Well...

That last post didn't go as I expected.  But it does lead into more of my thoughts about blogging.  As a Sociologist who studies media and communication, blogging has become an increasing interest for me (you know something I'll research "when I have time").  As a blogger, part of a lively and interactive knitblogging community (who also participates in some feminist blogs, but more on the sidelines), I also spent some time thinking about what blogging means and what it feels like to be part of a subculture.

The knitting subculture is vast and diverse but also has some unique/special elements that I really like.  It is a virtual community that links to real geographical spaces and real people.  Some people you "know" in cyberspace only, others in both worlds and some you know in "real life" but may not read their blogs.  It's also a generous, encouraging, vocal community.  We read the blogs, comment on the posts, participate in message boards and Yahoo groups and also in local stitch'n'bitches and knitting circles.  We knit for charities together, send bloggers secret pal gifts, knit each other socks, swap yarns and patterns, run contests, participate in challenging feats and mix the real and the virtual.

Some of us also share in life's more personal triumphs and tragedies and mix knitting life and social life.  Hell, we even drink together.  There's something unique about it in my limited trollings of the virtual world, and I'm quite happy to be part of it.  Maybe there are legions of other crafters and artists who do this too, frankly I haven't really checked.  But I don't see the same connections in the feminist blogs--people don't plan protests and consciousness raising groups together or make those "live" connections through the virtual ones so openly as in the knitting online community.  And I know what counts as live and virtual is sometimes blurry, but I don't think we've hit the world envisioned by William Gibson yet where there is nt distinction.  I think human connections in the real world matter, even if their beginnings are forged through the internet.

And honestly, I don't think I would blog if people didn't come by and say hello sometimes.  I do my best to reciprocate on the blogs I read which is partly how I maintain the readership I have here.  Blogs can also be about networking and putting in the time to communicate with others, just like other relationships.  Commenting is a way of saying "hey, how are you?" and often makes me click over to the commentor's space to see what's up or drop a friend an email to say hi (because I know not everyone has a blog). 

That's why I find commentless blogs sort of startling.  Sure people can blog without comments--why not?  But if they're just for you and some friends, why make them public or have a comment function at all?  What are people's motivations to blog?  Do they want interaction or just a space to write and think?  Do they want the comments to all be supportive or a space to exchange ideas and discuss and debate or can it just be a free-for-all (I'm good on the discuss/debate part)?  I don't have the answers, but I sure think a lot about the questions.

Comments

[Laura]

If one weren't willing to blog for at least a little while without comments, no blog would ever get started...

In addition to that, one of the reasons I blog is because I like reading about other people's knitting and the pieces of themselves they are willing to reveal online, but I don't always feel like commenting. Having a blog of my own is a way of reciprocating (just like leaving a comment is) but in a much broader sense.

Also, as someone who isn't in a large city, many of the people I knit with aren't also bloggers. The blog makes that community more interactive--they see projects I don't haul to knit night with me--even if I receive the comments in person instead of online. The community and network is still there, but it functions quite differently from the one you are used to.

Just a little different perspective....

[Cara]

I'm sorry your comment in the previous post wasn't received in the spirit in which you sent it out there into blogland.

I've written a lot about the limitations of our voices in blogging - how we write things that are read in a wholly different way than intended. I, for one, did not feel you were being snarky with your comment - I thought you were sincerely questioning what you felt was A DIFFERENT WAY of thinking about blogging than what you think about blogging.

Honestly, I can see all sides of it. Lately I've been wanting feedback I haven't felt I've been getting - so I've been trying to think about what it is that I want from my blog. Which, by the way, I think changes regularly. I'd like to think I'd still be writing my blog even if I didn't get comments. Sometimes it would be harder than others, but I now I'm sort of addicted to putting it out there.

Without comments, though, I would NEVER have found the excellent friends I have now. By its nature (the very idea that you CAN comment) makes blogging something of a reciprocal relationship, rather than writing in a void. Whether you choose to engage your readers on a one to one basis (ie comments) or not, you are still putting yourself out there and I have assume, wanting to be read.

Thank you for the engaging discussion. I'm sorry for taking up so much space in your comments. :)

[Cara]

Ugh. Should have previewed first. Sorry for all the typos. Hopefully my ideas will still come across even though I sound illiterate. I will stop now. Have a great day Steph!

