Comments on: Who Reads Blog? Apparently, “Almost No One” http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/ Thoughts on Startups, Entrepreneurs and the Web Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mark Evans http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-302669 Mark Evans Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:32:35 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-302669 Bo, For the vast majority of people, blogging is not a money-maker. However if you offer some kind of value, there are different forms of compensation that don't involve money. cheers, Mark Bo,

For the vast majority of people, blogging is not a money-maker. However if you offer some kind of value, there are different forms of compensation that don’t involve money. cheers, Mark

]]> By: Bo http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-302668 Bo Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:30:58 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-302668 We had a professor at our university that was sooo hyped up on blogging and personal branding...saying that "this was the future!" Years later, at a cocktail party, I overheard someone ask about that particular professor - whether or not he was still blogging and if he made any money doing it (like he told us he would)...the other person said, and I quote, "I know he never made any money doing that crap, and I got so tired of him posting stupid sh_t all the time via twitter that I unsubscribed from his blog." Too funny. We had a professor at our university that was sooo hyped up on blogging and personal branding…saying that “this was the future!” Years later, at a cocktail party, I overheard someone ask about that particular professor – whether or not he was still blogging and if he made any money doing it (like he told us he would)…the other person said, and I quote, “I know he never made any money doing that crap, and I got so tired of him posting stupid sh_t all the time via twitter that I unsubscribed from his blog.” Too funny.

]]> By: Blog Cynic? « braincheck. http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-193036 Blog Cynic? « braincheck. Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:10:30 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-193036 [...] my intro blog (yes, it was a harrowing experience, etc, etc) I read at least three articles (here, here and here) on who reads and who writes blogs. One school of thought – lets call it a faction [...] [...] my intro blog (yes, it was a harrowing experience, etc, etc) I read at least three articles (here, here and here) on who reads and who writes blogs. One school of thought – lets call it a faction [...]

]]> By: wwwho’s there? « braincheck. http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-193035 wwwho’s there? « braincheck. Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:07:17 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-193035 [...] male earning ~$90000, and at the same time that you are a figment of my imagination – aka  no-one will ever read this. I don’t think either of these would surprise me. How the hell would you [...] [...] male earning ~$90000, and at the same time that you are a figment of my imagination – aka  no-one will ever read this. I don’t think either of these would surprise me. How the hell would you [...]

]]> By: Alex Bowles http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-156966 Alex Bowles Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:44:54 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-156966 Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that 'nobody reads any <i>particular</i> blog? As constructed, the statement is an enormously misleading characterization of the influence blogs (as opposed to particular bloggers) can have. It's like saying people don't count as people unless they have a certain number of friends. You could conclude, for example, that because 'nobody' in America has 20,000 friends, there's nobody in America except for a few celebrities, and a bunch of tumbleweeds in between. More importantly, the view misses the forest for the trees, in that it ignores the cumulative audience for <i>content</i> that moves from blog to blog. As a producer, commentator, or author, I don't care if my message reaches 1,000,000 million people via 1,000 sites each read by 1,000 people, or 100,000 sites each read by 10 people. Actually, on second thought, I'd prefer the latter course, as each audience member in this scenario is likely to have richer connections with other audience members, and will therefor have more engagement with the material via discussion. And given deeper involvement, they're more likely to share the content with other people they know who, though also members of narrow audiences, are members of <i>different</i> audiences. Jeff Cole may want to take a look at his USC colleague <a href="http://jontaplin.com/" rel="nofollow">Jon Taplin's</a> blog, to see exactly how this narrow-but-deep principle works in practice. Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that ‘nobody reads any particular blog?

As constructed, the statement is an enormously misleading characterization of the influence blogs (as opposed to particular bloggers) can have.

It’s like saying people don’t count as people unless they have a certain number of friends. You could conclude, for example, that because ‘nobody’ in America has 20,000 friends, there’s nobody in America except for a few celebrities, and a bunch of tumbleweeds in between.

More importantly, the view misses the forest for the trees, in that it ignores the cumulative audience for content that moves from blog to blog. As a producer, commentator, or author, I don’t care if my message reaches 1,000,000 million people via 1,000 sites each read by 1,000 people, or 100,000 sites each read by 10 people.

