April 9, 2009

• Do Bloggers Blog for Themselves or an Audience?

  Recently Vanedave ran a debate called Xanga Debate Tournament on his site.  I asked him if I could jump into the debate.  I proposed that we should have a team debate after the finals. Dave and the winner of the tournament (CallmeQuell) vs. Me and SecretNeverTold.

  Dave’s response to my proposoal:

  “Bring it on b****!” (edited)

  So here now is our special team debate. The topic: “Do you think the typical blogger on xanga blogs for him/herself or for their audience?”

  After you read through vote for which team you think argued their point most effectively. Remember you are not voting on who you like more or which side you agree with. You are voting for who supported their opinion the best.

  Team A  Thetheologianscafe and Secretnevertold

  Although most people blog both for themselves and for an audience that can provide feedback, the typical person on Xanga joins precisely to gain an audience.

  Our reasons for concluding this are as follows:

  First, the thing that sets blogging apart from keeping a private journal is its public nature; the thing that sets Xanga apart from other blogging outlets is that it is geared toward the community and networking potential in the blogosphere. Xanga is unique in this respect. When bloggers could choose to register with WordPress or Blogspot, they choose Xanga, because of the almost instant audience its features can provide for nearly any blogger.

  Second, Xanga’s tagline is “the blogging community.” The word “community,” associated so closely with Xanga, denotes communication (same root word), sharing and participation. This means bloggers on Xanga expect and even hope for an audience and feedback for their posts.

  Third, of the estimated 40 million Xangans worldwide, the vast majority of those have at least a portion of their site publicly viewable, which on Xanga is an open invitation for feedback — an implicit approval of and wish for an audience, no matter how small it might be.

  If Xangans did not at least subconsciously wish to have an audience, they would either keep their thoughts in a written journal, in Word documents, they would make their posts private, and/or they would turn off their comments feature.
  Most do not make their posts private; many of those who do, mix them with public posts.
  It is extraordinarily rare to run across a Xanga site that has disabled comments.

  Fourth, the vast majority of Xanga features are audience-oriented, by which we mean they are designed to better meet bloggers’ needs and requests by helping them gain, track and respond to audience/reader feedback. Examples of such features include Plugz, Featured Weblogs, Top Blogs, Groups, Feedback Logs and the automatic “Add as Friend/Subscribe To” button that pops up when commenting on another site.

  Finally, the frequent virtual caterwauling among Xangans about who got featured for what and why their post should have been recognized instead of so-and-so’s clearly indicates an acute hunger among many Xangans for blogging audiences.

  These five points demonstrate pretty clearly that the typical Xangan, by his or her very affiliation with the community, deliberately blogs for an audience.
  
  Team B  VaneDave and Callmequell

  It’s hard for me not to argue that this question is one of semantics, because I could easily make the point that even blogging for an audience is blogging for one’s self. The only people I can think of who truly blog for others instead of themselves are those who are either marketers (so, actually BLOGGING FOR OTHERS), or who have a blog solely to disseminate information, whether about tech trends or what events are coming up in a youth group or who only blog what their audience tells them to.

  Though it may appear at first glance that most of Xanga blogs for an audience, it is important to consider this: you are part of the audience; thus, you are more likely to encounter those bloggers who actively blog for an audience. However, the truth is that the majority of Xanga is composed of those who have a blog for themselves, those who don’t have a mass following, or perhaps even any at all. Some of them may discuss important topics, some of them may talk about their day, some of them may combine the two, but all are posting for themselves. The vast majority of Xangans use it because blogging is a primarily self-involved activity, as it is meant to be. You find something YOU want to discuss, and YOU yourself discuss it. In fact, even some Top Bloggers can be considered bloggers for themselves instead of for an audience. When you look together at the vast mass of Xangans who maintain a blog purely for their own eyes and those for their own expression, you will find that the true number of those who blog for an audience, while perhaps a loud and well-seen bunch, is actually a small percentage of who Xanga is as a whole.

  Team A Rebuttal  Thetheologianscafe and SecretNeverTold

  Sure, blogging may be a self-involved activity to some extent, but it is certainly not purely that, for almost anyone. An example of an absolutely self-involved activity would be journaling in a book nobody ever sees or knows exists. Some might make the argument that it’s quicker to type than to write, and that this is why people blog; that argument holds no water, however, because they could just as easily (MORE easily, in fact) type their thoughts into Word. In other words, unadulterated self-involvement and public blogging are mutually exclusive concepts; you have one or the other — not both.

