This is a follow-on to the previous post discussing what’s in it for the participants of this project.
The essence of the project lies in the original vision of helping readers find good new content and helping good new content find readers. I think that has to reamin the primary objective.
People will participate either because they enjoy being altruistic or because they enjoy the content.
Helping Your Fellow Blogger
It feels good to give someone something nice, especially when it doesn’t really cost anything. If it’s done right, this could be a substantial part of what’s fun about the project for participants.
For this to work, here’s what I think would have to be in place:
1. Readers would have to believe that the featured blog was deserving of the help. They’d have to see them as especially talented or specially deserving of getting help for some reason.
2. It’d have to be obvious that the featured blogger really was helped thanks to the time readers spent. The exit interviews I was doing were a good part of that, but it’d have to go beyond that. Something to show a return on that generosity, so to speak.
3. The featured blogger would have to demonstrate thankfulness and appreciation, not just pay it lip service. This means sincerely engaging with the readers and the project even after the group’s moved on.
Finding Good Reads
This would be the ideal reason for people to participate if it could always be delivered. The matching of an author to a reader is the essence of blogging. Content produced and enjoyed.
The challenge is that not everyone shares the same topical interests and stylistic preferences. What some love, some will have no interest in whatsoever.
Possible Answers
- Cater to a group of readers that do share the same interests and preferences.
- Provide multiple channels catering to multiple groups with shared tastes.
- Rotate blogs more quickly so that “misses” pass quickly.
Of those, only the first would be possible without dramatic increases in the amount of work required, but with all three, there are still some problems that remain.
Where’s that leave us?
I’m inclined to think that altruism is really the key here for having a core group of participants, and for that to work, we’d have to at least do a good job of the elements I outlined above under that header.
I’d still hope we could find great content that interested everyone, of course, but this would mean that we’d need to have much more happen than just tossing up a blog and an interview.
We’d have to feel like we really know the blogger, understand why they are deserving of our time and attention and believe in that, and see the results of our collective time spent helping the person.
In other words, we’d be focusing on the act of helping a blogger find an audience.
There’s lots more to talk about on these topics. What do you think?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you have to some take account of the two big differences between the Internet and almost every other sort of communication.
1) When any site is just a “one way street” we may find it interesting, but it’s still frustrating when we agree/disagree with something and can’t instantly let people know we approve/disapprove. I think the applause widget is a brilliant idea, if it can be made to work on all systems, including the free versions. Interaction can be soo-ooo useful and rewarding for BOTH parties in this and the applause button allows people to just say, “I like it!” They don’t even have to know or analyse why - they just do!
2) The Internet is faster than any other form of media including TV, except for live news coverage, but even with that, they don’t have an applause button.
There is one further thing: although altruism is great and I agree with you - in theory - the fact is that, these days in particular, self interest can be equal to survival and that’s important to consider if you want this thing to grow and become really significant. It can be a bit of an “exclusive” club (by that I mean you’ve got to have something a bit more special than just good to get featured), but this engagement thing - being part of a WORTHWHILE community - might well be the nearest you’ll get in the long run to a compromise between altruism and self interest.
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Chuck Reply:
April 5th, 2009 at 8:34 am
When I talk about altruism here, I’m trying to get at what you describe. In the end, it winds up being a community feeling, a sense that you belong to something interesting that’s the real gain.
It would take some work to make that happen, but it might be doable. Thanks for the good thoughts, CJ. Keep ‘em coming.
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Altruism that doesn’t cost money - many of us can provide that! I’ve enjoyed many, but not all, of the featured blogs. If we get too focused, it’ll feel like I’m reading my own blogroll all over again. I don’t want that. Personally, I’d rather take a chance on a different and refreshing blog than expand on the same old, same old.
That said, you’ve featured a lot of young bloggers. How about a baby boomer or two?
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Good input, Daisy. Thank you.
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I concur with Daisy. Those of us more “senior” bloggers can provide an interesting perspective and fun change of pace.
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I’m happy to have bloggers of all ages. The selection process and criteria will get its own post here soon.
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I do think some sort of classification system is probably in order, though less focused than, say, Alltop. I think that perhaps with a half-dozen categories you could have people actively participating in forums/blogs that interest them. Don’t go down to the niche level…
So something like ‘corporate blog’, ‘personal blog’, ‘design/marketing’, ‘tech’ and the like. Sure, some areas will be missed, but if you start with a manageable list you can at least get the concept moving.
Still wishing you well…
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Chuck Westbrook Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 8:45 am
I think you’re right, but we’d have to get substantial numbers of people interested in each channel. Also, that approach would take much more work, something that might be doable with help, but it would really ratchet up what’s required to make it go.
But if that’s what it takes, we need to acknowledge that.
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I think that the best ideas involve a more frequent rotation of bloggers as well as a category for the blogs that you represent. You could keep your same format, maybe while reducing the features from two weeks to one, and just alternate between the categories so that one week, you have a tech blog, the next week a humor blog, the next week photography…and so on.
I love what you are doing and appreciate the work that you put into this project. With the legions of followers you have, we will all help make this a success.
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Cameron, that’s an interesting idea. Do you think that would solve or compound the problem, though?
If we have someone interested in a tech blog and there’s a rotation, there will be several weeks where they have virtually no chance of liking the blog. In a way, it’s what we’ve already been doing but just made a big more structured, which could be a help.
Thanks for the input.
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I think two weeks per featured blog is ideal. One week seems too short. I would like to see channels. If there were three blogs available each two week period, readers might be more likely to find a blog they like every turn. The channels should be general with somewhat of a variety in each one.
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