The Anatomy of a Law Student Blog

Most law student / graduate blogs tend share common elements – for better or worse, I guess. The infographic that follows is my take on these elements and why, as distinguished -ahem- members the blawgosphere, we should know better.

And yes, before anyone points it out, I realise I’m very guilty of some of these blogging clichés myself.

Key:

1.  Cheesy header – the extent of the cheesiness depends on the individual’s taste. Often accompanied by an equally cheesy background pattern/image.

2.  Ridiculous ‘individualistic’ bio – FYI, some of the cornier bios in Twitter give me the absolute squits – e.g. “husband, father, friend,  brother”. Come on! Of course you are. Along with the other hundreds of millions in the world. Seriously… get over yourself; nobody cares.

3.  Calendar – seriously? A calendar? Yeah, I always swing by a law student blog to check what day the 24^th of next month is! :p And yes, a clock is equally futile.

4.  Crazy long list of tags/labels - Often times, you’ll create a new one, tag that post and promptly forget all about its existence and never use it again.

5.  Blank space to be filled in the next generation release of you blog (read: when you figure out what next piece of crap to stick in it!).

6.  Wacky list of other blogs – all as crazy as yours!

7.  Facebook /Spotify etc.. links/feeds - ‘Cos there just isn’t enough of your pompous drivel in the blog proper, eh? Seriously, your readers couldn’t give a fat rats about what you’re up to, what you’re currently listening to or what latest cretinous creature you’ve got careering around your Farmville sheep pen!

8.  Follow Me on Twitter graphic - You’re pretty darn desperate for followers and there’s no point hiding it, eh?

9.  The posts proper: (The meat in the blog sandwich) - 75%+ of posts are dedicated to bemoaning about how much work they’ve had/got to do on their course. Around exam period, this skyrockets to near 100%.

10.  Animated Smilies – Often the ultimate insult. For some reason the blogger assumes the reader needs ridiculous yellow blobs offering lecherous winks in the reader’s direction to help convey the message. And, while we’re on the subject, those winks always look more like nervous twitches to me! 

11.  Embarrassing photos – which you’ll often later take down … or if your nerve / bad judgement dictates, leave up.

12.  Ugly ‘Ads by Google’ banner – wow. Talk about taking liberties with your readers. As if force-feeding them your self-righteous drivel isn’t bad enough, you go for the double-whammy by slapping them with an obnoxious (and financially futile) Adwords banner. Ouch. (Has anybody really made any money from these things since, like 2006?)