4.01.2007
Does the Cheese Stand Alone?
Who is reading your blog? How do you know? Have you recruited readers, asked friends, or engaged in cultivating an audience? Do you imagine that audience as you write? Do you have readers who you don’t know outside the blog? How did they find your blog? Do you comment on the blogs of strangers? How do common interests and reciprocity work in the blogosphere?
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So far, sadly (that I know of) just the class, a few girls in my house, and two or three friends from high school are reading my blog. I've been reading other blogs, and occasionally commenting when I see fit, but it has yet to be reciprocated. My next experiment is to post a link to my blog on a heavily populated celebrity myspace blog and see if that changes anything. If it works there is only a short window of opportunity because many people post comments on myspace "walls" and it will probably only stay there for a day or so. I should know by class on Tuesday.
I think people in this class might be reading my blog.... wait, I KNOW Leslie is reading it...
When I write, I know that I am imagining some sort of audience in my mind, but not an audience of actual people in my life. Like I have said before, I post as a character of me (and I would argue that everyone does because people are multifaceted; I think it'd be almost impossible to represent every aspect of yourself in a blog). So my audience is people who don't know anything about me.
I don't think I have any random readers... but maybe it's because I haven't put myself out there by commenting on other people's blogs or even posting my link at a place that makes my blog available for people to read.
I guess I could see what happens if I put myself out there. I don't know how I'd track it though because I imagine most of the people who would read my blog wouldn't talk to me about it/comment on it unless they had an account.... but maybe I could look at the counter on my profile?
I know the class does. I know a few friends do. I know that some people I know from "the interweb" have been reading it. I've been trying to get the link out there as much as possible, but I think it's just a matter of who you know and who can spread the word about your blog that makes it popular.
I think just the class is reading my blog now, and that's definitely shaped my writing. I wasn't going to in the beginning, but I've been writing with the thought in mind that not everyone loves sports the way I do. So I haven't gotten into some of the deeper subjects and I explain some things I normally wouldn't. Unlike some other people's blogs, like the gaming and poker ones. I didn't start this one prior to this class. I think if I did, I would just write it for sports junkies.
I don't think anyone actually reads my blog. Maybe that's my fault for making the blog too parochial in scope. But whatever the reason, I'm sure that it's why my blog won't succeed in the long run. I think that reciprocity is absolutely essential to blogging. If no one's reading, and there's no communication, then you really do just have a diary. I've been thinking about changing the way that I've been running my blog to see if the readership increases. But I don't think it will unless I find something unique and useful to say.
And that's my 2¢.
A few poker players inside the Umass Poker community read it, but don't comment on it. A few have started their own. A few of my non-poker friends check it out as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if there are others, but I don't know of them.
I've exposed a link to it through Umasspoker.com, and probably will throw up a link in my profiles on TwoplusTwo, Myspace, and Facebook to get some reads as well. Once I get a career going in poker journalism or playing that's when I expect it to get it kicked up a notch in terms of readership. I feel dirty trying to spam others with my life, but realize that's how I'll have to make a name for myself as well.
Besides the class, I don't think anyone is reading my blog. The only other person I even gave the url to was Nedroid, the comics guy I linked to back in February. I told him I wanted to post some of his comics, so I gave him the blog url when I asked him for permission. Somehow, I doubt he has read it though.
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