Friday, November 17, 2006

Hey! Check out my Blog - Part 1

Since becoming a blogger in June this year, I've inevitably started comparing myself to the 'gurus' in the blogosphere. You know the ones I mean - the people who seem to have a readership of hundreds and commonly get up to 50 comments on a single post. They can just say "hey I had spaghetti for dinner tonight" and suddenly people are crawling over each other to comment. "Was it nice?" "You should try out my recipe." "I find your life so incredibly exciting". Blah blah blah. Then a new blogger posts on a controversial topic, hoping to spark up some debate....and gets 0 comments. Can you relate? I honestly feel sorry for some bloggers. I read some blogs regularly and find what they have to say very interesting, yet not many others seem to. Then they feel like giving up because the whole point of putting something on the net is so others will read it.

I'm not having a go at people who have large readerships. Many are fantastic bloggers and I read their blogs myself. What I want to raise for discussion is the fact that having a lot of comments doesn't mean they are the best writer. Good writing is often a matter of opinion anyway. Sometimes it's who you know/who you are and not what you know. If Tom Cruise starts a blog, he's bound to get lots of readers simply because he's Tom Cruise and not necessarily because he's a certainty to win 'blogger of the year'. So if you have a blog and aren't getting many people commenting or maybe even reading, take heart. Even the kings of the blogosphere had to start somewhere and probably stared at '0 comments' on the end of their posts for quite some time before their readership grew. Persevere!

My blog turns 5 months old on Sunday and sometimes I get disheartened because of my seemingly small readership. I am greatly encouraged by others' comments but sometimes I wonder, "what's the point?". Am I boring? Then I read this article which gives ways on how to attract readers to your blog. The fourth one is Comment on others' blogs. This lets others know that you have started a blog and they may like to read it. I think many of the people who comment on my blog, first came to read it because I first commented on theirs. I also told some of my friends about it and I know some of them read it, although some haven't commented. Now, you don't need to comment in the hope of 'luring' others to your blog so you can boast about the size of your readership. I only comment on blogs that I'm interested in and feel I can contribute in some way. There are also a great number of blogs that I read that I haven't commented on yet.

Which brings me to my next point. Why do we (myself included) become regular readers of certain blogs yet NEVER comment? I know sometimes it's because they're the blogs of people I know or sort of know and I'm afraid of exposing my blog to them. I'm not sure why this is when I haven't written anything greatly offensive or sordid. I could comment as an anonymous person but I prefer to use my blogger ID. Some people genuinely think they don't have anything interesting to say - which isn't often the case. Sometimes I don't comment because all the other people commenting seem to be friends/acquaintances of the blogger and I feel stupid being the only stranger. Also, if you don't know the blogger personally, is it weird to be a regular commenter on their blog? Is that stalking? Some of the people who comment regularly on my blog, I haven't met or perhaps have seen but not met properly. I love the way they keep coming back as it gives me motivation to write. Yet, maybe some people see it differently and the purpose of their blog is more to keep in touch with their circle of friends and not to meet new people as much.

I'm going to make an effort to comment more regularly on blogs, knowing that it might just encourage someone to keep blogging, that what they write is worthwhile. How about you? Do you comment on the blogs you read? Why/why not?

Lastly, just to inflate my own ego, I'd like to give you all a challenge. If you are a regular/semi regular reader of my blog, please leave a comment on this post, even if it's just to say 'hi'. I'd especially like to hear from you if you've never commented before. I'm not that scary - really ;)

6 comments:

Marcel said...

Sarah, I fit the category of "you commented on one of my blogs, I'm checking yours out." I have to say, you're a great writer. Hope that encourages you to keep going. Also, keep in mind, lurkers outnumber commenters 3-1. Your audience is bigger than you think.

Lastly, you're right. There are reader-tracking sites (most are free) that will give you a total count for the day. Although my comments are low (on a good day, 5), according to the tracker I use, I'm averaging 50-70 readers per day.

Peace,
Marcel

Sarah said...

Hi Marcel
Thanks for your comment. I'd be really interested to know who the lurkers are (friends or strangers). I might go one of those track reading sites and see how many readers I'm averaging.
Sarah :)

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel. by no means do i think im a good writer. but it would be nice if people spoke up a bit more! ive been wanting to get a tracker thingy, but dont know how. russell was teasing me yesterday because he said whenever he sees 2 comments on my blog he knows that one of them will just be me responding! how rude is he! but its true.
but dont worry! i read your blog, and i cant wait to see your novel cos i think your a great writer!

Sarah said...

Thanks Bek. I like your blog too and I'm not just saying that - I keep reading it! When I figure out how to get a tracker thingy, I'll let you know.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sarah. I don't klnow if you read reply to your comment on my blog but if you want to track readership you can install sitemeter fairly easily. www.sitemeter.com

I know what you mean about the strugle to get people to comment. I sometimes write something that's just a quick post about nothing and I'll get half a dozen comments. Then I'll post something that I'm sure will create a great conversation and nothing happens.

I try to ask questions regarding what I'm posting about. I go beyond the simple, "What do you think?" and ask a few specific questions to try to engage people. It doesn't always work but it helps.

Sarah said...

Thanks Rodney, I saw your reply to my comment on your blog and someone else replied too. I think I'll give Sitemeter a go.