**Note: this post is part of the lessons on blogging meme started by Ben Cook of Blogging Experiment. For more info on the meme, and instructions on how to participate, see the bottom of this post.

Battlestar Galactica is an epic story of the end-world battle and resulting search for Earth and Peace. It pits the humans against their creation-gone-wrong, the Cylons. They’ve evolved. No longer are they easily recognizable machines with shiny exteriors and Kitt-style eyes/sensors. Now they have 12 models that take the human form and are nearly imperceptible to most methods of detection.

How can I compare BSG (us Battlestar freaks call it that) to blogging? Well, I’ll have to take a little literary license, but I think it can be done.

A few blogging lessons that can be learned from BSG:

1. Never Rest. BSG represents a endless search for an escape from the Cylons. No matter how often the humans evade them, they keep on finding them again. Between traitors and radioactive trails, there’s just no shaking them. As soon as you let your guard down (New Caprica), you end up as captives. As bloggers, our Cylons are our competition. Unless you’re writing a blog on the most obscure topic in the world, you have competition. Some of us have the advantage of being in the forefront of our niches. Or we have sites that hold that position. But the second that you relax and try and take it easy, your competition will overtake you. Just because you are taking a break, doesn’t mean that they are.
2. Family and Friends are important. There are several key relationships in the BSG series. Adama and Apollo. Apollo and Starbuck. Adama and Roslyn. Baltar and Six. Despite the rumors to the otherwise, we bloggers do have friends and family. We have key relationships. Our relationships with our family keep us grounded and give us an escape from the blogosphere that we sometimes get immersed in. Our offline friends give us an outlet to release some tension and have some fun. And our online friends help us keep ourselves on track and sometimes keep our head out of the blogging clouds.
3. Sometimes you have to break the rules. One of the parallels that emerged in the beginning of the latest season is between young Capt. Adama and Starbuck. Adama finds himself chasing after a Cylon ship and follows it into the atmosphere (which is against the rules). If he hadn’t, they might not have discovered the secret of the research that the Cylons were doing. Much later, Starbuck finds herself chasing after a Cylon ship and follows it into the atmosphere (which is still against the rules). If she hadn’t, she would have never fulfilled her destiny and found Earth. Sometimes you have to break the rules to become a better blogger. The most important idea of the online world is that the rules are not set in stone. Sometimes they need a little bending and flexing. Challenge the rules occasionally. You might just start a revolution.

As a blogger and BSG fan, it might be a little easier for me to make these associations, but I hope that they are fairly easy for you as well.

Now for the meme part. The rules are fairly simple. Write a post like this one that gives a blogging lesson to be learned from your favorite t.v. show. Tag 5 others to pass on the meme. Simple. And in following with #3 above, if you don’t get tagged but feel like you want to participate, bend the rules a little. Write a post and tag your 5 people.

Added: I suppose it would make some sense to tag 5 people… 😉

1. Mark @ 45n5.com
2. Tom @ Webfeedcentral.com
3. NG @ Whaling Season
4. the Big Moo @ JohnCow.com
5. Empress @ Building my Empire