When I finally tried the much-talked about Wordle, I decided to give it free-reign when coming up with my “word cloud”. I just typed S Studio’s URL and let it spin its magic.
What came out shouldn’t be a surprise to me. After all, those are words that I’ve been using on this blog over the last week or so.
Yet, I found it strangely alarming to realise that most of those words don’t really say much about my blog, or myself. Or at least, they’re not saying what I want it to say.
And, it freaked me.
It made me realise that perhaps, I’m not blogging the very things that I wish to be blogging about. That I may be spending way too much time writing things that don’t really share the message that I wish to share.
A few weeks ago, before I even tried Wordle, I decided to write my own “word cloud” by hand in my journal/sketchbook. That time, I only used words that mean a lot to me. Words that I wish people will associate myself and my blog with. I called them “Words of Life.”
And, if I was being true to those words here at S Studio, then my Wordle “word cloud” would’ve looked more like this:
I guess, I better start aligning what I want to say in this blog (and my life in general!) — to what I actually say, right? Now, to figure out how to get that going.
What about you? Do the things you blog about really reflect what’s inside you? Your essence? Your passion?
What does your blog say about you?
Connie (12)
Kari (10)
Kharen (5)
Mel W (5)
Christina @ The H... (4)
Sasha (4)
Jen (3)
Diana Bletter (2)
Em Dy (2)
ibyang (2)
Says I often find myself asking “what was this blog really about- what did I learn? what was useful and new?” It’s rare to read one that satisfies on the content front. I think it would be good to read more content… Perhaps you found yours was more about concepts than content? The cloud is rather telling. Now I must rush off and do a cloud onmy own blog- it might be conveying the idea that I am an accountant or something- oh LOOL!! [Sorry to all accountants- I just find the whole thing boring- it's just me and I'll allow the fact that you do very interesting jobs in your own field!].
Hey, Kay, you must be plurking so much you even begin your comment with “says”.
Anyway, I hope that you find something satisfying here in this blog. Can you help expound what you meant by Content vs Concepts? Would really appreciate it. And yes, the “word cloud” definitely does say something. I wonder what you found out in yours? 
I was quite surprised to see what mine pulled for the tag cloud….not what I would’ve thought. It is definitely a good opportunity to get refocused on what’s important to you and what you hope to share.
I might have to piggyback off this and post my Wordle results. It is rather interesting to say the least
Glad you found it useful too, Kari. Using Wordle that way is like getting a non-judgmental reviewer of what your blog is saying (or isn’t saying), isn’t it? It’s a good thing to learn.
Hi Shai,
Thanks for sharing this one. I’ll definitely be having a play with that.
No worries, Heather. Happy to share.
Hope you enjoy playing with it!
Hey Shai,
I used this about a month ago when I first started blogging about the Social Media field, and have gone back and taken a look at a new view of the blog in Wordle. I am pretty happy with what I see in the new version. I am going to add this to the regular review process I will put myself through to see how I am doing. I have posted a link to my Wordles below, both for the blog as well as my Delicious account.
http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/118906/ww.frankgorton.com
http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/118920/My_delicious_account_for_www.frankgorton.com
Thanks for the gentle reminder to police ourselves. Love the blog and have a great day.
Frank
The wordle program is so incredibly cool. And your second word cloud does represent your site much better than the first.
I like how the first attempt made you look more introspectively though. Keep up the fantastic work here.
Great article. I am definately going to try this. I hadn’t thought of using Wordle in this way before. Thank you very much for the inspiration!
I like your version much better, Shai.
I found my Wordle very telling – the biggest word by far on my cloud is “Time”. Of all the things I think about ‘time’ is definitely number one. Not enough of it, it is slipping by too fast, I spend too much of it worrying. I don’t know how in-depth the cloud is though because it rates Plurk and Ravelympics very highly yet doesn’t rate knitting/crochet/sewing at all, and they are things I have blogged about constantly for over 2 years.
Hi Shai. I think your blog’s right on track as far as your Words of Life is concerned. I don’t think Wordle is entirely accurate. I think it only reads through the most recent posts. If a blog has a long history, such as the case of S Studio, I don’t think Wordle can quite capture its essence.
As far as I’m concerned (and I’m sure your other readers would agree with me too), you’re doing a great job at Words of Life!
Hey, Frank, Jen, Laurel, Hope, Melissa and Em Dy. I can’t believe that I missed replying to your messages. I just saw your comments today and would just like to say thanks for sharing your thoughts (especially the kind comments!). Really appreciate it.