What does The Blue Blog need to do to succeed?

Last week we gave a warm welcome to the new conservatives.com.  Ten days on we have to say that The Blue Blog needs a lot of work.  The posts from Shazia Awan have read more like the diary of a boy band fan than a blog worthy of a serious political party.  Shazia's last entry was entitled 'I shook David's hand!'  Her entry for the day of David Cameron's Party Conference speech was close to a parody:

We're sure Ms Awan is a good and genuine person but The Blue Blog needs to treat its readers with more intelligence and its posts need to be more regular.  There have been no updates since Thursday.  CCHQ should be capable of blogging at least once a day.

Topics - making the reasonable assumption that the blog is most likely to be read by political enthusiasts - could include explanation of policies by shadow ministers; alerts for forthcoming media interviews by party spokesmen; publication of interesting campaign materials; CCHQ staffers explaining their roles; and outside experts commenting on big news events.  An 'insidery feel' could be TBB's USP.

Any other ideas?

Comments

[David Galea]

Is that a screenshot from the Blue Peter website?

[Joe Mooney]

Just tell them to make the changes that you have outlined in your post. The font size is too small and the look of the site needs jazzing up.

[Miss Trivia]

Shazia Awan could write a fashion column with photographs of Alan Duncan's latest tie and Caroline Spelman's new trouser pants.
She could also interview CF members about 'hot' picks from the 'hit parade'.
She could also team up with Rishi Saha to offer green tips. "Don't overfill your kettle" would be a start.

[rma]

Why re-invent the wheel?

This is the best Conservaive Blog Site. So just create a direct link to this site and call it The Conservative Home Blue Blog!

Who is going to bother blogging on two websites. I looked at the Blue Blog a couple of times and decided it was not a real alternative to Conservative Home.

[DCMX]

The sad thing is that CCHQ are clearly control freaks. The blueblog is dull dull dull but Steve Hilton's intention is to destroy ConsHome. He won't succeed but he'll wasting time and money in the process of trying.

[Biodun]

What I found absolutely astonishing and (please go take a look here as it quite frankly, beggars belief) was Shazia making the following comment on her own post

"Comment by Shazia on Oct 3 2008, 19:05
What a great blog...It's fantastic to read about Shazia's first time! Her style of blogging will no doubt inspire other youngsters to see how much fun politics can really be!"

Is this some kind of joke or spoof?
I have taken a screen shot before it is deleted!

[Vincent Wall]

The Cameroons are the same people who wouldn't allow members to have hustings in the European elections. Do you think they are going to run an open blog? Of course not. That's why we get pap like the above.

[Saltmaker]

Good spot, Biodun.

I wonder how many other posts are also Shazia (having remembered to log in under another alias). It's scraping the barrel when you have to invent readers.

[O O]

Doesn't this say it all about the attitude of our party's leadership to our members, voters and even elected representatives?

[Mark Fulford]

Tim, you are being far too constructive with your criticism. CCHQ deserves a caning, first for piss-poor editorial, second for what appears to be moderation without a moderator, third for the blog falling-over under the load of an inbound link from ConservativeHome.

My guess is that the last comment, 3 October, is because CCHQ bloggers don't work weekends.

[Biodun]

Mark, I doubt the blog has fallen over.
Tim's link was put up barely an hour ago and Sunday night traffic can't be that high.

I suspect someone hs realised the insanity of this silly Shazia girl complimenting her own writing skills -while pretending to be someone else, and took it down accordingly!

[all lower case]

taking the site down is the Internet age equivalent of Stalin's airbrushing of photographs

[Steve Green (Daily Referendum Blog).]

To say it's supposed to be a Conservative blog - they could try linking to some other Conservative bloggers - instead of the usual three.

[Westminster Wolf]

I'm glad to read this post. CH had been too positive to the Cameron Project since Sam Coates left. I wondered if a deal had been done. This site will only succeed if it retains critical distance.

[Old Hack]

Well clearly it's not going to succeed with the sort of clap trap it currently contains.

If CCHQ wants to blog with a purpose it needs to look at other successfull blogs such as Coffee House, Con Home, Dale, Redwood or Dorries. Each of these has one thing in common - a unique perspective.

For the Blue Blog to be worth it needs to tell us something new and relevant. Frankly that's a tall order for CCHQ.

[abctory]

I think they would be best to scrap it.

[DCMX]

CCO must have been embarrassed by this post and have stopped the blue blog from loading tonight. The rest of conservatives.com is ok.

[Not quite]

I use the site a lot for research and work and I constantly, constantly come across broken links.

[Patsy Sergeant]

But surely it is partly due to the present day obsession with 'getting yoof involved' with whatever....

