In the old days I used to refer to blog posts that didn’t have any comments as orphans.
People thought it was clever and sort of witty but they also found my audioblogging posts about wandering through Target or the grocery store to be exceptionally good too.
But in the good old days of 2004-06 comments were usually plentiful and it was unusual, cool and progressive to have video or audio on your posts.
Some of my international readers would tell me they thought my accent was really cool and I would laugh and say “what accent? You are the one with the accent.”
Back then I was just a blogger and I never worried about being ranked for Dad, dad blogger, daddy blogger or any other keyword. I just wrote my stuff and had fun.
The Blog Posts No One Reads
Back then if no one commented I figured it was a poorly written post or checked to see if Blogger/WP was having some sort of technical issue because that was almost always the answer.
Now the orphan posts are not unusual and I wonder more if people are actually reading the material I crank out and not just because I crank out a lot of it.
But because we are besieged by content, by bells, beeps and whistles that demand our attention and require our eyeballs, or at least try to.
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So here I sit, writing while on hold, listening to awful music sharing these thoughts with you, wondering how much of the noise catches our attention long enough for us to actually read what is out there.
Wondering if you are like me and have winnowed the number of things you subscribe to down because you don’t have time to read the things you really want to.
Asking myself how much of my best stuff goes unread, unseen and unheard because we just didn’t have the time to read it.
Thinking that it is not just about marketing our material and tooting our horns. That is a part and a piece, but it is not all of it.
I suppose it is also part of why I link to posts like Where Fire Meets Water and The Finish Line Isn’t As Close As You Think because it gives them a chance to be read and seen.
Lately I have done that less to get them read and more because they make sense to me, or should I say something I wrote calls out to me.
Something that I saw, said, heard or observed resonates now and so I put it out again because part of the reason I write is to learn about myself and clarify my thoughts and ideas.
Comment There & Get A Comment Here
Some of the newbies and the old timers will tell you if you comment there you will get a comment here, meaning you can drive traffic to your blog by commenting on others.
There is a lot of truth to that but some of it is growing old for me.
Maybe it is because I have a crazy amount of stuff happening in my personal and professional lives or maybe it is because 12 years into this game I am tired.
What I know for certain is I want comments here because someone was moved by my words and not just because I commented on their blog.
Comment here because the words made you feel, think or see. Comment because you want to be part of a discussion and not because you hope it will make me comment there.
Final Words- For This Post That Is
The funny thing about blogging is that you never do know what will resonate with others and what won’t.
Your best work will be met with scorn and disdain and or ignored while your worst will receive the opposite treatment.
If you jump on the treadmill you’ll run with a million rats chasing cheese and fighting over some crumbs.
It is a cruel and obnoxious way to put it, but it is sometimes true.
Some bloggers will bully others or at least try to and they’ll go after you guns blazing if you disagree.
But there are other approaches and ways to view the world.
The pie is bigger than we think and realize.
There is an enormous opportunity and if you open your eyes and manage your expectations you just might find you get what you need and maybe even what you want.
It is a hell of a ride, this blogging game. See you in the comments….maybe.
Great post. It still amazes me how some of my crappiest work can be popular, and the stuff I put a lot of effort into just gets ignored. You never know, so it is good to not stress about it.
It really is crazy how some of this goes. You really don’t ever know how it’s going to go. That is why I try to just write.
I miss the good old days!! I quit blogging for several years because it was taking too much time away from my family. I came back and everything has changed! It’s a different world now, isn’t it? In some ways it’s better because you can fine tune your audience somewhat through social media, but in other ways it’s harder to stay motivated without the constant encouragement. I feel ya.
It is a very different world from the one that used to exist. There is more clutter, chaos and confusion so trying to get people to read, react and respond is much harder than it used to be.
That being said I think if you work hard you can still build a community.
Okay, you’ve driven me to comment! You’re right, life has gotten busy and there is so much grabbing my attention lately that I have been mostly absent from the blogging world; as my poor unused blog will attest. I do get your posts by email and get to read a lot of them; I just don’t seem to get to the next step of commenting. I really just wanted to step in here and let you know that your words are being read (most of the time, anyway) and enjoyed. I miss blogging and the community that goes with it. I think, perhaps, that one of my goals for the second half of this year should be carving out more time for it. The words can’t have dried up in my head forever, right?
Hi Kat,
I am sure the words haven’t dried up inside your head at all. Writing is just like exercise, when we don’t do it for a while it gets easy to push off but once we start again it turns into a habit.
I totally hear you about being busy. I fight to find time to do it all too.
Gets so darn crazy sometimes.
I love when people comment on my blog, so I know what you mean.
While I don’t go back as far as you when it comes to blogging, I also see less comments. It’s a bummer. I’m not sure what the reason is.
Hi Larry,
I suspect it is just content shock. There is so much information coming at us and so many different places.
I enjoyed this post because I have felt the same way. You’re definitely not alone in this noisy world of sharing wisdom through words. I don’t know what it is, but knowing that other bloggers struggle with comments too makes me feel a little better. So what if I don’t sit at the popular table? It doesn’t mean I don’t have awesome friends, right?
Hi Jackie,
I have to imagine there are more people at this table than any other and that is ok. The real question to me is whether people are having fun or not. If you don’t, well what is the point of blogging.