I've often wondered: do some bloggers have an uncanny knack of drawing more attention to themselves than other bloggers? I know that in the real world, people can often influence others around them with their behaviour, but what of the online world? I've been blogging for too long to pay much heed to topics like 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Get More Comments on your blog which frequently crop up on blogging-related online communities. I also know that just being popular is not guaranteed to generate attention and feedback.
In fact, I don't think controversy or deliberate baiting is always successful in bringing about a large readership. I've seen so many bloggers draw only feeble, tepid responses from readers even when they write about contentious issues in a most provocative way. I've also seen some other bloggers need to just put together a few words to generate hundreds of responses by way of comments. You might argue that these bloggers might have already got a dedicated readership, but so have other bloggers who write spicy stuff guaranteed to draw attention. But is commenting on others' blogs a sure way to get comments on one's own blog? Again, I've not seen this to be too effective. There are a few people around who return the courtesy, but most bloggers don't these days. Yet, some very indifferent and anti-social bloggers tend to attract more attention than others who try desperately to be more sociable. Does the topic of discussion have some effect on readership? Sure it does to an extent, but I don't think this correlates well with the comment-to-readership ratio.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that some people tend to have this strange ability to draw attention with the least bit of effort. I don't know how one's personality translates online, but readers tend to pick up emotional cues from the words they read. Communication always has two threads - one the informational thread and the other the more subtle emotional thread. In direct face-to-face communication, one tends to pick up emotional cues from one's senses, but while reading, I think we tend to attribute emotions to certain words, a particular sequence of words or even by the usage of the language. I know this sounds more obvious than it is in reality, but our brain works so quickly that I doubt whether many people actually realize this. Whether deliberately or otherwise, some people seem to use the language in a way that is designed to trigger an immediate response.
Whatever the cause of this strange phenomenon, I have decided to start using more visual elements in some of my posts to enhance the effect of the words. What do you think of my drawing above? Does it add or detract from the tone of this article?
The art of drawing responses
Filed under: Internet and Blogging by HariPosted at 21:39 IST (last updated: 16 Jul 2008 @ 20:16 IST)
I've often wondered: do some bloggers have an uncanny knack of drawing more attention to themselves than other bloggers? I know that in the real world, people can often influence others around them with their behaviour, but what of the online world? I've been blogging for too long to pay much heed to topics like 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Get More Comments on your blog which frequently crop up on blogging-related online communities. I also know that just being popular is not guaranteed to generate attention and feedback.
In fact, I don't think controversy or deliberate baiting is always successful in bringing about a large readership. I've seen so many bloggers draw only feeble, tepid responses from readers even when they write about contentious issues in a most provocative way. I've also seen some other bloggers need to just put together a few words to generate hundreds of responses by way of comments. You might argue that these bloggers might have already got a dedicated readership, but so have other bloggers who write spicy stuff guaranteed to draw attention. But is commenting on others' blogs a sure way to get comments on one's own blog? Again, I've not seen this to be too effective. There are a few people around who return the courtesy, but most bloggers don't these days. Yet, some very indifferent and anti-social bloggers tend to attract more attention than others who try desperately to be more sociable. Does the topic of discussion have some effect on readership? Sure it does to an extent, but I don't think this correlates well with the comment-to-readership ratio.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that some people tend to have this strange ability to draw attention with the least bit of effort. I don't know how one's personality translates online, but readers tend to pick up emotional cues from the words they read. Communication always has two threads - one the informational thread and the other the more subtle emotional thread. In direct face-to-face communication, one tends to pick up emotional cues from one's senses, but while reading, I think we tend to attribute emotions to certain words, a particular sequence of words or even by the usage of the language. I know this sounds more obvious than it is in reality, but our brain works so quickly that I doubt whether many people actually realize this. Whether deliberately or otherwise, some people seem to use the language in a way that is designed to trigger an immediate response.
Whatever the cause of this strange phenomenon, I have decided to start using more visual elements in some of my posts to enhance the effect of the words. What do you think of my drawing above? Does it add or detract from the tone of this article?
13 comment(s)
Leave a comment »Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 03:25 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 08:48 IST #
Comment by ray (visitor) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 14:22 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 15:25 IST #
Comment by mrcorey (visitor) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 21:16 IST #
Comment by mrcorey (visitor) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 21:17 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on 10 Jul 2008 @ 21:27 IST #
Comment by drew (visitor) on 11 Jul 2008 @ 00:23 IST #
Many of my "real-life" friends read my blog..they don't post comments, but I always hear their opinion about it the following days in person. These are the "comments" I enjoy the most.
You write amazingly well..so that would keep me coming...not commenting necessarily.
Comment by Gem (visitor) on 11 Jul 2008 @ 03:38 IST #
I'll take whatever I can get!But yeah, I get a load of page views but relatively few comments. I think that's mainly because I get found via image searches and searches for certain words!
Comment by ray (visitor) on 11 Jul 2008 @ 14:14 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on 12 Jul 2008 @ 15:02 IST #
Do you believe in manifestation? Movies such as 'The Secret' and various theories of attracting what you expect or believe would explain the success of these bloggers.
Ernie and I believed in Blue Beaver Beer to such a degree that we actually had a lot of people looking for it. I wonder if anyone is out there looking on a map for the mighty Horseguard River
Comment by Tim (visitor) on 17 Jul 2008 @ 09:44 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on 17 Jul 2008 @ 10:01 IST #