  To say, therefore, that there is a “vast mass of Xangans who maintain a blog purely for their own eyes” misses the point entirely, because the idea of a “private blog” is directly contrary to the public, sharing nature of the Internet and the blogosphere. Such an argument ignores and marginalizes those people who may have relatively few followers and a small audience. They, however, just as legitimately as the Top Bloggers, seek affirmation through audience, participation, and/or through the belief at least that they may find they are not alone and their thoughts are not trapped in the vacuum of their own heads. They hope, by posting their thoughts and work on Xanga, that other eyes will find it. Because you are right, we are all part of the audience. Few people are more aware of this than the typical Xangan.

  To further support our assertion that Xanga is geared toward bloggers who want an audience, Pete Cashmore, a writer for Mashable, said even as early as 2006 that Xanga has unique blogging atmosphere. “Unlike bloggers on the open web, Xangans have a ready-made audience for their writing,” he said.

  The reason most Xangans put their thoughts in this public forum, accessible from anywhere in the world, is they are seeking that ready-made audience. Many may have no idea what kind of audience they want or will attract, but most hope to find like-minded readers or viewers. They hope for dialogue and encouragement. They may not proactively market themselves on Xanga, but their very existence in the Xanga blogging community betrays at least part of their motive is to garner an audience.

  That said, it would be dishonest to say any blogger with a public site blogs solely for him- or herself. The typical Xangan always takes an audience, real or potential, into account when posting.

  To reinforce our earlier observations:
  First: Bloggers as a group post publicly specifically for an audience, real or imagined. If it were not for the audience potential, these Xangans would keep Word documents filled with their thoughts and stories and it would have the same self-fulfilling effect. The fact is, that activity does not satisfy Xangans, and that is why they are here.

  Second: Bloggers join Xanga specifically for the audience it provides, and Cashmore’s statement provides outside support for the “ready-made audience” for which Xanga is so popular. The community is what makes Xanga unique, and what draws many people in and keeps them. They don’t leave, because Xanga provides them with much-sought-after feedback and encouragement.

  Third: We have shown through empirical evidence that the vast majority of Xangans leave their sites public and leave their comments features on, in hopes an audience, no matter how small, will find them.

  Fourth: Xanga’s own policies and features such as Blogrings, Featured Weblogs, automatic “Friending” and the like, cater to the audience-driven needs of its bloggers.

  Finally: Many active Xangans talk excitedly about who gets recognized on Top Blogs and Featured Weblogs, as if it were some great achievement to earn “Xangalebrity.” And in a sense, they are right. It is an achievement that most bloggers would feel honored to receive.
  But don’t marginalize the unknown bloggers in this wildly public community, for they also have an audience. And as Dr. Seuss might say, were he still alive, “an audience is an audience, no matter how small.”

  This is why we stand firmly resolved that the typical Xangan blogs for an audience.
  
  Team B Rebuttal:  VaneDave and CallMeQuell

  At first glance it would appear that this question is a no-brainer. Most xangans do yearn for feedback. Most do hope to connect with others no matter if its 1 person or 1,000. Who really wants to be alone here?

  Here’s the thing. Just because someone craves feedback does not necessarily mean they are blogging for an audience. Everyone wants someone to connect with them. When most xangans put their writing out for others to read they are trying to fulfill a need for themselves, not for their audience. Just because someone doesn’t do something in private doesn’t mean it’s not strictly for them.

  For example, if I go to a support group, I am sitting with a group of people and sharing my experiences with them. The support group could be considered my “audience” in this scenario. I might be very interested to get their feedback and to hear that others in the group went through similar experiences. Does this mean I attended the support group for my “audience”?

  If most xangans write for their audience, then they do a terrible job at it. Most do not write regularly, most do not promote themselves, most do not give a second thought to what their demographic is. There are only a small percentage of delusional bloggers (like vanedave for instance) who might cultivate their writing for an audience. The typical xangan just writes what they feel like writing when they feel like writing it.

  There is a very gray line between blogging for yourself and blogging for an audience. Ask yourself this; When you sit down at your computer to write a new blog are you doing this for yourself, or are you doing this to please your audience? While some may answer for an audience, the majority of xangans will undoubtedly answer that they do it for themselves. The fact that their audience may enjoy what they wrote or connect with it only makes the experience all the better for them.

  Which side made the better argument, Team A or Team B?

                                   
  

  • 8:54 pm
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