2008-07-07

100 posts

There, I've made 100 posts in my blog. Now it would be nice for you to do something for me.

I realise others have thousands and that it's not so much to celebrate really. But I'm fairly happy that I've carried through with this project long enough to reach a century, plus I want to take this opportunity to ask for a bit of general feedback.

See, I've played around a bit with the blog in that unsettled way that everything has as a start, and I'm not sure what works and what doesn't. I was hoping you guys would tell me.


The blog is doing fairly well in general. I've got a decent amount of readers, good subscription numbers and a growing Technorati rating. I seem to have settled into a format (mid-length posts mostly) and I've gotten into the habit of posting regularly.

One thing that does bother me a bit is how few comments I get, comparatively, to other similar-size/age blogs. I put myself totally in the blame for this one - I obviously don't make "commentable" enough posts. My last post is a good example. I actually got a comment there but all it did was tell me they liked what I was writing; for someone like me whose background is in the forum world and whose express intention was to create threads that's pretty much a failure. I want discussion, I just don't know how.

So, please, tell me what you've liked and what you haven't in my blog so far. Do it anonymously if you like. But even better, tell me what a blog needs for you to want to comment on it. MP3's? Controversy? Lists?

I probably worry too much, but sometimes I think I just throw stuff randomly into cyberspace.

7 comments:

Boima said...

My suggestion, switch from Blogger to Wordpress. Also ask questions.

Mike said...

Yeah, ask questions. You tend to tell people what you've found, explain your conclusions but you rarely post in a tone that suggests you want peoples feedback.

If anything it sometimes feels as if dissenting opinions would be unwelcome, although I know you well enough to know you love a good bit of dissent.

Birdseed said...

Hmm - interesting. Are you suggesting I should try to make my posts less conclusive? Not give complete answers?* That might work.

Another idea: when I've done journalism the stuff that tends to get the most response is what people can directly relate to. Is that something I should strive for? If so what would people want me to post about?*

* There, look, four questions!

Mike said...

One of the reasons I read the blog is to hear about stuff I don't hear about elsewhere, so it would be a shame if you moved to covering purely more populist stuff.

I don't think comments are the be all and end all of blogs. If you get comments, great, if not, that doesn't mean no-one is reading. I reckon people are less likely to comment if they agree with you, maybe you should be more controversial? :)

Oh, one thing that might help is slightly tighter/shorter articles. When you have 5 or 6 videos embedded in one post there's so much to think about/comment on that it can be a bit overwhelming. Plus who has time to watch 6 videos on every blog they read?

These are just off the top of my head.

quan said...

waddup birdseed, thanks for taking the time to comment on my blog.

regarding your question though, just from my brief reading of a couple posts on the first page, a lot of your ideas are pretty hard to grasp really. i just haven't had the education to grasp much of anything about derrida. i read your post a couple times to try to understand it but i'm still lacking some tools.

which is why i didn't comment. I usually only comment if I have something interesting to add, which usually means that I am familiar with the subject in the post already.

take it how you will, but i'd say keep intellectualizing about that obscure stuff. i swear i'll catch up eventually.

Birdseed said...

Thanks, quan. Love your blog, by the way.

I think I have a few different audiences on my blog in general, from various countries and various angles. So I try to vary my level of academic obtuseness a bit - I admit the derrida post was unusually dense, I usually try to avoid those.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I think you're blog is fine. I enjoy the heads up on new/interesting music and your perspectives on them. I enjoy the theory and would adorno decrease.

Re comments I suspect everybody is too busy on their own blogs/project to comment alot, though a question or invitation is a good place to start.

One thing - you tend to post a lot of music without saying whether you like it or not, as a 'dj' I'd like to be pointed to what's good as well as what's interesting.

Fresh TurboBass 320's would be good too...-..joke..