Of Course I Want You To Read, Don’t Be Silly!
There is definitely no shortage of blogs. Wikipedia reports that “As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.” According to recent numbers from Technorati, the “blogosphere is over 60 times bigger than it was only 3 years ago” and that “over 75,000 new weblogs are created every day, which means that on average, a new weblog is created every second of every day.” In addition, “daily posting volume tracked by Technorati is now over 1.2 Million posts per day, which is about 50,000 posts per hour.’
That’s a lot of blogs competing for our attention. But in the midst of all this blogging, there’s a curious phenomenon, especially ones with “Christian” content. It’s not uncommon to come across statements to the effect of saying that the blogger in question doesn’t care if anyone reads their blog or not, it’s just something personal that they do.
I’m not sure what compels people to make such statements. But let’s be honest: if that were really true, these people could simply open up a Word document, type their thoughts and save it. Or better yet, go back to an old-fashioned journal with a pen and paper! The very fact that we publish our thoughts on the internet means that we want someone to read them. Your intended audience may be very small. You might keep a family blog as a way to keep in contact with family and friends and give them update on your family. In that case, your intended audience is family, close friends and not much beyond that, but you do want someone to read your blog.
Of course, there is always the danger of focusing too much on readership, finding self-worth or lack thereof in numbers. There is also the inherent danger of blogging of falling into the trap of believing that simply because you have a forum you “deserve” to be heard and of course you’re an expert on what you’re talking about! But wanting someone to read is neither necessarily prideful or wrong and we might as well do away with the false modesty and admit that the very act of blogging means that we want people to read.
- Read Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing Your World by Hugh Hewitt
Of course, there is always the danger of focusing too much on readership, finding self-worth or lack thereof in numbers.
Whoa. Are we talking about blogging or ministry?
I hear you on the ‘deserving’ to be heard thing too. But what bothers me is the ease with which we can focus on only the things we want to hear. Deleting an uncomfortable blog from your reader is click away.
Part of my job at work is keeping an eye on our web stats.
Which means, I find myself more and more sucked into that world, and hoping that one day…eventually…oh, perhaps maybe, my blog will crack 50 visitors in one day. I don’t have any motivation for that other than the fact that it would be cool. And 50 is just my arbitrary goal.
Maybe.
I make a joke similar to this on my own blog occassionally. I’ll mention something and then add, “if that’s okay with both of the people who read this blog.”
Mock self-degradation is my way of saying, I’m not one of those nuts trying to blog for money or build a media empire.
I really don’t care about readers. What I care about are my friends. But I don’t call them readers.
Mark’s comment reminds me of the subtitle on one of my favorite blogs which reads “Read by tens of people every day.” Cracks me up. Her humor is one of the reasons I enjoy her blog. (And also one of the reasons she has a large readership but that’s beside the point.)
I’m surprised I have as many hits as I do.. Makes me wish I was a better writer and could provide better thought-provoking material. But that’s not really the point, either is it?
OKay, so back to the point: “Yes, I seriously doubt the line of thought that claims disinterest in readership after posting your thoughts on the WORLD WIDE WEB.” Uh huh. Right.
“But let’s be honest . . . The very fact that we publish our thoughts on the internet means that we want someone to read them.”
Maybe so, but it sure is a clever way to get cheap (free) storage that you never have to backup. I have a couple of blogs. One I use to teach myself how to use the technology and the other I use to collect my work tons more good stuff written by people who like to get their stuff read. Put me more in the “thought collector” column, though I do publish an actual blog for my Bible Study group.
agree….
i have stuff i write for myself in a journal and on other documents. some of that I hope to get published so people can read. other stuff is just for me. but when i blog, I sure hope others are reading it….but i do try and not get caught up in traffic….because I’ve done that before and it’s very self-absorbing, etc, etc. that won’t keep you blogging either.
rhett