Looking at your comments on my “Mission Failure” post back on the old blog, I see some themes emerging. Not everyone will be interested in every blog. Those who stick with it anyway need some context to be interested in.
As R.A. Porter pointed out, a major issue with the project is that not everyone will be engaged by every blog. While his suggestion of multiple streams of blogs holds promise, he’s right that it would require more time than I have to give at the moment.
Picking a blog for a large, diverse audience to read for two weeks is bound to lose the attention of a major chunk of those people. As people lose interest in a particular blog, the chances that they fade out of the project increase dramatically. This is one of the big issues.
James A. Woods makes another good point. Those participants who are hanging in there and sticking with the blogs need some context, and as Laurel Plum says, having that context only occur in the forums is the wrong approach. It needs to occur in the body of the blog, as it did when we had the exit interviews and other follow-up.
So for those who are altruistic and after a learning experience (possibly the most core group of participants in this project), more context needs to be provided. These are also the people likely to stick with the project even through a blog they don’t enjoy.
B J Keltz reminded me that many of the people who signed up were self-interested only. They misunderstood this as a traffic pyramid scheme of some sort.
The two big questions are these:
- What is the value for participants?
- What is the value to the featured bloggers?
Is it altruism? Entertainment? Learning experiences? Traffic? Relationships?
I have my thoughts, and I’ll post them tomorrow. Let me know what you think.
Image by sbcarlile.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I was hoping to find some cool new blogs. I admit that if I wasn’t interested in the featured blog, I didn’t subscribe or get at all involved. Even when I did subscribe, I didn’t participate in the forums; I commented on the blog itself. (I didn’t even realise that there were forums!)
OK, so I’m selfish.
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:14 am
I appreciate the honesty. I expect that’s how most people are.
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Honestly Chuck I think for it to be what you idealized it as (or so I assume), there would have to be more involvement by you (or some community manager with your likeness). Seems silly, but I think a community like this needs a hub that goes beyond a landing page for people to be directed to the blog. Naturally, not all people are going to be interested in all of the blog choices, so when that’s the case, if there isn’t another force pulling them/us in, they will likely disengage until the next round. That’s what I find myself doing.
None of this is to suggest, however, that it’s a bust. Far from it. You’ve turned me onto 4 blogs that I love and interact with regularly, so even as is, it works. Could it be/do more? Sure…most things/people could. But regardless, I value you/your blog as a resource and will continue to be here.
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:16 am
I think you’re right. There’s where things get fuzzy. I’m not sure that I have the time to fill that roll effectively. This would be a good area to ask for help on.
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Chuck - I religiously added the feed for each blog, went to each one at the start and read a few posts in full there. However, I found it difficult to “waste” time reading more than one or two posts in full if I didn’t like what I saw there and/or had no interest whatsoever in it. I certainly comment if I didn’t find anything specific to comment on.
For me, there were some interesting bloggers, fewer interesting blogs and even fewer interesting posts. I guess that’s just normal, though, since I’m certain that even my most ardent fans don’t like or care about everything I write and I’m pretty sure there’s nothing unique about me.
I agree with most of what’s been said and, yes, of course there’s a degree of self interest involved here for most of us - we’d all liked to be picked, though few of us are likely achieve that.
Talking of the self interest angle, I think it was the first blog you chose had the system on it that shows a link and the headline of the latest post from the blog of the commenter next to any comment made (sorry, I can’t recall the name of it offhand, but I’m sure you will know it). That, I’m sure, encourages us all to get involved as we get a very up to date “reciprocal” link just by commenting. Sadly, that’s not available free on Wordpress and I suspect not on other systems either - you have to pay to be able to upload “bolt-on” features and I guess most of us these days think free is a much better price to pay.
All that said, I do have one idea that might benefit us all: supposing you designed a simple (say ten or twenty line) sample for us all. The selected blogger could write, or suggest, their own “opening post” and you could maybe edit it and include the BlogHiker name. You then include that at the beginning of the week/fortnight and we each of us agree to add this “clip” as a taster in a post that describes (very briefly) what BlogHiker is all about and linking to it (the latest choice could perhaps be kept at the top of Bloghiker as a Sticky post?), as well as doing our best to read and engage with the chosen blog of course.
Once the format is set as a sort of template it could be quite quick for you to do and each of us could just copy and paste it into our blogs as the latest new post. That would provide free advertising and, hopefully, more readers for each of us that is chosen and for BlogHiker too, which might well also benefit, even if we didn’t find much interest in the chosen blog that time around.
What do you think?
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 am
Thanks, CJ. Again and unsurprisingly, if a blog’s not interesting, it’s not likely to get someones attention.
There are ways to share the attention and benefits more creatively. In the exit interviews, featuring the commenter who was most helpful, for example. The commentluv plugin was good, too.
I like your idea for advertising. I wonder if people would be willing to do that, though. I know I’m protective of what I publish on my blog. Some would do it, at least.
