I thought to check in on my blog this afternoon, just to make sure it was still there...where ever "there" is! I scrolled down checking each post glancing at each comment counter. Comments 0....Comments 0....Comments 0....I wanted to reflect on my emotions as I noticed the lack of comments. After wondering why there are no comments I found myself thinking about why I would expect comments, just because I made a blog doesn't mean random folks are looking at it. And if they are even looking at it that doesn't mean they would be compelled to comments. I've read several blogs and I have not commented on one. So, what is going on here...what is the psychology around commenting on blogs, and bloggers wanting comments? I recall reading that students get hooked on blogs when they have others commenting to their posts. Could it me a variation to facebook or email? The one that composes a message using either tool will go back looking for replies. Is the digital generation accustom to instant response? If so, I've wired my brain for that!
Now, another thought....If this were my research notebook I would not worry about others reading my mindless wonderings of words and I write to figure out what I'm thinking. As I type these thoughts on my blog I feel uneasy knowing that once posted, these thoughts are exposed for anyone to read. It's like I don't want to post on my blog unless I think I have something amazing to share but if I waited for something amazing and always censored myself I wouldn't have anything posted. So what is the balance with this genre? With this blog am I writing for a particular audience? How can I adjust my style, my presentation, my level of synthesis if I am just posting for the general population? Should I have created in my mind a hypothetical audience, identified what is appropriate for them and based my writing on that? Again, if I can't freely write my wonderings, if I'm worried about my audience, I may never post.
So...what does all this random reflection mean for me and my blog? Knowing that web 2.0 tools are to connect and share... For now I'm going to go with being my own audience, writing for me. As my blog evolves, maybe who I'm writing for will evolve. I will have to wait and see.
Holly, I read your post about finding "0" comments and thought I should drop by and post at least one :-)
ReplyDeleteAs you know I blog quite a bit too - but I decided early on that I would not care about whether or not people were commenting or not. Don't get me wrong I love it when people comment but that is not why I blog. I blog because
(a) it helps me record what I have been upto. For instance I just blogged about the creativity workshop at Coronado HS this past Saturday. It allowed me to post all the cool stuff the participants had created - which would otherwise have been just left sitting on my computer.
And more importantly, I blog because
(b) it helps me think. Many of my blog posts are an attempt to think things through. I use blogging as a reason for developing my thoughts - figuring out what I *really* think. My blogs are first and foremost for myself. Readership is something I value but don't crave.
Anyway, best of luck with your blogging. I look forward to reading more.
~ punya