humor me

Maybe I’m mistaken, but I believe I had more readers on my old blog. Twice as many subscribed via Bloglines to the old one than subscribe to this one, for example. So…I’d like your feedback, dear reader. Those of you who do not typically leave comments are especially encouraged to participate in the following survey.



Readership, the past, and the future.


1. What do you know about my blogging past, and why do you read my blog?

I found WorkBook, but I have no idea what previous blog you wrote.
I used to read your previous blog, and that led me to this blog.




2. The nature of this blog

This blog is much more personal than the previous blog, and I like that.
This blog is much more personal than the previous blog, and I don’t like that.
This blog is much more personal than the previous blog, and I have no opinion about that.
This blog is pretty much the same as the previous blog, and I like that.
This blog is pretty much the same as the previous blog, and I don’t like that.
This blog is pretty much the same as the previous blog, and I have no opinion about that.




3. The future of this blog

You should write more about higher education, the profession.
You should write more about your teaching.
You should write more about your research.
You should write more about current events.
You should continue to write as much personal stuff as you currently do.
You should write less personal stuff than you currently do.




4. I’m thinking of changing the name of this blog to “Junebug versus Hurricane,” after a Lucinda Williams lyric.

Um…no. Keep “WorkBook.”
Sure, why not? It’s your blog.
You could choose something more interesting than WorkBook, but not “Junebug versus Hurricane.”




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13 thoughts on “humor me

  1. I hope you’ll forgive a long-form response, in addition to the survey above. And perhaps this is a methodological nitpick, but: question #2 doesn’t allow for the possibility that this blog is different from the previous blog in any way other than being more personal. Yes, there’s a way in which this one is more personal — entries seem to be more about your life than about your work — but on the other hand, through the previous blog (and, of course, the odd cup of coffee or other beverage) I was able to cobble together a fairly clear picture of the person whose blog I thought I was reading, right or wrong. How I see this blog differing from the previous one is less that it’s more personal than, oddly, that you feel less *present* to me. Perhaps that’s just a matter of an at least perceived drop in posting frequency, but perhaps your move to the personal has paradoxically resulted in a step back from the blog.

    In any case, I’m still reading, though through a non-Bloglines feed reader, so I don’t show up in your stats anywhere, unless you prod me into showing up here and commenting!

  2. i’m not good with putting together surveys but i wish your question #2 had the following options:

    This blog is much more personal than the previous blog, and I like that and
    You should write more about higher education, the profession … and
    You should write more about your teaching … and
    You should write more about your research … and
    You should write more about current events.

    my main gripe with workbook is that i wish you posted more often. i [heart] workbook.

  3. I had a hard time with the second question… I do think this blog is *more* personal than the last one, but I wasn’t sure about “much” more. So I said it was the same, but I do think it’s more personal. I guess I’d think it was “much more” personal if the volume of posting was higher, somehow! (Weird, huh.)

    As for numbers of those subscribed in Bloglines – have you looked at all the subscription options? Because usually there are a number of different feeds that you can subscribe to (RSS/atom/etc.), so you may have more subscribers, divided up over a number of feeds, if that makes sense. (Ignore this if you’ve checked that already!)

  4. George, I had some of the same issues when I swapped over to my own URL–a bunch of BL subs didn’t follow, and my traffic has dropped overall in the last year or so. Part of it is different RSS options–like K, I’m reading through a non-BL reader. I think my core audience is still around, but I don’t seem to get as much random traffic as I once did. Not sure what all that means, but I don’t think it’s unique to me (or you)…

    cgb

  5. hi again george.

    one thing about zombie that i really enjoyed was seeing pictures of you enjoying a pint of good thick dark beer after a day in the archives – usually, i think, in the UK. i remember those pix well because they revealed a sense of excitement and contentment that we scholars (sometimes) get when working in the archives. maybe what i miss is hearing a bit more about what you’re researching these days.

    equally desired (i’m getting so demanding in my ripe old age), i would really, really like to hear some of your observations about teaching – more posts about your syllabi, more posts about what happens in your classes, and more posts about your students. come to think of it, this is topic i’d like to hear more academic bloggers discussing.

    but then again, it’s your blahg and you should blahg about what gets you going.

  6. George, this has nothing to do with the blog, but did you know there’s an article about Shelley Jackson’s “Skin” in the current Poets & Writers magazine?

  7. Thank you to everyone who has commented and answered the survey.

    If you haven’t participated, yet, please do so.

    I’ll revisit the things brought up in this entry later this week…I think.

  8. Let me just check in briefly to point out that 20% of you want me to write more about teaching.

    Well, here you go. I’d like some feedback, if you have a moment or two to spare.

    One of the reasons why I want to survey readers (40 responses so far!) is to encourage more of a conversation here on WorkBook.

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