SL vs RL Blogosphere
I’ve been a real-life blogger for almost 6 years and a SL blogger for little over a month. In this time I’ve already seen big differences in the two, the main thing being that the SL blogosphere seems so quiet. People blog a lot, don’t get me wrong. But not many comment.
There are a few who’s considered to be the “big” bloggers, those who’ve made themselves a name (a SLebrity if you will) blogging. Yet these blog are strangely empty of comments. (I’m not counting the official blogs nor do I count employees of LL or community/joint blogs, they have an obvious advantage.) Latest three blogposts by two of the biggest names in SL was 0,3,1 and 3,4,1. This is very odd to me. The top two bloggers (again, under the same premises as SL blogs) in Sweden have 87, 63, 62 and 118, 48, 83.
I know, you’re thinking “Well, you can’t compare the two, that’s RL this is SL”. Actually, I think I can and here’s why.
Second Life, according to Linden Labs, has roughly around 18,5 million users. We all know about the alts and the people who leave to never come back, so let’s say for arguments sake it’s roughly around half, 9 million. That’s the population of Sweden. Not all 9 million SL users blog or read blogs, but then again, neither does all 9 million Swedish residents. Even if my comparison is off, you get the picture, there’s potential here.
So, it seems to me that here we have a vast and mostly untapped resource. Where do we go from here? Is there a want/need for more active readers in the SL Blogosphere? If so, how do we engage people, how do we push them to be active? Think to yourself, how often do you comment? Are you happy with that or would you like to do it more/less? Why? When you do comment, why? I find this subject really interesting and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
I comment about blogs a lot on Plurk, but rarely in the actual blog comment section. I’m not sure why, but I have recently started commenting a lot more within the blogs. I think more dialog would be nice to see.
Kissowa Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 19:20
@ Isabeal: You’re a blogger yourself, do you see more or less value in a comment on the plurk vs a comment on the blog? Which make you squee more? Oh and thanks for commenting!
I have to wonder if most people dont comment because they read blogs from feeds, and not directly on the sites…or laziness (my own admission there) or clicking through a slurl and just never going back to the blog…a million reasons. Making a mental note to try and comment more, since you brought it up…maybe it will encourage people and let them know their blogging *is* appreciated.
Kissowa Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 20:31
@ Dinalya: I think you’re right on all accounts, but some of those things can be circumvented as well, for instance, clicking through to a slurl, which I myself is guilty of… If you force all clicks to open to new browser windows, it’ll be easier for them to find their way back. Maybe I should write a post about that too?
I do think people need some positive reinforcement every now and then which is why I bring it up. If you like what someone is doing, please, do tell them.
I try and comment more..I just think its the number of SL blogs we read compared to the number of rl blogs we read. We might read 10 posts a day about a certain hair or clothing object in SL.
Maybe it’s because the popular blogs in SL are mostly fashion blogs (I think?) and people are just looking at the pictures to get ideas where to shop. So there doesn’t seem to be much reason to comment.
I usually comment on personal journal type SL blogs, especially if they belong to my friends
I noticed that when I plurk about my new posts, most people will comment in plurk instead of commenting on the blog. I’d love to get more blog comments because if not when you look at the post, it just seems empty, but actually people did respond, only it wasn’t recorded on the blog site so you can’t archive it for future reference.
Ummmm..no comment
(aww c’mon, it had to be said)
I enjoyed reading this post, you have a very valid point.
I really think that people don’t comment because they might not have a comment, or they don’t want to bring “drama” with sharing a not so nice opinion, or even they just don’t want to seem like a “suck up”.
Ha! You tricked me, Kissowa. I never read SL blogs. Linked here from Plurk thinking it was another RL truth thing.
Back to your point, I can’t comment on SL blogs if I don’t read them.
Seriously, I really don’t understand all that is blogged and written about SL. It’s hard for me to imagine there is that much worth blogging. And Quaintly is right. Most seem to be fashion blogs. I’m utterly uninterested in those.
But that’s just me. *shrugs*
Hi there, I love reading SL blogs including fashion blogs. I am definitely not a blogger myself although I have considered it at different times. There are already so many SL blogs out there and I read many of them. I am also one of those people who does not comment often. I definitely attribute this to my laziness. I also tend to comment only when I am very passionate about a topic that someone has posted. I also always want to comment more often but I just do not, but I have been trying to do it more, as I am right now. Hope that gives you some information about your fellow blog reader.
@ Sarra; Maybe your right, maybe it’s that the SL blogosphere is lopsided towards fashion blogs.
@ Quaintly: I find this to be true as well. One of my blog posts had something like 100 comments in the plurk, a real discussion going. I loved it, but the people who find my blog elsewhere doesn’t have the benefit of seeing that always.
@ Stella: Cheeky little thing you are. *laughs*
@ Ashe: Ah yes, the “safe” way out. I know this about myself as well, I don’t want to rub anyone the wrong way, so sometimes I just shut my mouth instead. Sadly enough, that doesn’t really promote discussion. And I love discussions!
@ Grefan: MUHAHAH, you got tricked! Well, if you don’t read them, I guess it would be hard to comment, hehe. Let me ask you though, what would make you read? What topics are interesting to you?
@ Arianna: Thank you for your thoughts on this, I appreciate it. Let me ask you, what makes you passionate?
Now we know who the seibnsle one is here. Great post!