Last week, I read in an article, Web 2.0 - Using Blogs by Brad Einarsen that every North American blog has an average of 1.2 readers (based on study by Forrester). I’m hoping that figure does not include the blog author!
Thanks to my wife and Eden, my loyal blog readers, my blog is at least ahead of the pack.
The research shows that most blog readers are also people that write blogs. Blogs don’t get a lot of reach beyond this group.
Plus the number of blogs out there is overwhelming and disheartening. I keep finding at least one or two a day – many of which are definitely worth reading regularly and some are good, but considering my information overload, I don’t have time for.
This all lead me to feel quite discouraged about blogging, but then a faithful Webslinger reader, my wife, mentioned that there is a lot of value in blogging just to keep a record of what I’m doing and learning online. Isn’t this how blogs started – as a web diary, a.k.a web log? I think I will keep blogging as it is a useful record of my online experience and findings and if anything else comes of it (including a reader or two – or rather .2) then all the better.
However, I don’t plan to blog as frequently. Some blog entries are really just drawing attention to useful articles I read. And there isn’t a lot of value in just posting an intro to these without offering my take on it or some sort of context or analysis.
I read a lot of articles about the Internet every day and have been faithfully bookmarking ones with lasting value to my del.icio.us. I was thinking it would be great if I could share my picks and upon looking into it I found that del.icio.us makes syndicating and sharing bookmarks and tags really easy.
As such I have launched my breaking news feature, which you’ll see on the right.
Web news - picks by Glen
There are a lot of articles published about the Internet, many of which are nothing more than screen-filler. I collect the articles that discuss best-practices, trends, latest research, the evolving role of the Internet within our society and culture and of course cool and shiny new developments.
You can view the web news here or subscribe to the feed yourself.
So Webslinger may be evolving despite the discouraging statistics. And if you are a loyal reader (I can hear crickets chirping) let me know...
2 comments:
Hi Glen
well ... I guess there's some value to leaving blog posts up. Somebody like me might come by and read them a month later.
I too have been wondering about the value of blogs. Read a book a couple of days ago about blogging in the church (yeah, I know, I need to get out more) that seemed a whole lot more hype than substance.
I too wonder about how many people actually read ... how (and whether) to encourage more people to read ... what the purpose is ... all that sort of thing.
with the blog I started, I decided it would be a success if it helped me get my thoughts clear (whether or not anyone else was reading) ... but it's such a hit when people write that I feel disappointed in the weeks when no one does.
Reading that book made me realize that I ought to go out and read more ... which is why I'm posting a comment to a month-old post! Also reminded me that I don't need to reach so far away to find people who know what they're talking about!
S
Glen,
Don't get disheartened by the 1.2 readers / blog issue - that number is EXPECTED when you start looking into citizen journalism. If everyone is writing, then it makes sense that everyone is reading.
The value in blogs is the long tail like Steve said. The number 1.2 is a static, point-in-time number. Three years from now you will still be getting those 1.2 readers looking at your posts and, hopefully, dropping by with comments.
Enjoy the ride!
--Brad Einarsen
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