I am new to the blogosphere, and I need some advice from my readers. You may have noticed that I sometimes write very long articles and sometimes I write rather short ones. What I want to know is which do you prefer? Do you like it when I write a few long articles or do you prefer many short ones?
I know that short articles are much easier to read, but I don't want to compromise my message or the quality of my post in order to shorten it. I do try and create lots of paragraphs, because I understand that it is much easier to read something that has many page breaks. Also, it is much better to look at a group of many, small paragraphs than one gigantic paragraph. I know that if I ever encounter a wall of text on the internet, I promptly hit the 'back' button and flee.
Please leave comments as to your opinion. I will also be creating a poll.
I have another question for you guys. I was wondering what time is best for me to post. When do most of you read the blog? I want to post right before most of you read so you guys can have new content when you visit. I will put up a poll that asks when the best time for me to post is. The times will be in Eastern Time (GMT -5).
Also, for any bloggers reading my blog, do you have any suggestions about when the best time to post is? Please comment if you do.
Your Friend,
Jason
12 comments:
I voted for mid-morning because I'm slightly more likely to be free to comment then. But you see here I am commenting now. And I can't vote on the length poll, because I think a post should take as long as you need to say what you need to on your topic. That said, if a topic is really long, you might consider whether there is a logical place to divide it, and post the sections on consecutive days, with a note promising more after the first part(s) and a link to the earlier part(s) from the later one(s).
time doesn't matter - none of us ever sleep :-)
as for length - write until whatever you have to say is out of your head - some of us will read it all, some just won't
It's your blog. Blog whenever you want and make your posts however you want. Is this blog not for yourself? Sometimes the topic calls for a shorter post, other times for a longer post. It just depends.
I don't care what time you post since I check my email a lot during the day and when school resumes I'm not sure when I would be able to post myself.
Also too me it doesn't matter how much you blog about. The blog shouldn't be about what others want but what you want after all the main idea for starting a blog and keeping it up is for you and if people don't like it so be it
I'm with you on the paragraphs. I just find it impossible to read something that is one big lump of words.
Paragraphs ftw.
Also, as others said. it is your blog and you can post as much or as little as you want. In my experiences though, longer posts get much less readers than shorter ones.
As for time, that's super unimportant. lol. There are people in all sorts of timezones and on other sides of the world. They'll all be checking at different times.
:)
I like longer posts because usually it means you've got more to say or maybe you're feeling passionate about something. But saying it how you want to say it is more important than feeling you need to change it just to please.
As for the time, I'd say that mid morning is the best solution. Your visitors from America will see the post around midday or in the afternoon and your European readers, like me, see the post at late afternoon or in the evening.
But in the end, it is your decision and you shouldn't make it depending on your visitors, since they come from basically all over the world. ;)
Jason,
you have to decide what's best, but I prefer longer articles.
Thanks for the advice, guys. I will probably go with medium length posts and take several days to say something if it requires a lot of text.
Jason---
It's YOUR blog FFS. Do what works for you.
If a reader does not like it, tough.
I have this theory... all my own too. Young gay boys at times seem to bend over backwards to please people. Like, "Yeah I wanna suck cock and fuck boys, but look at how nice I am in every other way!"
It's like we want to balance out our gayness by being ideal and outstanding in every OTHER human aspect.
I think we should try to please people because we like THEM! Not because we want THEM to like or accept us.
*"Yeah, he sucks cock, but have you seen how neat his room is? His mother must be SO proud!"*
Be you. No apologies!
IMHO of course.
steevo in cali
actually, I had 2 reasons for asking these questions.
In regards to the time question. I realized that most of my referrals come from other blogs. These blogs often organize their blog roll by who posted most recently. I figured out that if I could coincide my posts with when the most people are on these other blogs, then my blog would be at the top and thus most likely to be clicked on. So, the question I really should be asking is when do you read your other blogs?
As for the length question, I have had mixed feelings and wanted a public opinion. I understand the desire for a short post to make it easier to read, but I also recognize that sometimes longer posts are needed. I wanted to test the waters to see how people react to long posts in order to get a better handle on my demographic. Some groups of people love long posts and eat them up, but that does not seem to be the case with my readers.
I want my readers to 1) enjoy my blog and 2) actively participate in comment discussions, so naturally, I want them to read the whole post. If it is too long for them, then I am not getting much out of the post and neither are my readers.
My posts tend to be be super, super long...but depending on the topic, some people will read the whole thing whilst some will just skim it and get the general idea.
To me, at least, it depends on the writing. If the writing is good/funny/powerful, I tend to read the entire thing, and double even, if it is really good.
But if it's really hard to understand, fucked up grammar, no/improper use of "Internet" punctuations, and no paragraphs, then I usually don't read the entire thing.
I reckon from reading your posts, you love the English Language as much as I do, or seems like it.
Something I've learned in AP English amongst my other classes is that (and I'm sure you know this already)that where you put sentences, how you form sentences could communicate a lot of whatever you have to say.
And since we are living in the digital age, the proper MLA format of writing mechanics is drastically changed from the past, so...learning how to appeal to your audience while not sacrificing your own style is the proper balance. Basically,
write with whatever style you have.
God, I'm longwinded and a bit pedantic...sorry lol.
FMS
PS, Check out Web 2.0 on youtube, and it may offer some interesting feedback into writing in the blogging/internet world
Post a Comment