Liveblogging a TV Show? Do People Really Do That? (The Answer is Yes)

I was searching for information on a TV show I watch when one of these interesting blog sites caught my eye. As I began reading the content, I realized that I was reliving a previous episode of the TV show that I had already seen, detail by detail.

The blogger actually wrote that he was “liveblogging” the TV show. Is this something that people do normally? I mean, I totally understand the appeal to find out what happened to the various characters in the television show (and sometimes there can be very creative ways to blog about it), but liveblogging … a … TV … show?

In a world where DVR and TiVo didn’t exist, this would make perfect sense. After all, if you missed the show, you missed the show. But such technologies do exist and it’s very easy and possible to look back and see what you might have overlooked. I can’t see appeal in a complete written recap of the entire episode, especially considering the nature of the particular show. I might be in the minority here (I usually am), but the site gets no incoming links and no traffic either. Perhaps these blog posts don’t add any value to the overall quality of the blog. I don’t know.

I understand the desire to liveblog the events that beg transcription, like an exclusive seminar or a lengthy webcast that is not being recorded. I also understand the desire, in blogging, to tell the world what you know. Still, when it comes down to TV, their blogs would do much better with synopses.

Good content is king, they say. In the world of RSS feeds, people just don’t pay too much attention to news that was already covered by someone else. The only exception would be if you could repeat the same story with an interesting twist, making it clear that this is your intention (and calling attention to this in a headline where necessary). Otherwise, when you do get found, your readers may, sadly, realize that your contributions probably don’t add value to their day. And you will lose those readers as quickly as you found them.

Be original. Create original content. And naturally, make sure to network with like-minded folks to share your ideas with them. Just don’t let those ideas be something they’ve already heard.