Trends
Posted By Aaron Marcelli on September 16, 2011
For a while I was frustrated at the low amounts of comments my blog was generating. Though the number of hits on my posts continued to increase, few if any people were taking the time to leave comments on my site.
I have a pretty good number of followers who are subscribers to my blog and receive updates on new postings through email. I also have generated more traffic to my site by linking many of my posts to my facebook and twitter accounts. Surprisingly to me, this got more people reading my posts but still produced very few comments.
What did begin happening however is people gave me feedback in different ways. Since I know about half my readers personally, it was not uncommon to be at work or church and have someone come up to me and tell me they read my blog and give me some feedback. Some people emailed me their comments about what they read on my site. Others gave comments via twitter or text. And some people would click on the link I posted on facebook, go to my site, read my post, go back to facebook, and type in their thoughts there. Again, this frustrated me. I would think, why don’t they just leave their comments on my site?
I had to realize that for whatever reason, most of my readers just did not (or do not) want to leave public comments attached to the posts they read. This did not mean that they were not giving me feedback though. And that’s what I ultimately wanted. It would not be wise of me to condemn others when they email me or give me their input in person. Yelling “put it on the blog” would probably not get me the response I want. Among the unique people who read what I write there is a trend of giving feedback in a more private and sometimes more personal way. It would be counterproductive for me to fight this and try to force on them the model I want.
Rather I am embracing this trend. I now send every new post out on twitter and link most of them to facebook. I try to encourage conversation when people tell me they read my post. If I’m getting what it is I want (feedback) it doesn’t really matter how I’m getting it. I can’t be so concerned about which method or form I think is “right,” it’s more important to know what works!
In your work or relationships are there any new trends you are still trying to put into old molds? Do you need to forsake what you think is right for the enhancement of what works? Be on the lookout for how people and processes change and embrace them. Fighting to keep things the same does not provide greater outcomes.
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