When I was a teenager, I was expected to get myself involved with anything, including the Young Conservatives (which I didn't do much, because being a nurse, in those days, didn't give you much free time). Nobody flattered me or bent over backwards to tell me how clever I was, in fact very much the reverse, you had to work hard to prove that you were any good at anything.

On the other hand not having Facebook or anything remotely similar, I suppose the chances of making an utter fool of yourself were slightly less, as well.

We are back to the media again, including the BBC which has constant trails between programmes on BBC1 aimed squarely at the teenage group.

I suppose one needs to ask the Blue Blog who they are aiming to attract in the first place! Maybe THAT IS the group they have in mind, in which case that is what they will get!

[Twist1]

it seems to run by people who don't really know how the web works. Lip service is paid to web standards i.e. Does not comply with accessibility, HTML or Css standards. Then to take a page down or fail under load on a sunday night seems staggering.

[Steve]

On a similar theme, according to the 'campaigntogether.com' website, there is not one single by-election of any kind going on in Great Britain at this time.
Can this be true?
Is this absence of information a conspiracy?

[Norm Brainer]

The page with cameron's speech went down the other day too.

Quick check on the site show's they're now using IIS/Windows, which used to be apache before I think - so that helps explain the randomness of some pages not loading when it gets busy as they'll have probably totally underestimated how much more memory it needs.
Looks to be hosted at rackspace who are always saying about their "fanatical support" - If they were that fanatical you'd expect they'd have the blog server up again by now!

Yes, the blue blog should take the tips from above, although having such a post tying to be 'cool' every so often may help attract a younger audience, but they should be few and far between.

[Annabel Herriott]

The blue blog told me I was one of a very few people who would have to have their pass word reset. So they sent an email with a row of gobblegook without checking whether I was savvy enough to do copy and paste. Im not, so thats that. I suggested they sent an english word like Klutz which would be appropriate. Meanwhile, I'll just bash on with Con home.

[Geoff]

Annabel, I understand. Some of us are born to be lawyers, some doctors and some estate agents. I was born an IT geek.

The first thing I learned when I did my first website for someone 10+ years ago was not to make it too over the top straight away. Don't try to run before you can walk. That's why ConservativeVault, for example, is an evolutionary thing which needs everyone to take part.

Take a look over there and post an article if you get some time.

[Teck Khong]

Just can't get used to the Blue Blog thing.

The title itself is nondescript. Insipid. Bland.

I'll stick with ConHome - colourful, even rowdy sometimes, but it's just the real thing! Something for everyone!

Thanks a million and keep up the great work, Tim!

[GB£.com]

It is embarrassingly shit.

With a bit of innovation, it shouldn't actually be that hard to combine blogging with the power of conservatives.com to create something that could challenge Stephan's stranglehold, but clearly CCHQ do not have the nous to do it.

[Sammy Finn]

The Blue Blog tells us everything we need to know about what CCHQ really think of the grassroots.

[Sally Roberts]

It is embarrassingly awful and yes Boys you read it here - the Stupid Party Loyalist Sally daring to criticise something emanating from CCHQ!!
In fact this morning I can't even get on the Party website properly - I was trying to look up something in one of the speeches and it refused to load at all.
IT Department you need to up your game - badly!

[James Maskell]

hehehe, how pathetic that website is. The way its been written its amazing how completely different it is to the 'socialist sisterhood' feeling you get from Theresa May.

As for the cameron speech, given some of the guff in it, its probably for the best that the links gone down... Why did Cameron say he studied Economics at Uni when he actually did a PPE?

[Sally Roberts]

"Why did Cameron say he studied Economics at Uni when he actually did a PPE?"

Er....correct me if I'm wrong, James, but doesn't the "E" stand for Economics?

[Norm Brainer]

It's still down now!

I don't beleive there is someone that would have registered there already and posts on here that can't copy and paste - but that's not good that they have had to reset people's passwords, that implies a security breach already, or some buffoon forgot to put a WHERE on their sql update statement and reset everyones at once.

I agree with Sammy Finn and gb£.com (speaking of which, I didn't realised that was an actual web address till just now... how'd you get a pound sign in a domain?!)

[GB£.com]

"..gb£.com speaking of which, I didn't realised that was an actual web address till just now... how'd you get a pound sign in a domain?!)"

:-) It's an IDN. Newer browsers will show it as GB£.com (unicode), older ones will convert to punycode xn--gb-cda.com.

If CCHQ have a large enough budget, I'll redesign their site for them, and it will stamp all over conhome as even Stephan's budget has really not delivered anywhere near enough... :-)

[James Maskell]

The inference from his speech was that it was a pure economics degree, rather than being bundled with politics and philosophy. A PPE is the base degree for politics students. Cameron using that to back up his economic credibility is pretty sad really.

