Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Evolution of the Blogosphere and the Death of Commenting
It seems to me the Internet and especially the blogosphere is a lot more civil now than it was five or six years ago. But, it is also a lot more boring and less dynamic. Somewhere along the line the medium ceased to be a forum for debate, some of it very hostile, and became a series of echo chambers. This may explain why I never get any comments anymore. People who agree with me feel no need to comment since they would not be adding anything new. This segment of the world's population is of course very small. In contrast those people who disagree with me, undoubtedly the vast majority of the planet, do not ever read my blog. They are off reading other blogs or more likely playing with Facebook or Twitter.
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13 comments:
Maybe you need to write something more provocative Otto!
Well, getting comments also depends on replying to them... ;)
It's saturation. There are so many blogs it's impossible to find anything of quality, so people give up looking. Is there any way on Blogger to get listed or grouped with other blogs that are similar?
BTW, did you hear Goble has stopped Window on Eurasia? It's an incalculable loss.
Vilhelm:
Sorry I did not respond earlier. I was busy at work. I am still sorting through grades.
Walt:
I had not heard about Goble. There are no blogs similar to mine. But, I think there might be a way to do what you are talking about. I do not, however, know any other bloggers.
Allen:
I have provocative stuff on here.
You are trying to provoke those of us who read your blog! :-) Sometimes I comment, sometimes I don't... Most of the time I lurk, but I enjoy. Keep it up
Nina:
Yes, I am trying to provoke you. A lot of this blog deals with living in Ghana and as far as I can tell you are my only reader in all of Africa. I think Facebook has overtaken blogs in Ghana as well.
I think a lot of the conversation that used to take place in blog comments has simply moved across to other places, like twitter and facebook.
Having said that, there are still plenty of discussions in blog comments, even among Russia blogs. Eight of the ten posts on The Kremlin Stooge's homepage, for example, have more than 100 comments. There are plenty of comments at Sublime Oblivion, too.
What I've found is that the venue shifts around. For a few months discussion will be on one blog, then it'll gradually shift across to another blog.
Andy:
Maybe, but it has never shifted to my blog. But, I used to get some comments back five or six years ago. Now I go weeks at a time without a single one.
Otto, you know I've said this before, but you should start posting some of your comments on Facebook, and look for people who would be interested in your blog and add them as friends. Within a couple weeks after I started posting there, Circassians from all over the world started adding me, and now I have about 150 friends, almost all of them people who are interested in my research. If you post some of your tidbits about Ghana there, with links to your blog, you'll almost certainly increase both your readership and your comments. If you want I'll suggest some of my friends who are interested in the kinds of issues you are.
Walt:
I have a face book account, but I do not really understand how it works or like it. I keep getting friend requests from people I have never met or heard about before.
You can click on the person's name in the friend request and see their profile. In the upper right hand corner it will list friends you have in common. If you have friends in common, that's how the person found you. If not, it may just be someone fishing around, but more likely the person saw something about your profile they found interesting.
Almost all the requests are from college students in Kyrgyzstan. I no longer have any ties to AUCA. I really have no desire to be "friends" with students I have never met at my former place of employment.
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