You Know What? My Blog Isn’t a Conversation.
I’ve read a few interesting posts about this concept recently, and I want to give my two cents. My two cents being that my blog (not all blogs necessarily) just isn’t a conversation.
Here’s how it came out after marinating in my brain: a conversation isn’t me saying something and then people lining up to give me a response. And it’s not a kissing booth. A conversation is a real-time (or close to it) dialogue where information, ideas, views and opinions are shared back and forth. To me, that’s what a conversation is.
Online, conversations are happening on Twitter, FriendFeed, Seesmic, Google Talk, ooVoo (maybe even Plurk?)–the conversation is where people can speak and respond the way we do in real life. In snippets, with others chiming in and a mutual sense of engagement on both sides.
On my blog, you can leave a comment (I always appreciate your feedback), and I might respond to it, but that isn’t a conversation. That’s not how people talk to each other in real life. In a true conversation in real life, you don’t give your big spiel and then step aside so others can give their big spiel back. That’s not a conversation. That’s an announcement. At best it’s pseudo-conversation.
Don’t get me wrong, I think blogging is a valuable form of communication that allows for a sharing of ideas has fundamentally changed (for the better) the way we create and consume media content. I just don’t think it’s a conversation. For me, my blog is more like a bulletin of announcements that encourage responses. There’s a definite two-way flow of information and ideas here, but it’s a different type of communication that I consider separate from the concept of “conversation.”
What do you think? Is your blog a conversation?
12 Responses to “You Know What? My Blog Isn’t a Conversation.”
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It is not… for the most part I just consider them one way notices or bulletins ..
Interesting question.
The way I see it is that a blog post can turn into, or spawn a conversation, but it doesn’t start out as one.
My own blog, such as it is, is definitely not a conversation. It’s more of a dumping ground for things I find interesting or ideas I feel the need to put into words. On the rare occasions when I do get a comment it’s a bonus.
It certainly can be. If you post something that strikes a nerve, polarizes people in your audience, etc., you can certainly have a voluminous discussion right here in the comments. I’d say in terms of semantics, your blog isn’t a conversation, other than a top-level conversation between you and your readers, but your blog posts certainly can be the impetus for such.
Unfortunately, that conversation can’t be contained. I hate the fact that FriendFeed is stealing my comments away. People react there and on my blog. But that’s one of the drawbacks of the open source marketplace, I guess.
Great post. Interesting btw that your comment section begins with the phrase, “Speak your mind”, which I guess isn’t conversation either but response in of itself.
My thoughts are that blogs (for the most part) are “conversation starters”. However, as SnowBear suggests, it is in the comment thread that the real dialogue and thus, conversation emerges and percolates. What’s interesting of course in this scenario is that the original poster (the blogger) isn’t necessarily even part of that conversation (or doesn’t have to be)
One other thing…I do think that conversation can be non-linear i.e. don’t have to happen in real-time. I’ve seen plenty of examples of that and if it can be encapsulated in a phrase it would be “the long tail” which is kinda time-travel for conversations.
Love this thought btw….think I’ll blog and podcast about it myself and generate additional feedback. Perhaps you want to seed it yourself by calling +1 206 203-3255
You are on the mark, it’s closer to a conversation than just pushing your message out there, but it doesn’t scale very well. If you talk to people with high traffic blogs most of them agree that the conversation doesn’t scale well past 20 comments.
Interesting question. I agree with you that it’s not a conversation. It is a form of communicating with people though. sometimes I like the fact that I get feedback from strangers on something that I wrote in peace, as opposed to when your having a conversation people might immediately attack you with their opinions or comments.
I always respond back to comments. But commenting doesn’t even come close to an im conversation which already isn’t real. So it’s communication but not a conversation.
Not a conversation. A fanzine, maybe. Something from which conversations arise, but not a place they happen and not conversations themselves. A slow, spotty, poorly-organized epistolary mystery. Comments on most blogs are typically either “me too”, “no way”, or introductions to actual conversations elsewhere.
Amamda,
You’re playing with semantics. But that’s not, necessarily, a bad thing. While I would tend to agree with you, Falls does have a point. At the now silent SHAMblog, a string of comments to a post would give one the impression that its readers were sitting in a pub enjoying intellectual banter while drinking their favorite ale. Off blog, even the blogger, my former professor and freelance guru, commented several time about the rate of back-in-forth conversation.
I tend to think my blog is less of a conversation and more about information. From what I can tell, many come to read.
I am not a social media consultant and my blog is not a conversation. I think that the most overused words of 2007/08 are “conversation” and “authentic”. I believe that on occasion conversations occur on blogs, but they are the exception and not the norm… and simply because the conversation appears on the blog doesn’t make the blog a conversation any more than a couch is a conversation simply because one is had on it.
To a certain degree we’ve fooled ourselves into feeling that everything in the “web 2.0″ world is now a perfect 2-way street. It’s not. Not everyone had something to say. Sometimes you’d rather read than write, and sometimes that is for the best.
Look to the analytics of any blog and you’ll see at least 10x as many people reading only, as opposed to commenting. Some people want to talk, and some want to just listen.
The main difference is that it’s not the responsibility of the reader to provide interesting content to the author, but it is the responsibility of the author to provide interesting content to the reader- else their traffic will surely drop.
95% of comments made online aren’t all that interesting. Just look on YouTube
I wrote a post about this a while ago. I think a blog is like a classroom. One person talks then others respond. (Seth Godin is a big lecturer. Take your conversations outside.)
There are a lot of different styles of blogger, just like there are a lot of different styles of teacher. Some people will get involved in real 2-way communication, others give their speech and move on.
But you’re right: in no way is a blog like a conversation.
On a blog, the exchange is more like an asynchronous dialogue than a true conversation. There is far more real-time exchange on Twitter, ooVoo, phone, backyard fence, or whatever. But the blog posts can spark it. I see my blog as my thought/experience outpost more than a conversation.
The moment your blog post became a conversation, was somewhere just past your last question mark and the first comment. Blogs are like signs posted on a community bulletin board, you have to read them before you can become interested enough to engage in a dialogue much less a conversation. Congrats on getting this blog post from point A to point B, the conversation. Thank Joseph Jaffe for bringing it to my attention.
Stefan Holt
http://www.acktivemedia.com