One of my other hobbies, when I'm not podcasting, reviewing, writing or painting tiny plastic figures, is being neurotic and insecure. As many of the above involve putting my thoughts out onto the internet in one form or another, this can be best described as an "interesting" combination.
Now on sunday we are recording the "Conclusions" episode of Dissecting Worlds Series 4, which will be our 29th podcast, which is all kinds of cool. Like the rest it will go out into the world, get syndicated, copied, stuck on itunes, and generally passed around the internet, and like all the rest we'll have very little firm idea of how many people listen to it. Sure, we get some very welcome feedback, it's not that much. I've worked my time in Customer Support roles and I know the deep truth that no-one rings you or emails you to tell you you're doing a good job, so a lack of being called a proper idiot is as good a compliment as you can get in these circumstances, but at times you just want to know people are out there.
The complete opposite is true of this blog - and indeed the reviews I've done over at Geek Syndicate. I can see in wonderful, granular detail how many hits an article gets, and where it is referred from, and so on, which leads to complusive stat checking to see how many people are reading whatever whitterings it have put out at which particular time.
Now the wierd thing is, from talking to fellow podcasters and bloggers, is that I'm not alone. We're all - well certainly a lot of us - like this, driven by an urge to put out our opinions to the world and then caught between fear of being told we are doing it wrong, or just plain ignored and not sure which would be worse. It could drive you mad, but I'm not sure doing this sort of thing is a mark of sanity to start with.
The answer of course is simple, and the single best piece of advice I was given when we started out, and probably the only piece of advice I would pass on. Do it because it is fun to do, in of itself. Do it because you enjoy the process of recording, or writing. Do it for your own pleasure, with your voice, and that will come through in what you do.
Let the numbers look after themselves. Anything else is a bonus.
Right, just got to go check how many hits this has got...
I wish more people took this view but it seems quite a few people we know blog with the expectation that it will be read and commented on. That if people don't comment they are not reading and if they are not reading then there is no point to the blog.
ReplyDeleteYet there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had from simply writing about something that has been occupying your mind, regardless of whether anyone reads it or not. It is nice to look at something you'e written (once you've murdered your darlings) and feel a sense of accomplishment.
But that is the big difference between blogging because you want to engage people in your life and blogging because you simply want to write about things that interest you. I think the former is something of a fools errand, unless your life happens to be so interesting that people want to engage in it. Sadly, I think some folk out there in the blogsphere are of the view (mistakenly) that their lives are that interesting.
i must admit i would be lying if i claimed i didn't want people to read and engage with this stuff - sharing opinions is half the fun of having them - but i've been around the block on the internet a couple of times now writing in that hope alone is a fools errand. and people not commenting doesn't mean they're not reading.
ReplyDeletebut i like writing - just the process of it, and putting my thoughts in order. in an earlier age i'd probably do it anyway, scribbling away like some mad diarist. the internet just lets me inflict on a (small) group of other people :)
Oh I completely agree in the "wanting people to engage" bit but if they don't it won't stop me from posting.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then I will have someone I know say they liked what I put on LJ or FB or somewhere else, even though they never commented. Which still makes me feel pretty chuffed.