Where are all the commentors?

Written by Verne on November 21st, 2007

It’s been a bit of a struggle keeping up with blogging since I started full time entrepreneuring (is that a word?). Blogging is still very much an escape for me, and not a hobby, as I described in one of the 12 lessons I learned after 3 months of blogging. Nonetheless, I still enjoy using this site as an outlet for ideas, praise (of great work I come across), and new learnings acquired from each day that passes.

Today I checked in with our favorite friend FeedBurner, who joyfully reported that I had reached a new milestone of 44 RSS Readers. Woot. If I haven’t ever expressed my gratitude to the followers of creative briefing (though I’m sure I have on multiple occasions), here it is: thank you! But one thing still has me baffled…

Where are all the commentors?

Of the handful of people who do regularly comment here, I can count only about 2 or 3 who may actually subscribe and make up part of the 44. So who are the other 41-42 other creative briefers?

So go on, speak up! I’d love to get to know all of you. And while you’re at it, let me know why you may not have spoken in the past, and what I can do to change that going forward. If you’re just not a commenting kind of person, that’s cool. If you have no interest or thoughts on what I write about, that’s also cool. Just let me know, I can take it.

I write here because I like to write and express my thoughts. I don’t write necessarily to build some kind of a community or to drive creative discussions (though that would be nice sometimes). So whether 1 person comments or all 44 of you comment, I’m still going to continue writing. But I was just curious to see who all of you were, that’s all.

This site has always been about testing new things and learning along the way. Asking you all to speak up is another test. I figure 3 things can happen:

  1. The handful of regular commentors will say hello. A great deal of you who have never commented here will also leave a quick hello. Maybe I’ll get to know a bunch of you. Maybe I’ll figure out how to be more engaging.
     
  2. Only the regulars will comment and leave thoughts on how to increase comments and interaction (still awesome).
     
  3. Nobody comments because you’re all appauled that I want to get to know you and think that’s kind of creepy (not so awesome).

Time will tell. Regardless of what happens, thanks for sticking around, even if you don’t comment. :)

Update

I’ve hit 46 readers since posting! Woot + 2. I’m also happy to know that this test isn’t a complete failure thus far as I’ve gotten to hear from 6 readers – 1 of which is a regular, 2 of which I’ve seen a few times before, and 3 of which I met here for the first time! Thanks to Satish, Téa, Jon, Malcolm, Kate, and Renata for chiming in!

Looking forward to hearing from more of you. :)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 4:25 pm and is filed under blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Satish

    November 21st, 2007 at 7:44 pm

    Hello :).

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Téa B

    November 21st, 2007 at 9:01 pm

    I am an RSS subscriber and I love your blog… but… RSS makes us lazy in the commenting department I think! Well, it most certainly makes *me* lazy!

    So, um… PING… I am one of your subscribers. There you go :)

    Great work!

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Verne

    November 21st, 2007 at 11:17 pm

    Hello back to you Satish, my most dependable commentor. Happy to be always able to count on your thoughts!

    Téa – thanks for leaving a note! I totally agree that RSS readers can make us lazy commentors sometimes… and that’s not all! I haven’t even visited some of my favourite sites in some time just because I’ve been keeping up with their content strictly through RSS. You win some, you lose some. In any case, thanks for the encouraging comments! :)

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Jon Strocel

    November 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm

    Ok, I’m one of your RSS readers. I started reading when you were getting the new home office. I run a video production company in Vancouver, so many of our experiences are similar (great post about YouTube). Keep up the great work!

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Verne

    November 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    Hi Jon! Great to see a new name and face in the comments. The ‘new’ home office is still stuck somewhere in between the back burner and mission-critical priorities. It’ll see the light of day soon.. I hope. :)

    Thanks for staying subscribed – hope to catch you round more often! Best of luck with your company as well!

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Malcolm Billing

    November 22nd, 2007 at 4:30 pm

    Hey Verne,

    count another one of your RSS lurkers… I mostly follow along to keep up with how your agency is progressing. I remember our conversation about pursuing a “traditional job” in a large organization vs. heading pursuing v-dot full-time. Part of me wants to be able to point students down the line to your story and show them the challenges and the rewards needed to be successful.

    Cheers from your old campus home,

    Malcolm

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Army Kate

    November 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 am

    Comments = free content, so obviously EVERYONE wants as many people to comment on their blogs as possible.

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Verne

    November 23rd, 2007 at 12:17 pm

    Malcolm! It’s great to see you here! That conversation in many ways gave me the courage and confidence to pursue my own definition of a career. Thanks for all the great advice along the way, and I hope that my experience will help many more undecided students in the future. Always happy to see a familiar face, hope to see you around again soon!

    Army Kate – that’s an interesting way to look at comments. And you’re right, everyone does want as many people to comment as possible. I enjoy conversations, but I also enjoy just simply expressing my thoughts. So thanks for the added content, and I hope you’ll stick around for more. :)

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Renata23

    November 23rd, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    More added content! I need to update my own blog, but I am waiting for a friend of mine to receive the present I sent him, and then I will post said present — I don’t want to ruin the surprise…

    I am a NYC design girl who is currently trying to decide what aspect of it she wants to go into next… and it is harder than it sounds. I thought I’d circle classes I like in the NYU catalog, and ended up with the same number for web design and interior design… *sigh*

  • MyAvatars 0.2

    Verne

    November 23rd, 2007 at 2:44 pm

    Renata – Figuring what to do with your life is certainly no easy task! Trust me, I know how hard it can be. The bright side is that you’ve figured out that you’re passionate about design. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to apply that passion!

    Hmmm… web design or interior design… that’s a tough match up. Good luck on the decision! Let me know when you’ve made a choice!

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