What I think would be great is a little widget for participant sidebars that linked to the project as well as linked to the current featured blog. That would be a good source of traffic and attention for both, I think.
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CJ Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 am
Yes. I can see what you’re saying and I understand. I would certainly be prepared to copy and paste something that was contained and clearly stated that it was “This week’s featured Blog on BlogHiker” or something like that. It’s a way of adding in a short post that is free and adds variety. It doesn’t have to stay at the top for long and it might bring traffic to all concerned.
The widget is an excellent idea, but can “externally” sourced widgets be added to FREE Wordpress (and other systems?) when you can’t even add Javascript without upgrading and accessing/writing your own CSS?
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Great comments from CJ and Jeb. I visited every blog. I subscribed to every blog. The only one I didn’t give a full effort to was the sketch blog. I really liked Zoe’s blog, but became very committed to the project after reading and studying the second blog, FeverBee, who writes extensively about community building. Thus, based on the fact I have a virtual PR shop - and do more and more social media for clients all the time - that largely became my primary context for this project. For me there would be personal and professional takeaways.
Also - CJ - I think you’re talking about comment luv. I tried to install this feature on blogger. They say it can be done, but I finally gave up after numerous failed attempts. It is an awesome feature.
I never thought being the featured blogger was where it was at. Maybe I’m late to that party. I always saw more value in being a participant of a burgeoning online community, and thought if there was any traffic to be driven to my blog, it was more likely to occur (long term) in the community. I thought the more time that passed, the richer the community experience would become for “members”, especially the early adopters. Even if the featured bloggers moved on (and almost all of them did), the “community” would remain intact from blog to blog to blog to blog.
Beyond an increase in traffic (much of which might be temporary), the value of being a featured blogger is the critique of so many diverse readers - assuming they will critique and do so honestly. Constructive feedback can be so helpful. So often, when I try something new on my blog, I wonder what my readers really think. Have I gone too far? Is it too goofy? Too serious? Too much of a departure from what they expect? Too this? Too that? A featured blogger could really utilize the opportunity to test new things like ads, artwork, one-sentence posts, video posts, audio posts, etc.
To me, the value for participants can’t be overstated. Even with an anemic community, the experience for me has been chock full of so many learning experiences. I’m kind of shy about revealing them all, but there have been so many.
I hope I’m making sense. This project was an opportunity for me to get in on the ground floor of a community-building experience. I would transfer the knowledge gained to my clients. At the same time, it dovetailed interest in my personal blog. This probably explains why I possibly spent more time in the forums than anyone else. hahahaha!
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First of all, the new site design is really great! I especially love the new name and logo.
I’ve been a fan of your concept from the start. There’s so much content out there, that it can be too overwhelming at times, to explore on my own and find the best content, with the tone and topics that fit me. It’s sort of like trying to find the out-of-the-way, small, interesting restaurants when you’re traveling, or the movies that aren’t blockbusters, or winning big awards. You need someone you trust to help sort through it all, sharing their knowledge and pointing you in the right direction. (These people are often referred to as “mavens.” I think of you as a maven.)
I also really like what Jen said (which is not surprising, seeing as how she’s one of the people I’ve really connected with, who found my blog through your project): “This project was an opportunity for me to get in on the ground floor of a community-building experience.” I feel like we’re all trying to make sense of all that’s available in social media—to make it manageable and meaningful, and to build real community. This project really works that way for me.
And although I’m far from famous, my blog did get a considerable traffic boost when you featured it, and many of those readers have stuck around. They play a very important role in my blog community.
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 am
Thanks, KT. I don’t regret doing it, and thanks for the encouraging words. We’ll see what comes next. : )
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I did discover several new and interesting blogs, and I even started following two of the featured bloggers on Twitter. Now that the forums are a little more easily accessible, I may comment more. Before this, I’ve mainly stayed in the blogs’ comments themselves.
Thanks for continuing the program, Chuck!
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 am
Thanks, Daisy.
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I do like the new look and the new name!
Have you thought about making a little graphic along the lines of “I’ve been hiked by Bloghiker” for featured blogs to use on their site? Trace that back to a page here listing all the blogs we’ve covered and what the project is about. It is a small thing, but it does let readers who come across them know that they were selected by the blog project based on what they had to offer. It might also gain community members.
I’m not much into personal blogs, though I still engage with Sassy Kathy. Zoe has become an online friend. Ryan and some of the others already were. I guess about the only way I can think to separate streams is to designate topics and ask us to split into teams for the deep evaluation. That might not be practical, and it certainly doesn’t provide the traffic boost as when we all click over.
The thought is that I have my area of expertise or niche preference, Jen has hers, etc, While I might be really shy about commenting on a social media site, I can sure engage with the creativity people, writers, educators, historians, publishers, etc. Others might prefer to avoid those areas. That doesn’t mean I won’t go to the social media site, only that I might confine my remarks to the comments here rather than at the site.
Just a few thoughts. I’m in it because I truly believe that doing good things for others is worth my time. I just wish I could have engaged some of these blogs better.
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