Oompa Loompa Doompa-Dee-Do: Let’s See What Type of Blogger Are You
September 3rd, 2007 Posted by Chanya
I recently watched the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Not the original film with Gene Wilder but the remake with Johnny Depp. After watching the film I realized that I come across people like this every day online. Why? Because these kids are a lot like bloggers:
Augustus Gloop
In the movie, this was the overfed, out of control kid that falls into the chocolate river while attempting to drink from it. He eventually gets sucked up (and stuck) in a vacuum tube. He’s the greedy kid that had one purpose in mind: to gobble up as much food as possible. Bloggers like this are takers. They’re the ones that “borrow” other people’s posts without giving credit to the writer. In the end, they eventually get caught and “stuck” like Augustus: it’s difficult for them to go back and undo what they’ve done and it’s almost impossible for them to move forward and start anew.
Violet Beauregarde
If you’ll remember, when presented with a free piece of gum, Violet immediately stuffed it in her mouth even though she was told it was experimental and hadn’t been fully tested. This type of blogger has a site that’s chock-full of the latest plug-ins, widgets, and beta code. As such, their sites tend to be unreliable, overly busy, and difficult to navigate.
Veruca Salt
In the film the obsessively focused squirrels appealed to her; she had to have one. Money was no object and personal security and safety were a secondary concern - she leapt feet-first into the squirrel “pit” with no forethought. Bloggers like this have sites that reflect poor planning and preparedness. Their sites look like they just “jumped in” and started blogging. This may actually work for some bloggers but I believe their impulsiveness usually results in a blog that’s abandoned or infrequently updated.
Truthfully, I see a little Veruca in me. I started blogging because I had a “gotta have it” moment. In retrospect, I should have spent more time on research. I should have spent more time reading other blogs. I should have spent more time in the blog forums. Had I done that I can honestly tell you I wouldn’t have landed on Blogger. I would have chosen a web hosting service and created a WordPress-powered blog. So, (behind the scenes) I’m backtracking a bit and doing just that.
Mike Teavee
This kid was the nerd of the movie. If you’ll remember, he’s the one that cracked the secret code to winning golden tickets. He was absolutely addicted to TV and video games. Focused on all things technical, this type of blogger can fall into the trap of being too much of a tech head and end up turning away a wide range of readers. For example, how many people understand “I am using 6.06 (Dapper) LTS so I needed to compile the gspca kernel driver. Unpacked the tar file gspcav1-20070508.tar.gz.” Show of hands please.
On the flip side, I have to say that the geek in me likes blogs of this type. There’s definitely a niche market for them. As a matter of fact, techie blogs are the ones I read the most. However, the ones I revisit are those that are entertaining and written so “even a caveman can understand it.”
Oompa Loompas
In my mind, the people that comment on blog posts are the oompa loompas of the blogosphere. The good ones, those that give honest feedback, provide constructive criticism on what we write. They can sometimes be brutally honest (and sometimes just brutal) but taken as a whole their words provide insight into what’s working and what isn’t.
Charlie Bucket
Charlie is the role model in the movie. He’s the one that follows the rules. He’s patient. He’s not looking to grab the spotlight. He doesn’t possess a “get rich quick” mentality but he also doesn’t begrudge others their successes. He knows things will work out for him in the end if he works hard and maintains his integrity. He learns from his mistakes and those of others and is always willing to share what he has. In the end, he triumphs. This is the blogger we all aspire to be.
What type of blogger are you?
Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 12:51 pm and is filed under blog tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I love the clever comparison between the movie and blogging. Good job.
Gotta give you a shout out! Great job
Although I think the original version was far superior in many aspects - not to mention a much creepier Charlie - I love this post!
I think I started Veruca (jumped in with no idea what I was doing), went through my Violet phase (plugin’s rules my life) and now I’m in the Charlie part of my blogging career (relax, create great content and build a community).
Of course, I always throw in a little Oompa Loompa if I like a post!
im mike TV yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh
I really like this blog…it is so true! I’m somewhere in the middle and like you I started on blogger, but hope to move to a web-hosting service. I am somewhere between Violet and Veruca! Ha!!!
Anyway, thanks for the entertainment, Sara
Not sure, most of my readers are not even aware there are rules. For the most part they are not heavily involved in the game that blogging has become.
I don’t know where I’d rate but I’d prefer to be Willy Wonka.
I think I was born as Mike Teavee, growing up together with Oompaa Loompas and now make friends with Charlie Bucket . But I am still the old nerdy ang geeky Mike! :p
great comparison! i wonder which of these caracters i am! :S
I think I’m the chocolate waterfall; stirring things up in my own unique way.
very impressive…nice blog.
Thanks so much! Thanks for visiting.
[…] submitted my Oompa Loompa post from a few months ago and he selected it. The comments were overall very positive; […]
oh boy , I thought I was just a blogger !
I don’t know what I am but I will start my journey to being a Oompa Loompa by saying that was a fantastic post. Just glad i found it.How I can’t remember, but I found it anyway.
As for what I am , I am yet to be born.
Thanks for the nice comments! I just checked out your site and I think you’re on the right path to getting to the “Chocolate Factory.” You’ve got some great content there.
WELL,I THINK THAT I’M LIKE VERUCA.SPOILED,WENT,MANIPULATUVE…YES…I´M LIKE VERUCA.
I LOVE VERUCA SALT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE VERUCA SALT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111
Me too! Thanks for the visit!
[…] assume I’m getting traffic because of a post I wrote last year in which I compared the Willy Wonka kids to bloggers. That post contains pictures of the Wonka kids. I’m not sure why there’s […]
Hey! or Hi!
Ha ha ha ha ha!
your blog is kind of cool but werid. well, i dont blog so… but the people who, ‘love veruca salt!!!” , i say put a sock in it. Shes ugly, mean stupid and rude. ya’ll must be just like her to say that.