are going in a wrong direction by producing blogs, perhaps they need to reinstall the title reporter and drop the title blogger to give a different perspective to the reader. If newspapers are using the term blog simply as a culture hook, then they have it all wrong and they're just selling their reporters short. I believe that I'm in agreement with Mark Cuban when I say that true reporters should be releasing content within some format other than blogs. Blogging is what I do, and I'll be the first to tell you that I'm no reporter. The titles are absolutely not interchangeable, though they may sometimes be used correctly in tandem.

Righteous blogs increasingly will become a sought-out information source for a world that still reads a little. Please don't write us off the page. We've been refining this gig for only a short while. Mark Cuban stated repeatedly, "a blog is a blog is a blog." With that position I take issue. The blogosphere has been in a state of constant metamorphosis ever since the term was coined. It's shortsighted to condemn blogging on the whole just because the web is littered with cut-and-paste hackers trying to wring a buck from ads by Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). I believe that Mr. Cuban does actually have respect for a few particular blogs. However, which blogs those might be, he's not readily disclosing.

Mark Cuban also blogged that branding is essential to blogging success. He wrote, "Perception is reality. If you can leverage your existing (blog) to create the perception that yours is different from the masses in some meaningful way, then you must do everything you can to do so." I'd like to add that each individual blogger should attempt to brand his or her own personal style. Just stamping out the verified facts may seem to be good service to the readers, but thousands of bloggers are doing that right now. In my opinion, if you really want to make the readership take notice of who you are, you must give them something of yourself to grasp on to. That sometimes includes fielding rumors, stating your opinions, speculation beyond the facts and the right to editorialize. It also occasionally involves taking the risk that some people might end up not liking you.

It might seem that the term blog itself has become a bit of a thorn in the side of Mark Cuban. He states, "If I worked for the NY Times, or any other media company with any level of brand equity, I would have done everything possible to define the section of our website that offers ongoing [content] as anything other than a blog." I believe that Mr. Cuban may have the opinion that the concept of blogs is becoming blurred with the concept of destination websites. If that's the case, I couldn't agree with him more. There's a point where the content presented differentiates itself between what is a blog post and what is a website article. This reality is not, and will never be controlled simply by presentation or word count. It resides mostly in the intent of the reader who visits the content. Just calling a bunch of words a blog doesn't make them one, and jamming snippets of scrollable content into what should be considered a destination website is something akin to sticking Post-it Notes in an encyclopedia. In my opinion, it just kind of muddles the overall effectiveness of the presentation. I believe you need to be producing one or the other, either a destination website or a blog.

Finally, Mark addresses his dismay with the quality of some internet content. Relative to reporting in the world of sports, he wrote, "There is no shortage of speculation and opinions on the net. There is an incredible lack of depth when it comes to game and team coverage." Unfortunately, I feel that this is the point where Mark Cuban might be backing the car over the dog. I believe if you want true depth of coverage in a blog format, then you must leave room for a bit of speculation and opinion. Otherwise, you're just writing a lifeless, bland entry of biographical data. While it is true that genuine journalism does not survive long apart from factuality, objectivity and depth, we need to remember that blogging is a medium that generally must entertain it's visitors in a way that conventional reporting has never been required to. We bloggers have learned that the list of necessary ingredients for blogging success includes sufficient amounts of verifiable factual information, insight from those involved in the subject, some background information, the writer's individual perspective and a bit of humor. Of course this list is not all inclusive and is subject to each blogger's individual intent and style.

I'd like to thank Mark Cuban for sharing his insight and opinions with us on his blog. He provides much good information for entrepreneurs and media hopefuls like myself. I always find useful information when I read his project, Blogmaverick. I can only hope that he might find my blogging to be as worthwhile as his own.