Saturday, January 18, 2003

Homer Simpson. What kind of weblog would he have?

The other day, I saw a repeat broadcast of the Simpsons episode where Homer Simpson starts his own website and develops it into a source of avidly sought after false news. It's The Computer Wore Menace Shoes if you haven't seen it.

Now that I have a weblog I empathize with Homer, and not because we both like doughnuts. I chuckled to myself as I realized that Homer was going through many of the issues that I have been going through with my own weblog.

SPOILERS--IF YOU HAVEN"T SEEN THE EPISODE BE WARNED.

To begin, Homer searches the 'net and finds a bunch of things that he really likes (such as flying toaster graphics and a Dancing Jesus) and puts them on his website, only to find that they are old news to everyone on the Internet.

I sometimes have this problem as, unlike Instapundit, I haven't been blogging for years. I come across new-to-me-but-really-old items on the Internet. Sometimes, I fall behind on serious issues that I might want to write about on my blog, or find that my would-be comments have been made already by someone else.

Homer sat and tapped on his computer waiting for his first hit to his website. I almost did that as I started my weblog. I haven't told my friends to start looking at my blog, so I am happy that people are starting to come and look at it. Slow, but steady growth.

I was also intrigued when Homer started to make up things to keep his website run of success going. I won't do that, but I am trying to strike a balance between what I want to write about and what my readers may want to see. Hopefully, they will sometimes coincide.

I hope not to be taken and held on a Prisoner-type island...but the rest of the episode made me wonder if someone on the Simpsons writing team knows a weblogger.

Idea: What kind of weblog would Homer Simpson have?

(mmmm....Homer Simpson's weblog (drooling noise) :) )

1. Like that policeman who noted what he ate for lunch on his website for several years, Homer would probably have a running feature: Doughnuts I have known.

2. Homer would make lots of URL errors. His site would often crash.

3. He'd sell his pop-up ads to Duff Beer.

4. His blog would take pot-shots at "nerds". Many alleged nerd-like topics (Star Trek, etc.) would never be discussed. (I like Star Trek, by the way, but I am hardly a Trekker.)

5. Homer would update infrequently, based on his laziness, or he would become bored and quit. (I base this on the fact that Homer is frequently at Moe's drinking or having crazy misadventures of some kind.) I think, though, that he would like to try weblogging in a bid for fame and fortune, based on the above Simpsons episode.

6. Bart would try to hack the weblog. Lisa would want to include her pet ideas, and would try avidly to discourage Homer's readers from printing the posts. Kills trees you know.

7. Homer would frequently get facts wrong.

8. Homer usually already be asleep at this post's time of day!

9. Would you like to make suggestions of your own? My deciperable e-mail is at left. Thanks.