[Annabel Herriott]

My dear Norm Brainer. As an old Bat of nearly 74, I have never had any need to copy and paste. In working life, I was a Health Visitor for 40 years,ie a senior Nurse, being one of those now increasingly endangered species that Davis Cameron has promised the country 4000 more of. I was TOLD by email to re register as I said. Why are people like you so rude and dismissive of any non IT literate person. It isnt a crime you know, you dont HAVE to belittle me. LIfe can go on without being able to lift a section of print and put it somewhwere else. I know enough IT for my needs, and I am sure I will suvive without being able to post on Blue Blog.

[Twist1]

I think some of the problem with the site loading might be simply down to it loading the entire 1hr Cameron speech every time you visit the front page (regardless of whether you actually want to watch the video or not)

[Norm Brainer]

Annabel, I do not aim to belittle, but you obviously are aware what copy and paste is, so even if you don't know how to make the computer do it then I expect you will have access to a biro and the back of an envelope.
But I doubt you are missing much if you don't reset it, though.

[Sally Roberts]

Twist1 I suspect you are right - there is far too much data and it is all simply too "heavy" for the site which cannot cope!
Norm Brainer - there is no need to be rude to Annabel and even your second comment is a tad patronising! When you reach your mid 70s you too may find there are certain things you do not feel are necessary to make your life complete. Annabel and others of her generation have a wealth of experience that we could all learn from.

[Comstock]

Annabel, hold down the left button of your mouse to highlight the text you want to copy. Leave your mouse hovvering over it, release the left button and click the right hand one.

You should now have a menu with a number of options, including 'copy'. Select 'copy' by left clicking as normal.

Now place the cursor where you want to put the text, and right click. You should get another menu with a number of options, including 'paste'. Select paste and job done.

You could proberbly manage without this, but it is worth knowing how to do. Practice on a Word processor and it will soon become second nature.

If you need anymore help, contact me on Facebook

[Prodicus]

I have deleted it from my RSS list. Is there a mole from LabourHome in CCHQ? Pathetic. Get a grip, Hilton.

[Saltmaker]

What a surprise... the site is back AND the Shazia's comment praising such a fantastic post by Shazia has been deleted AND the posts left in criticism have not been approved (yet).

CCHQ should never have gone near blogging.

[Edward Huxley]

Don`t be surprised if the lady`s comments appear in Private Eye. Just awful.

[resident leftie]

I think it's great! Fab! Stunning! Just what being a blue-green Tory is all about! It's really down with the kids - wow - I touched David's hand - he's so approachable not like that grumpy looking Brown. Do let me know what you think of my blog!?

[Sally Roberts]

"I think it's great! Fab! Stunning! Just what being a blue-green Tory is all about! It's really down with the kids..."

Resident Leftie I fear you must have been helping yourself to too much Tubbie Custard!

[Annabel Herriott]

Thank you Comstock! That was truly considerate of you. I have copied it (in longhand!!) and will try it the next time I try to join Blue blog. I'd still rather it was Klutz though! More "Thing" for a password, dontcha know.

[Mark Fulford]

Resident Leftie I fear you must have been helping yourself to too much Tubbie Custard!

LOL, Sally!

Sadly I think we have to allow our leftie comrades their gloating on this one. The Blue Blog is truly awful. I mean, look at October to date: 4 threads, one with 0 comments, one with 1 comment and one with 5 comments – and that includes CCHQ sockpuppets.

[Sir Piers]

The original Blue Blog is somewhat more interesting.

[number 6]

Sigh, Dave stared once at me on a walkabout, it was like, so well, you know.

I hope when she grows up Shaz will be squirm when she reads her comments.

[Biodun]

Well I still have a picture of the comments as proof if Private Eye (or Tim) wants it!

[comstock]

No problem at all Annabel.

I actually think older people sometimes have a more sensible attitude to technology, in the sense of when something new comes along they say "do I really need this?..will it actually benefit me?" rather than merely rushing constantly for the next new thing.

However, copy and paste, if not exactly essential, would repay some time spent learning it. Keep practicing!

regards

Comstock

[resident leftie]

Posted by: Sally Roberts | October 06, 2008 at 11:01

Resident Leftie I fear you must have been helping yourself to too much Tubbie Custard!

To paraphrase Juvenal - who mocks the mockers? It turns out it's Sally.

[Treacle]

CCHQ IT

Hands up those who thought it would work...?

[Angelo Basu]

"The inference from his speech was that it was a pure economics degree, rather than being bundled with politics and philosophy. A PPE is the base degree for politics students. Cameron using that to back up his economic credibility is pretty sad really."

It depends on the options you choose. You have to study all 3 of Politics, Philosophy and Economics in the 1st year. Then most people drop one (usually Economics) and generally bias their options towards one of the remaining 2 subjects taking only the compulsory papers in the other one. If Cameron kept Economics as his major subject it'd be fair to call his degree one in Economics. Most people drop Economics because the papers are pretty heavily mathematical at Oxford (the "fun" stuff can get covered in Politics).

