As the title states, this is Broomhead's blogging survey.
Goals:
- Why do you blog?
- I get a great deal of enjoyment from seeing others' opinions of my writing, and blogging allows that to easily happen (especially with Intl Wota's help). I also have no 'real-world' friends that are into H!P, and creating this blog was a good way to get involved in a community of similar-minded folks without having to get mixed up in the mess that is forums (more on that here).
- What long-term goals do you hope to accomplish, if any at all?
- For the moment, I don't have any. I tend to play it by ear.
- Where does your blog fail to meet your goals?
- One of the original goals of this blog was to post conversations about H!P between myself and my non-wota friends, and that's not happening nearly as much as I'd like. I also feel as though I don't update enough.
- If you do have goals, what will accomplishing them do for yourself?
- I suppose you could say that one of my immediate goals is to use this as an outlet to improve myself as a writer. The benefits of that should be obvious.
- What do you want to gain out of blogging? A creative outlet? Praise from others? Personal satisfaction? Money?
- This blog provides an outlet for my fanboy babblings (and some semi-analytical writing, since I really enjoy that kind of thing), and - as stated in my answer to the first question - it gives me a bit of an ego boost, to be blunt. I get an immense amount of satisfaction from having my blog linked to on International Wota.
- Do you feel that your blog should meet a requirement for amount of entries? Do you feel any particular entry should be a certain length?
- I think that, for the amount of entries, it relates to time. I start to feel a little guilty when I haven't posted anything for a week or two. As for post length, it depends on the subject matter.
- For any particular entry, what motivates you to start and finish blog posts?
- There are days when I decide, "I'm going to write a blog today", and I'll set aside a couple hours and do just that. Other days, an idea will pop into my head and I'll feel compelled to write about it. I rarely start a blog post without the intent to finish it in one sitting. My writing style tends to vary from day to day, and posts written in bits and pieces, over different days, end up feeling disjointed to me.
- Do you actively consider long term goals for each individual post?
- Can't say I do. I'm not goal-oriented in the least. XD
Subject Material:
- What do you blog about?
- Well, considering this a Hello!Project blog, it should be obvious what I blog about. Getting specific, the posts I enjoy most (and therefore put the most effort into) are those where I discuss things like the relationship between wota and idol or the group dynamics of H!P.
- Would you be keep a blog even if it wasn’t about the subjects you tend to cover?
- I don't think I would have made a blog at all if I hadn't found International Wota...so no, it's extremely doubtful that I would be keeping this if I lost interest in H!P.
- Do you write about the material to promote it to others?
- I don't personally think so. I guess you could say I'm promoting my ideas, but that's not how I approach it when I put together a post.
Readership:
- How much do you care about readership?
- I think that, without readership, there is no reason to blog. There's no way I would have ever started this blog if I wasn't sure there would be people reading it.
- Does it satisfy you to know people are reading, even if they don’t comment?
- I think so, yes. It doesn't satisfy me nearly as much as when they actually do comment, but knowing that I have a readership is what keeps me going.
- What effect does receiving a comment have on you?
- Aside from being linked to on Intl Wota, comments are the thing I look forward to most in blogging.
- Do you write with a particular audience in mind or an unspecified general audience? Why?
- I tend to have tunnel-vision in life, so it would make sense that whatever I choose to write about on my blog be intended for a specific audience.
- If you write for a particular audience, is it International Wota? If yes, why?
- Yes, I write with the intent to have my material read by visitors of International Wota. As for why...the things I write about here are intended for an audience of H!P fans, and Intl Wota is the best blogging community I know of that focuses on that. Plain and simple.
Community: (The International Wota section)
- If International Wota didn’t exist, would you blog?
- Definitely not. I had never considered making a blog until I found Intl Wota.
- When IW covers an entry of yours, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
- More. As I've said, being linked to on Intl Wota is the thing I look forward to most in blogging.
- When IW does not cover an entry, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
- I wouldn't say it makes me want to blog less...but if I write an entry thinking "I want this to be covered on IW", and it doesn't get covered, it makes me consider why that may have happened and what I should change in my approach to writing to better ensure that the entries I want covered, get covered.
- How often do you read other blogs?
- Every day. I have a Google Reader account with about 50 H!P blogs that I keep track of. I originally did this because Intl Wota was blocked on my school's internet connection and I wanted a way to read blogs at school, and now I pretty much use it exclusively.
- How often do you comment on other blogs?
- Probably only once a week or so.
- If another blog covers a topic that you wanted or wished to cover, do you still blog about that specific topic? Why or why not?
- Honestly, this doesn't happen to me all that often. If it does, it depends on how their entry differs from what I intended my entry to be. If they have a different viewpoint from my own, I'll write the entry as I originally intended and that's that. If they have the same opinion as me (and especially if they cover that topic in a more concise or eloquent way than I would have), I may not write the post at all. It just depends on how I feel.
Commitment:
- How serious is your attitude towards blogging? Do you consider it just as something to do for fun?
- I take the relationship between my blog and my standing in the community very seriously. As for blogging in its own right, I do it because I enjoy it. My world wouldn't end if I were suddenly unable to blog.
- How often do you blog? How often would you like to blog?
- I already said this, but I feel like I don't update this blog nearly enough. Part of it is because I'm lazy, and another part is because I'm really busy right now. If I had my way, I would probably be writing one entry a week or so.
- What priorities do you or have you put aside in order to blog? Why?
- The biggest sacrifice I've made in order to write an entry was probably giving up my dinner between classes at school, and that was because I really got on a roll with a particular post. It's not that blogging isn't a high priority for me...I'm just the kind of person to make things up as I go, and if I don't specifically set time aside to do something, it probably won't happen. In all honesty, I'm a very irresponsible blogger.
- Do you see yourself blogging in 6 months? Why or why not?
- As I said in the last question, I tend to make things up as I go. I have no idea what's going to happen in the next 6 months, so maybe I'll still have this and maybe I won't. I would hope I'm still blogging, or at least still involved in the Intl Wota community, even if it's just through wotachat or comments or whatever.
Personal:
- Would you say you blog for yourself?
- My reasons for blogging are definitely self-centric, but I wouldn't be able to do it without the prospect of feedback from my readers and/or other bloggers.
- What is your feeling after posting an entry? Is it relative to the time and effort you put in an entry?
- If it's a longer entry, I'm usually just about shot from writing and editing the entry when I'm done, although I definitely feel relieved that I've finished. I don't feel quite as good about shorter entries, mainly because I know they're likely to not be on Intl Wota.
- What needs does blogging fulfill?
- I can't think of anything specific. As I've said in previous questions, I could live without my blog...but it's a nice outlet for my fanboy ramblings.
- Do you consider yourself a writer?
- Not really. I don't take my writing seriously enough for that.
- Do you consider yourself good at writing? Good at blogging?
- I think I'm capable of writing well if the material and mood are right. I'm definitely more fit for blogging than journalism or writing novels or any of the 'normal' styles of writing most people think of.
- How much of your personal life do you share on your blog? If none, why do you leave this out?
- The setup of my blog (conversations and such) generally ends up revealing more about my life than I would reveal if I were writing each entry directly.
