Over at Zelophehad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Daughters, Ziff recently compiled (by hand mind you) a tonne of data for many of the most popular group blogs in th Bloggernacle. The information is very fascinating.
What the data show about our blog is something I have noticed for quite awhile. People don’t really visit here anymore.
People who commented regularly in 2006 rarely comment here anymore. Very few other blogs link to any of our posts anymore. We rarely see posts with dozens of comments anymore.
What’s changed?
Our tag line says we provide thought-provoking commentary, but if few people comment, is that indication that we no longer provoke thought?
I have lurked for ages and just recently got my own blog going, so I would not be a familiar name by any means.
I admit to not having commented or anything here since then (couple months) but I liked a lot of topics so I will link now and be a more dutiful visitor.
Thanks, David. That reminds me. We should do a post for lurkers to introduce themselves.
Cool site, by the way. Are any of your books publicly available?
Still reading. Rarely comment.
My first book will be available most anywhere, big book stores, little book stores, Amazon, come October.
Thanks for asking.
My publisher is going to attempt a hopeful crossover appeal for my gritty book of Mormon historical fiction, I like to think it aint your Mama’s Tennis Shoes, but I could just be getting way ahead of myself.
Maybe it would help get this discussion moving if you offered some of your own analysis/hypotheses first.
I honestly have no idea why people who used to comment here or link here no longer do.
Didn’t your feed disappear from the MA site for a while (ldsblogs.org)? If so that may have weened some readers off of Our Thoughts.
Maybe it’s like LDS Publisher. Her link is everywhere on LDS writer’s sites, yet she gets so few comments on her posts I’m amazed. Maybe it’s just too daunting for the ordinary humble blogging wannabe to comment on something so awesome as her site. Or yours.
I started reading a few years ago – maybe it’s me causing the down turn?
Don’t be some down. I usually pop by because I love Canadians, though I have not commented before today (this is my second one now). I will try to do so more often. I do not think the level of comments at Our Thoughts is all that different from the level at similiar blogs on the MA.
Geoff J, you could be right. Given that MA has always been a small portion of our traffic though (Google alone is nearly 2/3 of our traffic), I’m not sure how much of an effect his would have. It may have has some though. That seems too simple of a cause though. Since you added us back, we have not since an increase of comments, and virtually no linking.
Karen, yet we had lots of comments before. I don’t see why people who commented freely in the past would find it more daunting now to the point of not wanting to comment.
TStevens, I doubt you are scaring people off. :)
Chris, I’m not down; I’m just trying to figure this phenomenon out. You can comment as often as you want. I’m not trying to get more comments; I’m trying to figure out where all the comments went, which I guess doesn’t seem all that different. I also agree with the level of comments; we have some great commenters. I’m wondering about the disappearance of previous commenters though.
Kim – Your blog is one of the few in the Bloggernacle I read on a regular basis, and I even linked to it in one of my own posts about Church callings. So while I can understand why you would question the disappearance of commenters, I wouldn’t attribute it to any deficiency on your part.
Also be aware that since you started blogging, the Bloggernacle has increased almost geometrically, so there are simply more blogs to visit.
Think page views and unique visitors in addition to comments in order to determine if the reach of your blog has changed. Besides, it’s useful for us Yanks to hear from our Canadian brethren and sisters.
Thanks for that, Jack Mormon.
You may be right; although, many of the people who used to comment here still comment at the same places they did back when they commented here. While there may be more blogs, they seem to still find time to visit most of their old hangouts.
This is my first comment here.
Kim, I can empathize with you. When people stop visiting your blog, or visit without comment, I can be frustrating. Maybe this is just a cycle. Maybe you just need a way to find a way to encourage more comments. Another likely possibility is that many people are using news readers these days.
Have you thought of offering to be a guest poster on other blogs in the Bloggernacle? That exposure may bring you more comments.
Kim,
I used to comment back in 2006. Can’t remember why I stopped…. just looked back at your archives. I remember why I stopped. Because most if not all your commentators thought torture was okay and they just couldn’t see how awful it was. Maybe things have changed since then, but I doubt it.
Kim,
(#11)”I’m not trying to get more comments”
I realize that. I think that many of us blog not to rack up comments but because we enjoy the discussion, discourse, and interaction.
Dan, we discuss a lot more than torture here.
Maybe Dan is being metaphorical and the discussion itself is torture. Maybe that is the problem.:)
Hah! Or maybe my whining about it is torture.
Kim,
Haha. no, i went back into your archives and found the last post I commented on. It was in October 2006, I think, about the use of torture. I remember previous to that I had commented here and there on a wide range of things. I’m just saying that was the last thing I had commented on.
I’m spending less time on the web in general.
You’ve mentioned before that you don’t think the archipelago is a significant traffic source. But I wonder if you have other readers like me who sometimes type your URL and sometimes come thru an aggregator. MA reminds me your still here when I haven’t come visiting for awhile.
I used to like to argue with that commenter with the funny name. Man he really did get my goat.
I missed the torture discussion but fwiw I’m against torture.
This is my first time visiting the site on my phone. Kim the mobile site design is fAb. Lovely and works great
Oh, MA is significant, but most of our traffic comes from sources other than the MA (nearly 70% from Google for example).
Thanks on the mobile site. It’s actually a plugin someone else developed. I have been very please with it. I think every WordPress blog should install it.