[Sydney]

I've been doing this online stuff for a long time. For every person that posts a comment or posts to a bulletin board, there are 10-20 or more people who just read and don't post for a variety of reasons.

When I first started my blog, I really didn't expect any comments at first. Although it led to this strange talking to myself feeling, I did it because I wanted a place to get my thoughts down and record my progress. In fact, those first comments were kind of startling. Although if no one ever commented, I'm not sure if I would have kept up the blog.

I've noticed the same thing in many non-knitting blogs. There's very little commenting and interactivity. Maybe there's just not enough blogs on a particular subject to get a regular crowd of commenters. Some of it may be due to the type of people attracted to that particular subject. A predominantly introverted crowd might not interact that much. Maybe some people don't know how to navigate the blog society yet. Kind of like learning to make conversation at a cocktail party.

[rachel m]

most of those bloggers WANT comments and connections, but unfortunately, the knitblogging world is cliquish and sometimes snobby (and quite frankly, a lot like high school) and unless you really stand on your head for attention, the average knitblogger can't really compete with the 'popular kids'. yet we all keep trying because we want to share with everyone else our triumphs and sorrows and new yarns and so on, just in case someone does pop by and say hello.

so did you comment on those sad commentless blogs?

[Steph]

"so did you comment on those sad commentless blogs?"

I didn't comment on those blogs. But for good reasons. First, the posts were old--I was looking for something particular. Comment threads can get stale and it would make no sense to comment on something from six months ago. Second, the content was a tad touchy--I was looking up something about men's grooming practices (specifically shaving their nether regions) for my women and body image class and most of the blogs I looked at were written by men and were sorta creepy on this subject--there was no way I would comment.

Blogs also have to work to make commenting something welcome if comments are desired.

As for the knitblog community, you're right it is big and there are stars. And the whole linking system means you need to be in the queue to be read and found and commented on. There's a start system too which can be part of another aspect of blogging that I'll save for another time.

I need to run and teach!

[Wanda]

I didn't find your last post offputting at all either. It's interesting to read other's comments to the post too. I guess I'm not one of those people who would enjoy blogging without comments. Not that I'm a comment ho, but I also blog pretty much a/b my knitting and not that much about my personal life, so it's not my journal, just my knitting exploits, which are only one side of me. Sometimes I do want to blog about other things, but since this is a knitting blog (for me), I don't blog it elsewhere, nor am I interested in keeping up a separate blog. If it were purely personal, I could see why you might just need to journal/record something for yourself and not require comments (and sometimes not want them either). It's obvious that others blog for other reasons than mine.

If I had solely a knitting blog with no comments, it would be disheartening to me. Sometimes I do comment just for that reason. When I first started my blog, I wanted to announce to everyone "I'm here." It took me a little while to figure out how to get others to comment (by reading others' blogs and commenting) and after awhile others might read my blog from rings or how, I don't know.

I do disagree with rachel m who says that most can't compete with the popular kids. While we may not all be a Yarn Harlot, Wendy Knits or Knit and Tonic or others, I think if you read blogs and comment, that's the easiest way to get others to comment. Plus people that you like to read, read some of their favorite reads and comment there too. If you join KALs, there are usually good people that read others blogs and make it easy for others to read you by offering a Bloglines or other feed aggregator sign-up button on your blog is good too.

I'm by no means a hugely popular blogger, but I do okay and I'm happy that others might like to read my blog as I do like reading others too. Most people that comment on my blog, I try to stop by their blog, at least once and leave a comment. If I like them, I'll add them to my bloglines list and read them often. I try to comment often, but it doesn't always happen that way.

[Natalie]

I'd love to get more comments, and when I do get a few occasionally it's very exciting. My biggest day was 5 comments, and I could hardly believe it. I write my blog for the opportunity to share something I love to do in a life where I don't know a lot of people that share my interest. I put it out there and pretend that lots of people are reading it, and it helps me to feel involved in something. I know that some of my friends and family read it too, and that makes me feel good.

