One of the things I've noticed about blogging (and even on twitter) is how obsessed people can become regarding how many followers they have, how many comments they get, and how much traffic they're generating. I'm also intrigued by those who don't have much of the above, but can't seem to figure out why.
In terms of twitter, you'll get more feedback and conversation going pending on the number of followers you have; more followers subjects you to the public a little more, and of course, the more you interact with them, the more interesting an experience it becomes.
Supposedly. For some.
In terms of blogging, I understand that the ideal is to blog regularly, whatever "regularly" might be (several times a day? Several times a week? Once every month at exactly the same time?). It also helps to make yourself accessible; having an easy to read blog and being able to comment freely should you choose to do so.
Lately I've raised the question of profiling (in a fashion) through a blog. What does it take to raise blogging stats? What does it take to get hundreds of comments? How do you appeal to the public? How do you get the public to respond and/or relate to you?
When I asked the question on twitter, the feedback was interesting, and I could see what they were saying just by looking at my own statistics on my blog. Some people lurk and choose not to comment. Some people comment when they only want to bitch about something. Some comment all the time because they don't have any where else to say what they want to say. And then some comment often because they just genuinely have something to feedback on, or whatever. There are obviously more, but these seem to be the general categories.
I'm thrilled that the visitor figures for my blog have risen lately, however I've noticed the drastic increase in spam and anonymous comments as well; you may have noticed lately that your comments take a while to appear. After having received several racist and extremely inappropriate spam comments, I had to lock things up a wee bit. Disappointing, yes, but expected at some point.
Interestingly, many have said that blogger was not particularly friendly to commenters; there are so many formats out there; for me, Blogger just seemed to be the best place to start, way back when. But for a while I've been toying with the idea of Wordpress, or some other format. Not just because I would like more people to comment on my blog (which would be nice, you know, let me know ya'll are out there), but also because I'd like this to be as approachable as possible to all readers. I feel a bit...like...this is for everyone, you know?
At the end of the day? Would like to hear your feedback.
Just sayin'.
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Excellent post, people are becoming too obsessed with statistics of viewing as opposed to people whom they are actually making sales to or actually becoming a fan of their work.
Racist comments? Certain mentally defective individuals need to grow up and fast, colour does not matter; we are all of the human race, however I am sad to be called a part of it at times.
Keep up the blogging, I enjoy reading your posts!
i think this was a good post because people are beginning to become obsessed with twiiter and caring to much about the feedback they are getting and this is how conflict starts.
I didn't have a lot of time to mention this on Twitter yesterday but regularly, blog comments are work. What I mean is that you have to go out and comment on blog after blog after blog to drum up readership and then you have to keep that up. I wish it wasn't all about "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" but it is. Blergh. ;)
I really started questioning this awhile back and even hit a lull in my blogging because of my lack of comments. After some pondering and some nudging from my husband (believe it or not), I started again. I like knowing that people read my blog every once and again but really, I like going back and looking at my ramblings from when I was pregnant or reading about what my spawn did last week. I like your blog, btw. <3
I think blogging is totally addictive! I'm glad though...because I write more when I'm getting feedback for it and the more feedback the better.
I wrote up a tutorial of sorts on why people are choosing WordPress and you sound perfect for it. Stop by on Monday and check it out. I'll be in full WordPress swing and will provide tons of great resources to check out and learn from.
It's funny, b/c I was obsessed w/ traffic for my main blog Fierce and Nerdy at first, but now several days go by when I don't check my stats. And I'm often pleasantly surprised to see that they usually stay the same, even if the blog hasn't gotten that many comments for the week.
I agree that being there at a regular time and being consistent really helps. Also, towards the beginning, I asked friends who I thought might be interested in a certain topic to comment, and they just kept coming back for more.
Also, the blog moderation thing is HUGE. For whatever reason, people just don't like to comment as much on blogs that are moderated. That's why I used Intense Debate. Their spam filter is horrible, but I can moderate the comments from my email. So if I'm out an about and see something untoward posted, I just delete it before most of our readers have seen it and go about my business. I can also answer comments by email, which is nice when I'm waiting in long lines.
But most of all, it was giving it time and staying consistent. If you blog enough, people will find you, but it doesn't happen overnight.
P.S. -- I found your through "Daily Life of Me," so you're definitely doing something right. :)