Friday, July 07, 2006

Feedback

Pull me out of a morose and self-indulgent mood, please, by telling me a thing or two about yourselves.

For people without blogs:

--This isn't a question, really, but sometimes I envy you so much, you don't even know. Just thought I'd start with that.

--This is a question: Why do you read weblogs?

--Do the weblogs you read tend towards one topic or focus, or do you regularly read blogs on a variety of subjects?

--If you could make bloggers shut up about any subject at all, what subject would that be? What do you earnestly want never to read about again?

--If you could request more coverage of any subject from bloggers, what subject would that be?

--Is there a weblog you'd like to recommend? (I'm always running out of stuff to read. I think I need a wider range of interests.)

--Do you read mostly weblogs with comments, mostly weblogs without, or a mix of both? Do you have a strong preference one way or another? Does it bother you when there are no comments?

--If you were going to start a weblog, what would it be like? Mostly personal? Political? Entertainment-oriented? Technical?

--Again, if you were going to start a weblog, would you use your real name or a pseudonym?

For people with blogs:

--Why do you keep a weblog?

--Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

--Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

--Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

--Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

--Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

--Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

Those are just to get you started, so if you have other things to say on the general topic, feel free. I am sick to death of my own opinions, so give me yours. Please!

There. I begged. I hope you're happy now.

12 comments:

Rob said...

For people with blogs:

--Why do you keep a weblog?

Started one to see where it might lead and to hopefully improve my writing and computer skills. Still don’t know where it will lead. My writing hasn’t improved even slightly but my computer skills may have.

--Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

Grab-bag.

--Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

Never had any focus but I will say there are topics I avoid.

--Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

Without re-reading 3-1/2 years worth, I’m OK with these:
http://www.crabapplelane.net/roblog/archives/2003/09/17/smoking.php
http://www.crabapplelane.net/roblog/archives/2005/05/20/songs_that_have.php
http://www.crabapplelane.net/roblog/archives/2004/11/30/fast_food.php

--Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

Had one or two but I removed them. The beauty of weblogs.

--Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

Met two really nice people and organized a family reunion. Was interviewed by Time Magazine for an article and by a graduate student at Toronto University for her PHD.

--Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

Can't think of anything.

This is a start, Ilyka. I'll probably think of others when I see other answers.

ilyka said...

I forgot how much I LOVED the fast food post. Thank you for the reminder!

Special sauce? No. SPECIAL ID.

Unknown said...

Clickable links to Rob's posts:

Smoking

Songs that have to play through

Fast food????

Unknown said...

--Why do you keep a weblog?

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

--Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

Grab-bag.

--Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

I stopped posting news about ALS research after my mom died of it. That wasn't a focus, though, just a semi-regular feature. Very early, I made some posts of a technical nature, but that didn't last.

--Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

I have a list of ten favorites in my sidebar, but I'll pick three:

Toehold interviews Jesus Christ (long)

Values in Law

Gay rights and fertility

--Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

I'm sure quite a few have not aged well, but I can't think of one I actually regret.

--Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?
--Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

No and no. It's been a white knuckle nothing.

My blog has been dormant for a number of months. I plan to resurect it at the successful completion of my job search.

ilyka said...

Kyle, is it Toehold you're thinking of reviving? I hope you do; I've only briefly poked around but it looks like good stuff. And thank you for clickifying Rob's posts. I'm all for more people reading Rob.

Rob said...

Thanks, Kyle. I was at another Blogger site yesterday that didn't allow html tags. I assumed none of them did. I agree with you on inheritance/estate taxes. My reasoning is different than yours but we end up in the same place. I liked what I saw at your place, too.

Unknown said...

Ilyka,

Yes, Toehold will return. Thanks for the encouragement!

Craig R. said...

I'll have to thinkabout yur questions.

With the crunch of work I've not even been able to read much of blogs over the last month, never mind write. (and I've got about a dozen subjects stacked up waiting to be written about)

Anonymous said...

Why do you keep a weblog?

