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That said, I still think I'm engaging in a conversation rather than merely lecturing at readers. Many of my posts react to the comments I get as well as the larger blogospheric debate.
Of course, me having just arrived at Stage 2, this is all just guessing. :D
EDIT: I would like to add that how I measure the level of interaction is the kind of conversation that the blogger is participating in. The more thought-provoking the conversation, the more I think that the blogger is interacting. A Stage 4 blogger can't possibly participate in ALL the conversations, but participating only in the conversations that the blogger (and most likely his readers too) believes is valuable is something that I think is humanly possible.
Maria Reyes-McDavis
Marketing Masters Guide
in his latest book "Here Comes Everybody" Clay Shirky defines fame as "simply an imbalance between inbound and outbound attention, more arrows pointing in than out. Two things have to happen for someone to be famous, neither of them related to technology. The first is scale: he or she has to have some minimum amount of attention, an audience in the thousands or more. Second, he or she has to be unable to reciprocate...."
Shirky goes on to explain that while the web allows for the TECHNICAL possibility of massive interaction and reciprocity, there is still a COGNITIVE limit.
again, this has nothing to do with blogging. the community that springs up around a band or a movie has very little to do with direct interaction with the artist and much more to do with "fans" making connection around their INITIAL common interest.
It certainly is much harder even for those in the earlier phases to interact with their audience, more fragmentaton = more time to get involved.
sent from: fav.or.it
As for other venues of fame - true, true. But blogging's roots have more of a conversational component to them than do other media. And the vast majority of bloggers embrace this dynamic. Robert Seidman's initial challenge to the "conversational" nature of blogging was the cause for looking at this in the first place.
While the Internet is a great medium for dissemination of information, would not social media be a way to connect with those outside of our normal geographical locales?
I would also somewhat disagree with a famous person not being able to interact with their audience. While I would agree that there may be little direct interaction, having fame (and possibly fortune) can be utilized as a tool for the benefit of humanity in general... This in and of itself should be considered interaction of great magnitude, should it not? ... a repayment to the fans in the simple form of 'paying it forward'.
Suffice it to say, your point in general is well taken, and very well put.
Thanks for this! Man, all the guest bloggers are really bringing out their best stuff this past week or two. I love it!
In all seriousness, you've done a great job of defining the stages of blogging in terms of fame and interection.
Allowing blog comments
Responding to blog comments
Commenting on FriendFeed about your blog
Tweeting links to your blog posts
Digging your blog
Stumbling your blog
Pimping your blog on others' blogs
you'll see that most of them are initiated by the blogger, and that most of them can take place in a vacuum. I see those more as promotional activities rather than two-way interactions.
Reading blog comments, and responding, and reading FriendFeed comments, and responding, and reading other blog posts that link to your blog post, and responding - those are true interaction. If blogger X is doing these things, it really doesn't matter whether he's tweeting a link to every blog post he/she writes. (In fact, I often refrain from tweeting links to my blog posts, sharing my own blog posts via my own Google Reader shared items, etc. - I reserve this activity for the more interesting posts only.)
Other than that minor quibble, good post. I can't really comment on the accuracy of your model, since I myself am not an established voice or an industry legend.
That's also why I broke out the interactions as two use cases:
1. Interactions when the blogger is trying to learn about things
2. Interactions when the blogger is trying to promote the blog
Both of those interactions decrease in Stage 3.
By the way, Louis.... You're fired for writing another nauseatingly introspective article. 'Nuff o' that, k? :)
Even my most popular post on SFP records for Blackberry ended up being better discussed at another blog where they had continuous updated information and links.
Links are not literary grade footnotes. They are, at best, attempts at shifting a physical world practice to an increasingly volatile medium. In the end, links as we know them today fail.
Sorry to disappoint, but here's the thing: I haven't had comments since I was a n00b, so I think I broke your graph.
Also, Ontario's point is an excellent one. I think there's a different between personal interactions driven by the reader and outbound interactions driven by the blogger.
Your posts are really good as standalone points of view. Your previous success in the entrepreneurial world, "permission marketing", books and Fast Company writing really established your reputation. I don't know when you started blogging in earnest, but I'd say your external work pretty much fast-tracked you to "industry legend" status. Like I said in this post, ig Jerry Yang started blogging, I wouldn't expect him to have comments either.
The one thing about comments would this: your blog posts can serve as forums for people to discuss your ideas. If you could resist the urge to clarify everything, you might find some interesting stuff coming from readers.
But as I say, not necessary. Your writings are terrific pieces of knowledge by themselves.
We all have our ways. Me I get very few comments on my blog, even though I always respond and show my appreciation. But on FF I get and give lots of comments it is great.
PS. I liked the Purple Cow, read it when it was released a while back and I liked it. Was a fun read. :)
I agree with Duncan though about interaction. I think the graph is mostly right, especially as far as traditional blogging is concerned. But I think the process of commenting is changing. Robert Scoble is half-right about comments being dead. Blog comments 1.0 are dead, but they are being resurrected via FF and other services.
Comment fragmentation is as valuable as it is frustrating. I think it could encourage industry legends back into the commenting business. So although I agree with the gist of your intuition pump, I think the future of legendary interaction remains to be seen.
Seth Godin's perspective was an interesting one. He doesn't have comments because he'd feel compelled to go out there and clarify and answer things. All that's really needed is a quick snippet of a comment, not a deep thought.
And no, I don't think Seth has any reason to interact with readers on his blog (although he does find the time to respond to emails...). As I said before, Seth's work stands alone quite well.
It's tough in the technology blogging sector because it's highly competitive. Still, you hit on the key point: content that stands alone. While interaction is a key component (and should be) for many bloggers, I'd argue that if one has to prioritize, it should be a lower priority than creating content that will stand alone.
I think, to a smaller/more focused/localized degree the celebrity turned blogger with an instant shot up to the upper levels of the bell curve would be Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. Although he is still fairly active in responding to comments on his own site he isn't seen much elsewhere online.
Curt Schilling would be interesting to follow. I only know of his perspectives from the interviews I've seen reported. He's not shy.
Something you said really rang true, regarding being a 'student of life' vs. the professor. Being a student of life is one of my core motto's that I strive never to lose sight of. Through personal experiences, I have learned that when I fashion myself an expert on something, my ego swells, and I quickly find out many other areas I do not have mastered.
This being said, I have never held with the ideal of a "tenured professor" status. Notice I did not say it does not exist, but I believe the right vs. responsibility pyramid to be inverted in that model. It would be my assertion that as your fame grows, so to does your responsibility.
It is interesting that people in stage 3 or 4 would have the feeling of "arriving". While I agree with the emotion, the aftermath that ensues should such a person feel they should no longer need to drink of the fountain of knowledge, or experience life in the trenches, is somehow, again, upside down to me.
Again, great read... I am very pleased that Louis let you crash for a little while. I have another writer to read now in my quest for knowledge...
Then they become the ones who put the ideas forward that the rest of us discuss. I find myself discussing in my blog what these more advanced bloggers come up with.
What about famous people who blog, and then because they get so busy, (or...), they have assistants reply to comments? Or in the case of some, they hire people to write the posts? How can we truly know the blog or the comments come from the person? I know in traditional media, editorials were often not written by the author. The same with political speeches. They just sign off. Will or do bloggers do this? Will there be bots that reply to comments? Curious and curiouser....