Actually, on second thought, I’d prefer the latter course, as each audience member in this scenario is likely to have richer connections with other audience members, and will therefor have more engagement with the material via discussion. And given deeper involvement, they’re more likely to share the content with other people they know who, though also members of narrow audiences, are members of different audiences.

Jeff Cole may want to take a look at his USC colleague Jon Taplin’s blog, to see exactly how this narrow-but-deep principle works in practice.

]]> By: lbrandy.com » Blog Archive » Screaming into the Darkness http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-93706 lbrandy.com » Blog Archive » Screaming into the Darkness Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:15:39 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-93706 [...] really cool about writing your first blog post is that there’s a virtual guarantee that no one is going to read it. Except my mom. Hi mom. And possibly a few of friends, for mockery purposes. Hello friends. It is, [...] [...] really cool about writing your first blog post is that there’s a virtual guarantee that no one is going to read it. Except my mom. Hi mom. And possibly a few of friends, for mockery purposes. Hello friends. It is, [...]

]]> By: San Wilcox http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-3163 San Wilcox Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:54:30 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-3163 I think a blog is just another way to present yourself and, yes, whilst it may not receive a huge readership it may make all the difference when it comes to someone finding out about you. As Gary says a lot of people regularly use Google, including HR people and prospective clients. I know that, through my blog, people can get a pretty good idea about me without ever having met me and I think that thats a great thing for a PR student trying to stand out in a crowd. I think a blog is just another way to present yourself and, yes, whilst it may not receive a huge readership it may make all the difference when it comes to someone finding out about you. As Gary says a lot of people regularly use Google, including HR people and prospective clients. I know that, through my blog, people can get a pretty good idea about me without ever having met me and I think that thats a great thing for a PR student trying to stand out in a crowd.

]]> By: Mark Wells http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-3158 Mark Wells Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:55:18 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-3158 I was suspicious of this story, especially given the lack of statistics. Did Jeff Cole share any readership figures? You could say the audience for community weeklies is "almost no one" if major metro dailies are your rule. Doesn't mean the weeklies aren't important to their audience or unprofitable for that matter. I'm sure the same applies to blogs. I was suspicious of this story, especially given the lack of statistics. Did Jeff Cole share any readership figures? You could say the audience for community weeklies is “almost no one” if major metro dailies are your rule. Doesn’t mean the weeklies aren’t important to their audience or unprofitable for that matter. I’m sure the same applies to blogs.

]]> By: E Guy http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-3157 E Guy Tue, 27 Feb 2007 04:12:58 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-3157 Mark: I was also at Jeff's presentation today. I did not think that Jeff said that almost no one reads blogs but instead the latter part of your quote was more consistent with Jeff's comments...that the audience for MOST blogs is tiny. Those very few bloggers that gain a substantial audience and reputation tend to move into more traditional media (I know, there are exceptions and one person we know that did the reverse ;) ). Jeff's point was that most bloggers do not write blogs for others to read but write them for self expression. Publishing content is the end goal not necessarily readership. Mark:

I was also at Jeff’s presentation today. I did not think that Jeff said that almost no one reads blogs but instead the latter part of your quote was more consistent with Jeff’s comments…that the audience for MOST blogs is tiny. Those very few bloggers that gain a substantial audience and reputation tend to move into more traditional media (I know, there are exceptions and one person we know that did the reverse ;) ). Jeff’s point was that most bloggers do not write blogs for others to read but write them for self expression. Publishing content is the end goal not necessarily readership.

]]> By: SUZANNE http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/comment-page-1/#comment-3155 SUZANNE Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:32:21 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/02/26/who-reads-blog-apparently-almost-no-one/#comment-3155 The issue is just not how many, but WHO reads blogs. I know the people in Ottawa and journalists read blogs, so if you do develop a gathering, people will take what you say seriously. If there are stories about blogs in the newspaper, it's because <i>someone</i> is taking them seriously. The issue is just not how many, but WHO reads blogs. I know the people in Ottawa and journalists read blogs, so if you do develop a gathering, people will take what you say seriously. If there are stories about blogs in the newspaper, it’s because someone is taking them seriously.

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