Should You Use Humor In Your Blog?

Humor is dangerous. Not everyone has the same sense of humor. Some people don’t have any sense of humor at all – you know, like NameCritic, for instance.

Admittedly, humor does have its problems. But it also has its advantages. People love to laugh. Unfortunately, we don’t all laugh at the same things. And that’s where it gets difficult. And that’s why humor is dangerous.

The flips side of that coin is, many business topics are dry. Stale. Boring. Who wants to read about inkjet maintenance every day? Or pancake flipping?

The key to blogging is to make it interesting. You have to give people a reason to read your blog, or they won’t. Cyberspace is full of boring blogs that are eventually abandoned because not even their owners and writers can stick with it long enough to make it interesting. If the person writing it loses interest, how much more so will everyone else?

But is humor the savior of a boring blog? Not necessarily. One general principle is to use humor, but to use it sparingly. If you rely on humor too much then your readers will likely see you as flippant and ceremoniously sacrilegious – especially if your sense of humor is considered inappropriate. No one wants to read a funeral director who sounds like Conan O’Brien.

Your subject matter is critically important when it comes to humor. But so is your audience. Do they expect it? Are they the type of readers who will appreciate and connect with your sense of humor? Will they appreciate it every day? Or even tolerate it? You have to know your audience.

I say, when it comes to humor, the most important question to ask is, “How will this be received?” Put yourself in your audience’s shoes. What would you think if you were reading about your topic and read the type of humor you are about to shove off onto your readers? Make it interesting, yes; but there are other ways to make your blog interesting without resorting to sophomoric humor in every post.