I don't know, it's an interesting question. It's not for lack of wanting comments, that's for sure. I held a contest to see if I could call any lurking knitters out of the corners... only two people participated. Oh well. :)

[Norma]

It's an interesting sociological phenomenon that I've noticed, too. I've tried explaining it many times to Typepad -- as to why we knitbloggers who use Typepad get a wee bit out of sorts when the comments are not working properly -- because I don't think we knitbloggers are understood. We DO seem to be very different from all the other segments of bloggers I have observed -- in that we are extremely interactive. You go to some of the most highly read political blogs, for example, and see that comments are indeed open, as you mention, but there are NO comments. I find it fascinating. We are truly different.

[Chante]

I tend to ramble so I'm goign to try and keep this short.

When I first started my blog, I wanted it to act as my own personal crafty album. Something that I can use to look upon all of the crafty endeavors I've accomplished (and failed miserably at). I just hit my 1 year mark and It was surprising to see the progression my crafts have taken. I think without the online knitting community, there is no way that I would have the courage to try and dealv into other crafty mediums.

The reason that I don't turn off my comments is due to the fact that over the past year, I have become so accustomed to this community. It's so inspiring and uplifting to read a comment from someone who actually "gets it". I don't have a lot of crafty people around me so being able to talk to someone who relates is the best feeling in the world. Now that I'm a part of my small little knitting community, I wouldn't have it any other way.

[ksfishgirl]

I am an avid blog reader, and sometimes commenter - but only if I really have something to say, or if a post hits me in a way that makes me want to comment. That said, I would never even consider leaving a less-than-positive comment on someone's blog - because I don't like to be mean and I figure, if you don't like what someone has to say, quit reading. In any case, I have thought about blogging for going on a year, now - but if I ever did, it would be only for myself, and a few "invited guests" as I am a pretty private person, even about knitting ;)

[Roo]

I picked up my sticks again about 2 years ago, and I am sure I wouldn't have got so sucked in to the whole knitting thing if it were not for the amazing online community I found. I don't have too many friends who knit or who I could share my knitting excitement with, so it was great to see all of that inspiration out there. I started a blog, and it is not read by many, but it was more as a way of keeping in touch with those wayward friends more than anything else.

[Dawn]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. People need to get a grip. Good grief! If someone has an opinion let them state it. We do not all have to agree nor do we have to attack the owner of the opinion.

I found your blog through January One. Keep on blogging, no matter what other people say or think!

[Maia]

I just found you via Cara's blog. I am a little surprised by the reactions you have gotten from one offhand comment. It didn't sound offensive to me, just an observation.

It has spurred an interesting conversation. I probably wouldn't continue to blog if I didn't get a few comments. It is very hard to put oneself out there and get no response.

As for the "stars", I rarely go to their blogs. I am looking for community. I don't feel a need to be one of hundreds who comment on a single post. Why should I comment if the blogger won't read my comment? Or maybe they do, but it feels one sided. I comment to participate.

Thank you for the conversation.

[naomi]

I'm in a middle area in this blog comment thing--I met a slew of knitters (and, by now, most of my friends) by joining an online knitting community when I moved to Philly. I keep my knitblog public so I can potentially meet other people that way, but I tend to get more comments in person than actually on my blog.

[Vicki]

I'm celebrating three years blogging today. I'll never forget finding blogs... I didn't know what they were. I could tell that I wasn't at regular websites because of the comments and linking and interaction. Oh! How I wanted to be a part of that!! It wasn't long and I hardly gave it a thought before signing up for my own Typepad account. Baptism by fire. I've found my voice and lost it and fumbled around a lot, I've suffered, triumphed, traveled and lived my life on the blog -- sometimes I wish I was still more anonymous -- but it is what it is.

I wouldn't do it without the interaction. I'm not always the best at keeping it up -- it can be a lot of work -- but I try.

For my "blogiversary" I ran a little contest involving numbers... of posts and comments. I get comments, usually, on every post (though my first few months were l.o.n.e.l.y, indeed), but never in the stratosphere. One of the reasons I like having contests is because so often the lurkers come out and I was absolutely astounded to see that of 101 comments, the great majority were from people (many of them bloggers) I'd never heard of before! (Granted, some were sent by Cara, but still...)

[LaDonna]

I started blogging about my knitting a few months ago. I don't get many comments, which does bum me out a little (I will freely admit that I'm an attention whore), but on the other hand, I know people do read my blog. I can see from the stats that people actually subscribe to it, which really blows my mind!

