In creating a blog the author has the power to hide behind their computer and create a “pseudo-identity” in order to express his thoughts on the issue. This is an interesting concept as it difficult and almost impossible to validate any sort of writer credibility as the reader can only understand the author through his/her pseudo-identity. Bloggers engage their followers using a variety of fonts, tones and punctuations … which is in my opinion, the essence of blogging.
In searching for other blogs on Fantasy Football to analyze the writer’s ”voice”, the tone was so competitive that I often times was so immersed in the trash talk that I felt I was actually competing in their leagues. Along with the trash talk most of the blogs I read attempted to give their advice, which they love to deem “expert analysis” on the basis of absolutely nothing! But when giving advice on team management in a competitive game every blogger must exude an extremely high level of confidence in their writing, without such confidence the reader will likely be unwilling to think highly of the advice given. In fantasy football blogs especially this notion of confidence is vital each week the author advises his readers who from their roster should start vs. who should play the bench which ultimately will determine the outcome of your upcoming fantasy matchup!
In analyzing the “voice” projected in the blog Fantasy Football 101 I came across a number of aggressive and pressing phrases as it is more an informative than competitive blog. For example when referring to “who to start and who to bench” the writer will often refer to a player as an “always a must start” followed by “There will be no such troubles “illustrating a large amount of confidence behind his pick. Almost never will you find phrases such as “I think” or “it might be a good idea” as such unsure gestures are unlikely to generate confident followers. The writer began the season feeling like a prophet as he posted “ProFootball101 will provide three guaranteed locks each week” expressing to his followers that he truly knows the outcome of at least 3 games every week- now if this were true I would be in Vegas making millions - but instead I am blogging about the amount of confidence that fantasy football bloggers must convey to their followers.
Once the writer has establishes some form of credibility through their display of confidence their picks, guarantees and all other advice is put to the test when the season starts. Anyone can go online and create a blog giving their two cent on the topic but in order to be successful in gathering followers you must prove your “worthiness”. I like this term because it’s my measuring device when deciding on whether or not I would follow someone’s blog. Before the football season began it was easy to make plenty of predictions and feel ever so confident but one the results are it becomes clear who truly knows enough to discuss and who is full of Sh**.
This is where the trash talk between the blogger and his followers comes into play. This happens at the end of every week as the bloggers picks may have guided their followers to victory in their respective leagues or led them to their demise. In week one, the San Francisco 49rs were one of the “three guaranteed locks each week” but after being blown out by the Seahawks one follower had this to say “thanks a lot 49ers got blown out any more bright ideas”.
At the End of the day no one can predict the future especially in sports, once again otherwise I would be a millionaire right now, but on a serious note the most important aspect to gain and maintain followers as a Fantasy Football Blogger is to maintain confidence and to be correct more times than not.
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