[Patrick Harris]

We need someone to run our whelk stall, New Labour have been told they are not suitable, the Lib Dumbs wanted to know what a whelk was, their supplementary was, what's a stall.
Conservatives need not apply.

[Libertarian]

The Blue Blog was desperate attempt by the CCHQ teenagers to stuff this rebellious site. The BB pathetic and vacuous crap and demonstrates the utter contempt that CCHQ has for the party members. The moronic Sloanes who now dominate CCHQ think that the members are just idiotic proles who will accept any rubbish whilst worshipping the Bullingdon B*llsh*tters!!

[Harry]

Are we to hear more great posts from Mr Saha about what a succcess this project is ?

[Mark Fulford]

Now that a recent comment has been added to the "I shook David's hand!" thread, I'm interested to get an idea of how many comments have been censored out.

I submitted two comments, both acceptable IMO, but neither was published. Am I alone?

Future contributors please be aware that, for your comment to be accepted, you have to dumb-down to this level: "This years conference was great, however we have a long way to go until David is in No.10."

[Conand]

If people want more and different blog posts on Conservatives.com they should write them.
Shazia's stuff echoed my excitement in Birmingham, being a 'first timer' too.

[West London Tory]

Libertarian referred to moronic CCHQ Sloanes....not sure about that really.

But I see Gloy Plopwell has struck their Blue Blog website, and got replies!

Oh well, sh*t happens.

[Libertarian]

Crikey, even Mark Fulford is censored by the Muslim Mafia that runs the party websh1te!!

[GB£.com]

I shook David's hand. Then I shook. My first orgasm, or should that be Torygasm??!!!! Now I know what they mean by a Tory wet!!!! I'm in lurrrvvvve :-) Got to go! xxx

Try that comment Mark. I think that is the kind of thing they are looking for.

[Sally Roberts]

"To paraphrase Juvenal - who mocks the mockers? It turns out it's Sally."

Well so long as the next General Election puts the "mockers" on your Party, R.L. then I'm happy!! ;-)

[Sally Roberts]

"We need someone to run our whelk stall, New Labour have been told they are not suitable, the Lib Dumbs wanted to know what a whelk was, their supplementary was, what's a stall.
Conservatives need not apply."

Why don't you ask the UKIPPERS?

[Faceless Bureaucrat]

Mark Fulford [21.18]

"I submitted two comments, both acceptable IMO, but neither was published. Am I alone?"

You are not alone…

I managed to get one post accepted and not unreasonably asked for some more ‘red meat’ posts. I effectively got told to ‘F*ck off and visit Google’!

My subsequent posts, pointing-out to Shazia that it is poor web etiquette to place supportive comment on your own post and questioning why there were so few new posts was pulled.

This Blog will die swiftly unless someone who understands how a Blog really works (and that it is certainly NOT a self-congratulatory, on-line School Notice Board) takes the helm.

FB

[Sally Roberts]

"My subsequent posts, pointing-out to Shazia that it is poor web etiquette to place supportive comment on your own post and questioning why there were so few new posts was pulled."

Poor web etiquette? Yes it most certainly is to say the least.... It only seems like giving yourself a large round of applause after you have got up to sing a song..!!!

Seriously though they do need to sort themselves out - it's not rocket science - is it?

[Patrick Harris]

Sally Roberts at 09:18.

Very good, I think the Kippers have gone into meltdown along with the "Global" economy.

"we" are the English Democrats, the only party with Englands interests at heart.

[Treacle]

Sally

Getting the CCHQ newbies to understand anything outside of a Notting Hill Wine Bar is a major achievement.. this blog will die or, more worryingly, CCHQ staff time will be spent blogging to prop it up.

It is what happens in a 'Nanny knows best' centralised system run by dunderheads

[Faceless Bureaucrat]

It's getting worse - the sum total of all the comments on the last four Blue Blog posts is....1!

Time to bite the bullet and admit that if you want engage with a real Blog, come here.

Can somebody please put the Blue Blog out of its misery?...

[Anthony]

"I'm sat in the Conference hall..."

Sitting in the conference hall. Argh.

[Webstandards]

This website does not meet the standards they claim. Just try following the wc3 links they advertise. - Doh

[Adam Macqueen]

Hello Biodun - yes, Private Eye would very much like a screengrab if you've got one available: my email is [email protected]

[pass my drug test]

You seem to have got the niche from the root, Awesome work

[Francis]

Oh dear. They do seem to have taken your advice.

The first article on both the Blue Blog and CH is mow some dreary schtick about tedious PPCs in awful places.

Below that there's something about how it wasn't a u-turn, and below that somebody droning on about cutting red tape.

They really should have stuck to the 'Just 17' style - without it, what's their USP ?