BlogNor09: The Halo Effect

Now writing about The Halo Effect for the self-help audio book "The Simpler Life" I'm writing with Annabel Shaw. It's really about first impressions - the traits you first recognise in people tend to colour your impression of the whole person. This is why attractive people are often believed to have attractive personalities and you believe that people who come over as competent in one area, the first time you assess their competence, to be competent in general.

Not always true, by any means. But what might it mean for bloggers? If the Halo Effect applies to blogs, how you come over in the first post people read will characterise your whole blog for them. But do we care? Probably not.