I make a point of commenting on other people's blogs, online communities (bulletin boards), joining knitting blog rings, etc. I also post just about every other day - some weeks are tougher than others. This has helped increase my views and comments.

The other thing I do is read the popular blogs and sort of emulate what they do. I don't copy but I consciously note the style, and try to improve my writing. Sometimes I even think I succeed!

My blog is almost like my own personal magazine. I alone determine what goes in it and I alone get the kudos or tomatoes.

[darra]

I've had a blog for a couple/three years off and on...but I've also moved it around a few times and each time it moves, it seems that fewer people read it. This last move to blogger has proven that point quite well. I firmly believe that much of it has to do with the fact that while I'm a heavy blog-reader, I'm pretty light on the comments most of the time.

I still post, though currently not very often, because I like to look back and see how far I've come. My blog is more of a dumping ground for me, to let out things that are bugging me or to post pictures of projects. I find myself using it a lot like I use lists in my "real life." I like to have tangible evidence that I've accomplished things. Most of my crafted items end up going to others as gifts.

Posting them online keeps me from piling them all over the house. I don't do it for the comments at all, although it's nice to see them pop up here and there.

Your post reminded me that I wrote a research paper on the knitblogger community for my sociology course a couple of years ago. I wonder if I can still find that somewhere? I doubt it greatly, but it would be interesting to see how far the community has come since then.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I've been reading your blog off and on for quite some time and this is probably my first comment.

[Seanna Lea]

I sometimes wish I had more commenters, but I mostly write for myself. If I put it in a physical print journal, I tend to stop writing (even if it is a very knitting-centric journal).

I have some friends who read my journal and every once in a while my mom will stop by and look at what I'm doing. I try and include some extra information that she would enjoy. She doesn't comment, though she sometimes refers to things I have posted. My husband reads it and will comment at home (usually wondering why I used the dorky picture of him), but I find the most useful thing about knit blogs is seeing how something knits up, difficulties with the project, how it works with a different yarn, etc. I know when I make Fiery Bolero, I'm not going to be using Cathay, because all of the knit blogs I looked at complained about how splitty it was. Knitblogs even un-commented ones can be a useful tool for the rest of us.

[Christy]

I think most knitbloggers would like comments. They may be wondering just what you said: "Why am I doing this if no one is commenting?" I am skeptical about the "I blog for myself" statement. It may be part of why we blog but I doubt that it's the sole reason.

With so many blogs, it can be tough for bloggers to find an audience. Even those who have a small audience like I do(I just looked up some stats and I have about 65 bloglines subscribers and get about 80 visitors a day) may not get many comments. My last post has been up for a day without a single comment.

Interesting conversation.

[jillian]

I also found this discussion through January One :) Great discussion. I've seen some bou-ha-ha about different aspects of this phenomena here and again, particularly about the supposedly "cliqueish" nature of the blog world and not be able to compete with the "stars".

I return to the same conclusions, for myself. A - different people knitblog for different reasons, which can change over time, B - your perception of the online community can be similar to your perception of the real world (i.e. if someone feels like an outsider in the real world they may perceive a lack of comments or links to their blog as the entire knitting community being a clique they can't enter) and C -to a degree, you get what you give. A well-written blog with interesting, frequent content, and/or good pictures, and/or good links will have greater readership than one without. Also, you do have to put yourself out there. I joined webrings at first, and started commenting on other blogs. I (tried) to have good content, as I was specifically trying to enter this community, and felt a responsibility to make the trip wothwhile, if you will. To my surprise, I started to get comments. Then to get linked. I met people in person, and then learned of more blogs, that I then commented on. I read and sometimes commented on blogs that commented on mine, and vice versa. As these things are all interrelated, I started to see a snowball effect. To my continual surprise, I have a regular readership that continues to slowly and evenly grow with time. But I do think that part of it is that I made the effort to make these connections and contiue to put the effort into maintaining relationships, and part of it is just luck. Apologies on the long comment. It's just such a darn interesting topic!

