BULLISH IN NEW YORK CITY

            You often run into blogs that focus on celebrity news and gossip[1] but rarely do you hear of a celebrity maintaining their own authentic blog. Therefore, while reading an article in Complex Magazine I was intrigued to find that hip-hop artist, producer, and now designer, Kanye West, had a blog that he personally updated. Knowing Kanye West as a man of controversy, (we all remember his infamous assertion that “George Bush does not care about black people”) I sought to evaluate if his blog deserved to be bookmarked and whether it can serve as a model. Given its authoritative and genuine voice, appealing design, and contemporary content, I quickly realized why this blog has such a strong following while staying true to the author’s interests.
            If there is one fact about Kanye’s blog, it must be that it is truly genuine. Seeming more as if you’re strolling through the pages of “Flickr”, his blog is in great part a collection of pictures of exclusive high-end items, which he finds interesting. In turn, his readers find the items interesting as well. Whether it’s a picture of a new sports car, or a new video release, on most post you will see a hundred comments within the hour. He must be doing something right.

            Another aspect of Kanye West’s blog that I find interesting is that it has authority. Even if your blog is low profile, with a certain level of confidence you might manage to fool some people, and I believe that is the case for this blog. Although, overall the blog deviates from the standard blog with full article posts, there is still some sort of interest that is drawn from Kanye West’s position as an urban icon. In other words, his blog would most likely continue to draw the same attention, even if all his posts were ramblings about his fabulous lifestyle, simply because he has established himself with a certain degree of authority.

            Kanye West’s following is palpable from the little link under each post which indicates how many readers have commented on that particular story. Although, celebrities are bound to draw attention on most of what they do, I still believe that this can serve as a model for others who look to establish a consistent following of readers. In order to do this, it is essential to know the audience you intend to appeal to because let’s face it, you cannot be appealing to everyone. Surely, there are people who might visit a blog like Kanye West’s and quickly move their mouse cursor towards the top right of the screen.

            Of course, we are not all celebrities and might have to work a little harder to acquire the following that will make our blogs meaningful. In this respect, one can take a few notes from the overall design of Kanye West’s blog. Designed with a solid backdrop and blue lettering, it’s not only cutting edge but appealing to the audience which mainly consists of hipsters. In addition, I often find that blogs that are often overwhelmed with text make them less appealing. You will not have that problem on Kanye West’s blog that features videos and pictures with only titles. If you are interested enough to read more you have the option of clicking in and you’ll see actual text related to the post; simple yet functional.

            I think most importantly is the fact that the author of this blog does not compromise his unique voice to be more or less appealing. This can serve as a model to any blogger who may be concerned about who follows their blog. Kanye West apparently is unconcerned with who reads his blog and he maintains his own voice throughout whether he is giving an opinion or “spazing out” (see link in the introduction).

            Being genuine, maintaining authority in your posts, and focusing on whom you want to establish as your following can all be factors in making your blog more appealing and thus more successful. For a helpful and unique model, see: http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog