This is a Guest Post by Ron Tuffin.
This is a question that all serious bloggers need to think about at some point. Most of the time when we blog, we want to touch people in some way. Career blogs are about teaching people the skills of their profession. Mom blogs connect parents together because of shared experience. Church or Faith-based blogs either promote the faith to non-believers or comfort and encourage believers.
There are many motivations for either consuming or creating content but the point is that you have one (or a few).
Recently I took a hiatus from reading blogs (I managed to squeeze in the time to write for my own). This hiatus was not something I chose to do, it was just that I did not have the time to go through my reader on a daily basis, and even when I did get some time, I could in no way read everything that came to my attention.
So when I had 10 minuets to read something I went to the blogs that where most engaging, right? The blogs that demanded my attention and my action were the ones that I went too first, right? The silly frivolous posts about a night with friends in a jacuzzi were skipped in favor of the more serious posts, right?
Nope.
While I love reading things that are written to spur me into action, and while some of my favorite bloggers are the guys (or girls) that fire up my passions and make me want to do something, when faced with over 300 unread items in my reader, I first read the ‘easy’ posts, the ones from the blogs that I know are going to be fun to read, but require no response other than to click over to the next post.
And this experience has made me think. How much of our content (that we slave over to create an engaging experience) is ignored because it is too “engaging?”
The other day I posted a call to action on the topic of human trafficking. I asked people to make a pledge to act (by posting a comment) on what they had just read and then come back later to note that they had acted. At the time of writing there is exactly 1 comment on that post and I wrote it. Granted it was probably not the best written post)
Right now there are feeds in my reader with over 20 unread posts (for the record I like to keep my reader at 0 unread posts). I am quite literally scared to go near some of them because I know that I only have time right now to star the posts that need my further attention.
I don’t know the answer to this dilemma, but you guys might be able to shed some light on a solution. Is your blog too engaging? Is there a remedy for all of this?
Mark Traphagen says
Marketing guru Seth Godin is a master at writing the kinds of posts I am most likely to read on a daily basis. They are short, to-the-point, often witty but always leaving you with one distinct thing to think about. He doesn't try to go on and on to prove his point. As the father of what he calls "permission marketing," he understands that when I visit his blog I'm giving him permission to use some of my time, and he treats that permission with great respect.
Ron_Tuffin says
I like that!
Josh Wagner says
I think there are times when it is good to spend 5 or 10 minutes on a blog post. You just have to choose which ones you care that much about. Same thing with Twitter. There is only so much time physically that you can devote to this. Once you hit the limit, you have to begin deciding which things you will make time for, and which things that you'll take time for only if the important stuff is done.
The biggest thing is that you CAN'T listen to/read/do everything. Pick what you want, and don't feel bad about not picking something else.
ron says
As a reader, I have to agree 100% with your comment. But how as a writer to we ensure that people choose to spend their 10 -15 mins with us. The trick is to somehow engage the reader in a way that is useful but not intimidating.
Trappermark says
Something is broken in the comments display here. The header (and my email notifications) tell me there are 5 comments, but I can only see two (mine and Josh Wagner's). I have to say that I've been pretty unhappy with Intense Debate; I'm sticking with Disqus on m blog. What am I missing?
Josh Wagner says
Might be something to do with IntenseDebate, it's happening on my blog. I replied to someone and the comment is showing up on my Dashboard but not on the blog. Can't seem to find the switch to turn it on.
Ron_Tuffin says
The 'missing' comments are follow up comments that I left in reply (using the reply button) to the first two comments. Perhaps there is a setting that is hiding comment threads John?
Phillip Gibb says
My blog must be too engaging 😉
I agree that a blog can be too engaging – too many posts that are engaging, almost wears you out.
Somethings you just need a break.
I don't thing that a particular post can be too engaging, it is either engaging or not.
Phill
Trappermark says
Yeah, that's it, Ron. I'm not seeing any threaded replies. Anyone else experiencing that?
JakeSchwein says
I guess I dont feel like i have to engage in every blog post. Depends on my day, attitude, busy schedule….etc. I hope that posts are very engaging and every one. I wouldn't subscribe to the blog if they weren't.
chrissulli says
I don't think a post can be too engaging but a blog certainly can. People need manageable chunks. If you are giving them a new challenge every day, they never get a chance to work on the old challenge. A nice balance of challenge, humor, beauty, weirdness etc. is probably something to strive for. And there is definitely something to be said for communicating your point as concisely as possible.
Jenn says
Well said!
Rodlie Ortiz says
I think if it's too long, it makes it harder for me to engage. If it's somewhat short and looks interesting, I'm more likely to take a peek. But if it looks too long, I won't commit my time to it unless it's an incredible topic.
Jim says
i sometimes have to read posts more than once to get the point. I usually schedule reading in the early morning when I can sit and read.
Graham Brenna says
For me… I've become accustomed to using the "Mark All As Read" button in GooReader 🙂 On my blog… I like to post a variety of posts on different topics. Some will be silly pictures or videos I've found, some will be related to my church while others will be of a more serious discussion point. I don't have the ability to come up with a post I would put in my "Food for Thought" category everyday… I'm not that insightful… so I spruce up my blog with other types of posts in between my "Ah Ha" moments.
monica says
I think a big part of the problem is that there are so many good blogs now that's it's hard to respond to all the good stuff/calls to action. I try to keep my site a balance of serious musings/info. and light conversation. That's the way real conversation is, isn't it?
Guy Walker says
I never realized this but it is so true. I have 533 post in my google reader right now and I read Seth Godin then all the post I knew would be really short. funny how that works