If there’s something any writer worth his salt should know, it’s that without readers, you’re pretty much screwed. It’s doubly difficult for bloggers, given the massive amount of aspiring writers they have to compete with online. Face it: unless the fickle readers of cyberspace deem your blog worthy of their time, a successful online writing career is never going to happen.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that bloggers are resorting to a tactic that has kept tabloids, reality shows and Paris Hilton’s career afloat to this day. It’s called sensationalism, and it’s not a very nice thing. Shock-and-awe, particularly when used in tandem with the day’s hottest news, can easily gain attention from online readers. It’s no wonder some bloggers willingly throw dignity to the wind and jump on the band wagon. The more sordid and disturbing, the better.

Let’s take celebrity scandals as our example. Formerly squeaky-clean Disney star Vanessa Ann Hudgens gained internet notoriety with her home-made porno pictures, and soon nearly every blogger had something to say. But just weighing in on the issue isn’t enough; you have to link to the incriminating photos to actually be worth something. That’s the only way the blogger can feed off the desires of the readers and gain traffic.

Traffic = online manna, so what’s a blogger to do?

And it’s not just celebrity scandals that can get the much needed traffic a blogger aspires for; the bloodiest and most sexually-perverted criminal cases can also do the trick. Bloggers link to scandalous, humiliating videos and bloody crime scene photos, all in the guise of “weighing in” on the subject. Case in point, the victims of a bank robbery less than a week ago in a province in the Philippines. Ten people were killed; murdered in cold blood.

If the bloggers had talked about the senselessness of the crime, or the value of life, I would have been touched. It’s a horrific crime, and there’s no need to sugarcoat the tragedy. But then these bloggers started linking to pictures of the crime scene, even warning the “faint of heart” not to click on the link.

Why people would want to gawk at dead bodies in the first place is a question best asked the producers of CSI.

It’s the hypocrisy that really gets to me. Under the guise of indignation and righteous anger, these bloggers angrily spew forth venom against the perpetrators. At the same time, though, they show absolutely no respect for the dead by giving everyone with an internet connection an opportunity to gawk at the bloody bodies of the victims.

It’s a decision every blogger (and every writer, for that matter) needs to make. Certainly, sensationalism sells. It’s a given. But is it really worth selling your soul to the Devil for internet fame and a few bucks? Sensationalism is a short-term solution; readers will have moved on to the next big thing faster than you can say fifteen minutes of fame. Readers will flock to you for sure, but will they stay long enough to take you seriously?

Besides, it’ll be really difficult scrubbing off the “trashy” stamp of approval on your forehead once you get in deep enough. There’s no turning back.

XOXO,