First of all I’ll start with an admission…I never, ever thought I’d sound like one of those curmudgeonly old fuddy duddies who goes on about “in my day and age blah blah blah”.
In fact it pains me in some respects to even bring this up but I just can’t keep it in and for my own sanity and health, it’s far better out than in…
In this age of blogging, a free and easy platform for your voice and with the rise of the amateurs, does experience and authenticity count for nothing?
Why do I say this?
I’ve noticed a really, really disturbing trend recently…popular and well-respected bloggers writing about and advising their readers on things they’ve never done nor experienced themselves.
Am I alone in wondering just how effective their advice is, if they’ve never achieved nor experienced the goal they’re writing about?
I mean seriously, how can you authentically write about and advise others on how to do something that you’ve never done yourself? Am I missing the point?
I wouldn’t dream of writing about anything that I haven’t done or tried myself…for starters, I just wouldn’t have the knowledge despite googling the topic.
That’s why I don’t write about writing prose or poetry; it’s why I don’t write about how to earn money from adsense (although I have done this); and it’s why I don’t write about things I’m a relative novice at.
Perhaps I’m missing a trick here but isn’t the rise of this type of advice – from smart people who really should know better – a little irresponsible, if not downright dangerous in some instances?
Jonathan Woodward Studio
Kinetiva
Location Independent
Vibrapreneur
Very good point – I was actually taken aback when I wrote a post on losing 100 pounds (which I actually did) by the number of comments and emails and stumbles by people who said “cool to hear from someone who actually DID it.”
The constant advice-giving on finance, career, health etc. has started to wear on me, too, and I’ve only been active in the blogosphere for 6 months. It’s hard to stomach some of these experts who, 5 posts later, admit to never having done the things they advise their readers to do.
Oh well. Caveat emptor (particularly in the case of free advice).
I agree with you Brip Blap. I don’t think anyone can replace good advice from someone who’s actually done it.
No matter how good the writer, I believe you can tell in most cases when they’re writing authentically about something they’ve done versus something they’ve not done. I do wonder why they bother if most of the time they refer out to other articles – link bait probably, stumbles/diggs/SEO etc, probably…
Good post. Came here from BB’s blog.
In general I agree with what you said however there are some things such as retirement planning where you don’t have to be retired to be an expert at it.
Mike
Hi Mike – you’re right, there are some topics where “expertise” is not required but experience is…most of us engage in some form of retirement planning without being retired.
I think it’s important though if one is advising others on how to do something, that the person has at least tried it themselves (even if they’ve failed). Don’t you?