Questions for my readers
Ok guys and gals, I know I still owe you the second part of the Byzantine power games, and I will indeed post that and finally reveal to you the life-changing stuff that has been keeping me from posting more entertaining brain-spam,
however right now I would really appreciate your input on a couple of points:
What makes you guys come back for more when you follow a blog? For me it's a mixture of entertainment, usefulness and interaction.
What would be your split as percentages if we considered:
Entertainment - Makes me laugh, or is otherwise entertaining but not useful.
Usefulness - Stuff I can use in my actual life to increase its fun-quotient or decrease the boredom level. This includes making more money with less effort, learning new skills or anything else that I would consider useful. (This is deceptive because sometimes interesting stuff ends up actually being just a highbrow sort of entertainment because if it's not used it's not...used!)
Interaction - The ability to actually interact with the blogger, be it via comments, e-mail or in person. Obviously this is limited to people I think I would actually enjoy spending time on/with.
So, my split would be:
Entertainment (E): 20%
Usefulness (U): 40%
Interaction (I): 40%
Give me your numbers in the comments people!
PS: The fact that (I) kind of looks like an icon for a pussy is purely coincidental I assure you.
Comments
usefulness - 10%
interaction - 10%
in websites like perezhilton.com or vh1, I really don't give a crap about interaction, and find other people's comments annoying. Although they're sometimes amusing.
p.s, I will never look at (I) again...
U - 10%
I - 40%
I read blogs just for the heck of it, I don't care if they're useful or not as long as the person behind the screen keeps me reading and/or laughing, and that person happens to be a "normal" human being [or non-human, in your case] that's able to communicate with other people.
This is such an interesting question. I would have used totally different categories but.....
Entertainment: 30%
Usefulness: 30%
Interaction: 40%
Here's the thing, to me all of the above is irrelevant without interaction. Almost no blog is good enough for me to visit if the author does not at least respond to my comments once in a while. If they never even once visit my blog, it's usually over, although one or two bloggers have managed to be so compelling that I haven't given a rat's behind that they don't reciprocate.
I find that blogs where the author visits others are the most popular. I have a handful (maybe 9 or so) neighbors who have been my consistent friends since I began the blog 2 years ago. Now that I'm terribly busy, they take priority although I really wish I could visit my new neighbors more.
Having said that, my favorite blogs are the ones with variety, good writing and intelligence. Most of the "Entertainment" I love and expect comes in the form of humor from the author, not Lolcats (which has the tendency to make me nauseous).
....Is there a punishment on your planet for being a blabbering jabbermouth? I hope not, sorry I'm going on again.
I find that there are certain posts that have a "je ne sais quoi" a mix of several things - variety, a musing, a few photos and something personal that also relates to literature or an old news story that most people have not heard of.
I'm always surprised at what posts get flooded with responses or which ones just have that spark. I really think it's hard to compartmentalize.
40% skillz
60% entertainment
10% usefulness
10% interaction
E - 80%
U - 5%
I - 15%
If someone can keep me laughing/entertained I'll be back.
Not usefullness - thats what google is for. Mainly interaction for me. I only started the blog because my family and friends are spread all over the world and Australia so it was easier this way than sending out a hundred emails all the time. Thats why a lot of my stuff is family stuff. Although one thing I do like about vox is that there doesn't seem to be a lot of mummy/mumsy blogs here. Or I haven't found them. Even though I do write about my kids, I'm not interested in other peoples. So anyway, once you start blogging you meet people and some of them are interesting so then you get interested in seeing what they're up to and yadda yadda yadda. And thats why I don't have a neighbourhood that goes on for endless pages because I only keep people in it who I think I might actually like in the real world. Actually it needs a clean out at the moment. Oh, and I do like looking at people photos. But entertainment, hmmm - I don't find many people entertaining, more interesting.
And I don't think that answers your question.
I am commenting on your blog because I want you to read my blog
Thank you for commenting on my blog
Thank you for thanking me and I'm just saying thanks again so that you'll pity me a bit and read my blog
LOL
RFOL
E: 50%
U: 5%
I: 45%
The majority of the usefulness is incidental - like hearing about restaurants/clubs/pubs people have been to - music to listen to, TV shows to watch, places to visit etc. But mainly I read other people's blogs because I'm nosey.
E - 30%
U - 5%
I - 65%
What you can gather from this is that I am a very humorless, self-centered, lonely person.
Really? Oh, it's not that bad.
But I am willing to forgive a Martian in a foreign land - and your blog does fall within that 30%.