[Jean]

I think this whole discussion is fascinating. I struggled with the decision to start my own knit blog (finally did last month) because while the virtual knitting community is remarkably friendly and supportive, it is also HUGE. I was feeling an urge to take a more active role in contributing (after being a reader and lurker for years), but I wasn't sure what I had to offer. There are so many knit blogs, nobody can read them all, so how can I even hope to get readers, much less commenters? And yet, if I wanted to take steps to really join the community, I would have to speak up and put myself out there. Knit blogging is an interesting and dynamic medium and as I said in my first post, I want in on the fun.

So I started my own blog hoping to meet other knitters and make connections and share the joy we all get from knitting. I love getting comments! It's how I know I'm making those connections. But I must admit to fearing having so many readers that someday I'll say something which will tick someone off and they'll leave me a hostile comment in retaliation. I don't know how I would (will?) handle that. So while I want readers and commenters, there's a part of me which is relieved to know I'm only playing to a small crowd, so to speak. (8 comments is my record high.)

And as far as commenting on other blogs, I find I'm more likely to leave a comment when there are few commenters. When someone has lots of comments, I'm reluctant to add my two cents unless I feel like I have something unique to share. When someone doesn't have many comments, I'm way more likely to leave a quick note, drop by and say hi, as you said.

Maybe it comes down to personality types. You know how there are people who have tons and tons of aquaintances but very few close friends. And then there are people who have a few close friends and hardly even know anyone else. I suspect that those personality difference must somehow translate into the what people put in and get out of blogging, reading and commenting.

[rebecca]

knitting/crafting blogs are special. i have two other blogs, one literary/reading, the other foody, and those communities are dissimilar to the knitting/crafting blog community. it seems that the community creates the experience for its readers/users/members and this community is mostly warm, welcoming, encouraging, and ultimately creative as hell.

i've found satisfaction with my knit/craft blog that i never got from my other blogs simply for the connecting with others who share my interests and developing bloggy and personal relationships with them.

and my other two blogs, why still bother with them when they're somewhat unsatisfactory? Habit? Investment? I have 5 years of literary/reading blog behind me. i'm not about to stop now. why not continue writing in a vacuum? it's mostly for me, anyway. i have to keep track of the books i've read, otherwise i might read them again or buy another copy of something i already have. and the foody one, likewise, i have 2 or 3 years of posts and photos invested in it, with few comments.

much of my compulsion to blog stems from my love of documentation. i keep track of it all for me? for prosperity? to be part of the historical record? all these reasons and more.

thanks for posing the question.

[life×]

I just stumbled on your blog too. I think I would agree with some of the others that I would like to get more comments than I do-- mainly because I like the people that I've become comment-friends with via the blog. On the other hand, when I started blogging over 4 years ago, it wasn't quite the online community it is now, and I did begin it as a personal journal that I wrote for myself because I am more likely to be at my computer and write somethign and keep track of it than to use a tangible journal which will get lost in moves, rediscovered mid-new journal, etc.

Since then, as the blogging community and the communities that I blog in have expanded and I find myself more likely to write to an audience; but one of the reasons I think I don't get a lot of comments (while I have a number of regular readers) is that I blog about so many different things on one blog. I blog about grad school, about politics, about knitting, about every-day life, etc., all on one blog, so my readership consists of grad students who don't knit, married women who do knit, a couple of guys who aren't in grad school, aren't married, don't knit and don't have pets and so are only interested in some but not all aspects of the things I blog about. I think they're less likely to comment often if at all, though they pop in frequently. I could create 4 different blogs that are specialized, but since my blog is MY personal endeavor and it's easier (and makes more sense to me personally) I write one blog that deals with all of these things.

[Emilee]

As someone with light readership, I didn’t think that your comment was off-putting at all either. It is a legitimate question to be asking. It was clear to me that your question comes from the view that the knitting blogosphere as a community, and that commenting is an important part.

I get comments now, but I didn’t always. Why did I do it then? Well, it started as a way to keep a photographic journal of my projects. As I became more involved in the community, and I began to get more comments, I started to view it as my own contribution to the great marketplace of ideas. For example, I heavily modified Glasgow Lace from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits, and it is one of my favorite finished objects. I used my blog to share my modifications to the pattern and, potentially, encourage people to make their own modifications. I used knitting bulletin boards to alert people to my post on the finished sweater and the modifications, so that particular post got many more readers than most.

I blog because I value the online knitting community, and I want to add my own small voice to the conversation.