prairie point

This meme was at Pablo’s site and had some interesting questions.

Are you satisfied with your blog’s content and look?

I’ve changed the design several times in the three years I’ve been blogging. When I did the current design there were a few other tweaks that I wanted to do but didn’t know how. After awhile I decided it did not matter. I do admire other people’s designs but I am not a very good graphic designer myself. Anyway I think most of my audience uses RSS readers and they don’t even see the design.

The content is more important to me and I am not really satisfied with that. I wish that I posted more. One blogger I read today said that he fired off posts in about 15 minutes most days. That is definitely not true with me. I couldn’t even type that fast if I was copying someone else’s post. And I usually type every sentence about three times before I leave it. Then after every two or three sentences I go back and read the post all the way through from the top and make revisions. So my posts take a long time to write. And they are still not all that good.

Does your family know about your blog?

My wife is the only one who reads it regularly as far as I know, but a few other family members have surprised me by making comments. Interestingly a couple of them found it without my telling them about it. Others that know about it have no interest.

Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog, or do you consider it a private thing?

I don’t tell people anymore. They usually just stare blankly. I think most blog readers are also bloggers themselves and that’s something that you have to find for yourself.

Has blogging brought about positive changes for you?

I think that I have improved my ability to express myself in writing. And improved my photography skills. In the beginning I thought I had something to communicate. Now I am not so sure about that part.

Do you only read blogs of those who comment on your blog, or do you also like to find new blogs?

I read a lot of blogs by people who probably don’t read mine. Not as many as I used to, but still a lot. And I only make comments on a few of those. I would always read the blogs of anyone who commented but that is not a requirement for me to read theirs.

What are your thoughts on commenting? Is it important to you that people leave comments?

Absolutely. It’s especially nice to get a comment from someone new or someone who hasn’t left a comment in a while.

Does your visitor counter matter to you?

I actually hardly ever look at it. I am a little more curious about what posts get the most hits and where they come from. I look at it maybe two or three times a month. I usually just judge my readership from the number of comments. The thing about the visitor counter is that I believe most of those are just Google hits. I am more interested in regular readers.

Do you try to imagine what fellow bloggers look like?

I guess everybody does that. Most of them do show pictures of themselves however. I am usually curious enough to try to find them.

Do you think there is a benefit to blogging?

Anything that people enjoy is a benefit to them personally. I don’t think it has that much benefit to the world of literature or scientific knowledge. At some level however blogging may make some knowledge more accessible to others and it may provide a sense of community for some.

Does criticism of your blog annoy you?

I can’t remember ever getting any criticism. Constructive criticism might be nice.

Are there any types of blogs you avoid?

Blogs should have a focus. Needless to say, if that focus is stamp collecting or something else I know nothing about I am not likely to read it much. But every once in a while I come across someone writing about a subject that I have no interest in but holds my interest just because the writing itself is good or because of the writer’s personality.

Also I can’t stand it where people are just repeating political stuff they just heard on the radio. I do read a few political blogs though from people who are reporters or have specialized knowledge.