I enjoy writing, and blogging allows me to vent about issues that I might otherwise bend poor Mr. Cracker's ear about incessantly (not that I don't do that anyway sometimes).

Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

I post lefty political commentary for the most part, but occasionally stray into recipes, football, psychotic dogs, etc.

Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

Not really, but I haven't been blogging all that long.

Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

Here are a few favorites:

An Open Letter to My Sister's Psychotic Dogs

Dear Mahmoud

Oy Veh, Is Rabbi Gellman Clueless!

Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

I've had a few posting while intoxicated incidents. But luckily I sobered up and deleted them before exposing myself as a braying jackass for all the world to see. It helps that I have a very obscure blog with only a handful of regular readers.

Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

I occasionally encounter interesting, hysterically funny and delightful people.

Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

I've wasted a lot of time I'll never get back.

Ron said...

Why do you read weblogs?

I like essays. The blog is a great format for it. You generally get a lot of the writers personality or personna.

--Do the weblogs you read tend towards one topic or focus, or do you regularly read blogs on a variety of subjects?

I mostly read progressive, feminst blogs.

--If you could make bloggers shut up about any subject at all, what subject would that be? What do you earnestly want never to read about again?

"Nice guys."

--If you could request more coverage of any subject from bloggers, what subject would that be?

Nothing. Whatever it is, I could probably find a blog about it.

--Is there a weblog you'd like to recommend? (I'm always running out of stuff to read. I think I need a wider range of interests.)

Sadly, I'm in the same boat.

--Do you read mostly weblogs with comments, mostly weblogs without, or a mix of both? Do you have a strong preference one way or another? Does it bother you when there are no comments?

I definitely prefer blogs with comments. I also generally avoid blogs with many short posts. I appreciate it when a writer has taken the time to flesh out the ideas a bit. It does bother me when blogs don't have comments. I like the feedback and conversations going on there. I also generally often avoid some of the bigger sites where the comments regularly get super long.

--If you were going to start a weblog, what would it be like? Mostly personal? Political? Entertainment-oriented? Technical?

It would probably be mostly personal, with some political or social commentary. I'm a slow writer and often kind of muddled. So there is room for a lot of improvement should I ever decide to learn to write better. But I'd have to put forth an effort & a time commitment I couldn't do at this time.

--Again, if you were going to start a weblog, would you use your real name or a pseudonym?

I'd use a pseudonym at least at first, but it wouldn't be too hard to figure out who I am.

margilowry said...

For people with blogs:

--Why do you keep a weblog?

I'm a great big ol' ball of narcissism.

--Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

Focus? Me? It is to laugh.

When I had a more public blog, I blogged about me and my life. I still do that. Only more sporadically. And incognito.

--Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

Again, focus? Me? Yeah, I guess it has. I don't CARE about politics or world hunger on my blog. It's all me me MEE! (Seriously, I do it to avoid negativity and relax. Ironic, huh?)

--Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

The post where I outed my husband's ex-wife for being a complete loser and stalking me. ON THE INTERNET.

Lah-hoo-ser.

--Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

Hmm. I'm sure there are several thousand. I've blocked it for now.

--Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

I've "met" a few dozen really cool people that I wish like hell I could fly around and meet but probably never will.

--Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

See Lah-hoo-ser ex-wife answer.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

--Why do you keep a weblog?

I covered that on my first year anniversary here.

--Does your weblog have a main topical focus, or is it more grab-bag?

It started out focused on science because I miss teaching and I wanted people to know how science really works, and expanded because I wanted to talk about living in the USSR and Japan, and what I've learned from spending over 15% of my adult life outside the US in some pretty exotic places.

--Has your weblog ever changed its focus?

See above.

--Which posts (feel free to link them!) have given you the most personal satisfaction to write?

This one was cathartic, and this one got a lot of postive reponse. The academics who read my blog liked this one and this one.

--Which posts do you regret writing, if any?

None

--Has anything really terrific ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

I was invited to join the Chicago Boyz.

--Has anything really terrible ever happened to you as a result of writing your blog?

No.