It’s ok to change your opinion
Last month I decided to remove the top commentators list from BloggingTips. It was a change of direction for me as I previously recommended the top list to readers.
There are a few other subjects that I have changed my opinion on in the last few months. Some things I have changed my opinion on due to experience (for example the top list) whilst others I have changed my opinion after reading more about the subject.
Be open minded
I want to tell you a story that has been told many times by British ethologist Richard Dawkins. He knew a Professor who spent his whole academic career researching a theory. Late in his career another Scientist provided evidence to completely disprove this theory. Rather than be upset, the Professor was happy that the other Scientist had progressed and proceeded to walk to him and thank him in front of a cheering crowd.
I like this story because it illustrates that you should always be open minded about things. The same mindset can and should be applied to blogging. Over the course of your blogs life your opinion will change on some subjects, it’s inevitable. For example, if you run a sports blog you might criticize a player at the start of the season only to change your opinion later when the player’s form picks up.
Don’t be afraid to change your opinion on something and don’t be afraid to voice it, just make sure you explain why your opinion has changed. This is very important. I recently read an article from a blogger who had completely changed their stance and didn’t explain why, they had praised something 2 months ago and then did a complete turn around a few days ago and spoke about how bad it was (I won’t name names!). This kind of thing will alienate your readers very quickly.
I cannot stress this enough, you need to explain why you have a different view on a subject, you cannot just post in favour of something one month and against it the next.
Overview
A blog is a way for people to voice their opinion on things online. Just like in life, opinions and views can change. Unfortunately, your previous view is live on the web and it may also be fresh in your readers minds so if you change your opinion on something, let your readers know why.
Good luck 
Rhys | August 17th, 2007 at 5:11 am #
I couldn’t agree more.
I subscribed to a blog a while ago, and she changed something on her blog. I went public in my criticism of her, but after reading a few more of her articles, I did realise I was being stupid, and resubscribed and apologised.
If you were to read my blog, you’d find all sorts of places where I change my opinion!
Free Self-Growth eBooks | August 17th, 2007 at 6:37 am #
What a boring blog! Wait a minute, I changed my mind.. I actually like it a lot
You’re doing a great job!
J.D. | August 17th, 2007 at 10:10 am #
I’ve changed my mind a few times on different aspects of my site.
I had dofollow, then I dropped it when I found most of my readers and commentors didn’t have websites of their own.
I reduced the size of my MyBlogLog widget because it was getting in the way of other things I wanted more.
I’m switching my sidebar content around constantly, trying to find something I like for more than a week.
Gotta keep an open mind.
Carla Gade | August 17th, 2007 at 12:29 pm #
That’s a good thing for indecisive people like me! LOL!
Sara | August 17th, 2007 at 2:30 pm #
I agree with you Kev. I’m interested to know why you dropped the plugin. I never tried it and while i like the idea of rewarding commenters, I didn’t think that was the best way to do it. I didnt want to reward just the top commenters and I was afraid it would encourage spammy comments. I chose to use the “link love” plugin.
Kevin | August 17th, 2007 at 2:45 pm #
I explained most of my reasons in this post. The biggest factor was people turbo posting poor comments in a bid to get to the top of the list. It rewards those who comment often but those people are not always your best commentators (sometimes they are). All in all, I thought the cons outweighed the pros so decided to drop it.