Blogs are a good way to bridge what our media tells us we think is important and what we actually think is important. However, like anything else that involves people, success depends on the individual.

Scroll through some of the most common below and find out if you are helping or just being a pain in the assets of your favorite blog.

• The Professor – provider of valid information in order to aid his fellow man – The “meat” of the meat and potatoes of blogs. A high value blogger.
  
  
• Agent of Disinformation – provider of disinformation in an attempt to manipulate public opinion. The lowest value blogger.
  
  
• Comedian – tension breaker or inappropriate annoyance. Fluctuating value.
  
  
• The Coach – “watches” from afar and points out invalid arguments, name calling and other fouls. High value.
  
  
• The Psycho – Comes onto the Blog to release anger. Low value.
  
  
• Tinfoil Hat Man – compiles every paranoid fear they have about the “powers that be” into a single paragraph often made up of a single, non-punctuated sentence. Often includes illogical conclusions and baseless accusations. Low value.
  
  
• The Debater – An important blogger – debates using valid questions or statements that the average person might ask or think. High value.
  
  
• Secret Agent/The Informer – One of the most valuable in the blogosphere. A professional in the field in question giving valid information undercover, the best ones provide VALID links for verification of facts. High value.
  
  
• Interrogator – Validator A helpful blogger for keeping the quality high - demands links and explanations – asks pertinent questions – checks links for valid information and reports back. High value.
  
  
• Gen Pop Reactor – the potatoes of the meat and potatoes of blogs – The general population – fairly sane- reasonably curious and concerned about the things that affect us all. Responses can vary from “What?” to “Oh please”. High value.
  
  
• Violent Oppressor /Because I Said So – self explanatory – the old “If I could only get my hands on you” routine. Only a small portion of their remarks survive moderation. They are annoying demonstrators of the small mind. Low value.
  
  
• Less is Better – few words. Depending on the individual, can be brilliantly succinct or annoyingly incomplete. Leaves posts like “Wrong.” “You Lose” or “Except for 2001”. Fluctuating value.
  
  
• Crusader/Anti-Crusader – blogs for a single issue and finds countless ways to insert that issue – sometimes a good force for his cause, sometimes so irritatingly inappropriate that he/she alienates people from the cause. The most common types are Pro-life and Israeli/Palestinian conflict people. Moderate value if their information about their cause is accurate. If not, see “Agent of Disinformation”.
  
  
• ESL – English (or whatever the primary language is) as a Second Language. These are fine as most of us realize that a complete command of the language is not required to have intelligent contributions. They do have to be fluent enough to be understood though. Sometimes folks that are bilingual will add in words or phrases to help clarify the post for them. Watch out for the ESL imitators. They will claim to be from a country and thus, speaking from a point of inside knowledge but have perfect command of the English language, including slang. Another tip off is a screen name like “BobFromUtah”. Yes, it does happen. Fluctuating value.
  
  
• Insulter – You disagree with me therefore you’re an idiot. ‘Nuff said. Low value.
  
  
• Rewarder – I agree with you – here’s your prize – Prizes range from declaring themselves a fan or declaring you a favorite. Some blogs keep a running total of your “fans” next to your name on all your posts. Rewarders often expect and or demand that you reciprocate. My advice: don’t work for rewards. One blog was rumored to choose it’s writers from the bloggers with the most rewards. This of course lead to “questionable methods” for attaining the blogs rewards. Take such systems as a fun accompaniment rather than a way to judge your own ability to communicate. Moderate value.
  
  
• Social Club – Cliquee’ – these people post so often they greet each other by name. Some add in music or video links as appropriate to the mood or subject. The effect depends on the seriousness of the subject, the attention to the original subject and their treatment of newcomers and outsiders. They can range from downright rude to warm and inclusive. Some blogs have certain nights that these appear and function as regular blogs the remainder of the time. Moderate value.
  
  
• Impossible Questioner – If you’re so smart, what is the meaning of life? Low value.
  
  
• President/Government Basher – No matter what the situation, it’s the government or the President’s fault. Logic be damned. Low value.
  
  
• Perpetual Teenager – still learning basic communication skills – prone to name calling and short cuts in logic – spelling and grammatical nightmares. Low value.
  
  
• General Bomb Thrower – intentionally says the most insulting thing they can just to “stir things up”. They have their place as they help to keep threads alive, but you’d never invite one to a party or let them on the carpet at your house. Low to moderate value.
  
  

Which are you?