Good article, Brad.

I have fallen into that trap a few times myself; it's an easy trap to get into. In all honesty, the majority of my articles sink with no comments, a few get one comment and I try to keep them afloat, and a few take on a life of their own.

There sometimes is no rhyme or reason as to why a particular article will succeed. I've had articles that I was proud of that disappeared into the abyss, and tripe articles that really took little effort on my part generate a lot of buzz. I have noticed, though, that, exactly as you say, the general readership of my articles has greatly increased over time, even if the responses haven't. The trick is to stay with it and blog for yourself, not other people.

A side note: if you don't think you're generating enough readers from WITHIN joeuser, maybe you could try recruiting readers from outside, by linking your blogsite on message boards, user groups, etc. I am sure the admin here would appreciate the increased traffic.

Just my two cents.

Tracy Given's pieces actually made the "daily top articles", not the "featured articles". The Daily top articles are, if I am not much mistaken, those that have received the most readership, as his paranoid delusions often do, sadly.

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, Brad.

Im just curious as to how the "featured articles" are selected, whether automated or hand picked.

They are hand picked.

BAM!!!

little_whip, you're mistaken.  They weren't featured.  They may have made the top articles of some day but since I choose what articles are featured and I've never even heard of the articles you mentioned, I can assure you that they weren't featured.

The home page articles are ones I decide. The criteria I use to feature them are my own.  I don't have any pretense of fairness.  If I had a cat, my cat pictures might make the home page. It has little to do with how worthy they are.  Eventually, there will be a more automated system for that.

But as you point out, even if that wasn't your intent, you don't need to be featured to make top articles.  And top articles IS automated.

As long as a couple dozen people select the article or read it from the home page of my blog, I'm happy. The biggest thing for me is that people see it and read it. Having comments on an article is merely icing on the cake.

I had noticed a few blogs stating folks were leaving because they didn't have sufficient readership. I can understand their frustration. When you put a lot of thought or effort into writing a solid, decent blog it can be disheartening to not get a single response. I know!

But you really have to examine not only your motivations for blogging but your amount of input into the community as a whole. I know that is where I haven't been as active. The more you contribute to other people's well written blogs the more you will get in return. You can't expect folks to just flock to you without going out, reading blogs, and commenting on the good ones.

All in all, I have found it can just be fun to have someplace to put down some of my thoughts, even if no one reads them.

All in all, I have found it can just be fun to have someplace to put down some of my thoughts, even if no one reads them.

I agree - I struggled with a decision last week to pack and up and go home so to speak - not for lack of readership but because anonymous users and one of them was actually a "friend" had read and commented on my blog and it wasn't positive - they basically slammed my want to vent personal thoughts -- based on the fact the "what if the person you're writing about read this etc"

So I hid the articles.

I think the thing I find most amusing is the articles I write for myself to vent and not be read are the ones that get lots of comments but the articles I will write specifically to get comments -- like questions or topical discussions - sink like stones without skimming the surface and barely get 2 comments (and from people who know me in real life)

I blog to watch people get incensed at Sir Peters comments

It's funny, because people always start a blog for their own purposes, but when they get into it, and realise that the interaction is such a bonus, when they don't get that, they cry foul and quit.

I must admit, I have been borderline quiting a few times, I have used my own resolve to reaffirm why i am here though, but the reassurance and the pleas from my readers to remain certainly is/was gratifying.

BAM!!!

Blogging is an exchange if ideas, discussions, rants, arguements, and everything else that makes it fun, informative and downright addictive. If you don't have the audience that you would like...Figure out creative ways to get people to notice your stuff. Or how about posting on other peoples blogs?, become part of the community. If you just sit around and wait for a following to develop...Good luck!

Great article...my sentiments eaxctly.

I really don't care about the points either although they are hard to ignore, I write here because I need the practice and to test out different ways of writing for my future career so well aimed and thought comments, not trite and thoughtless ones are what really get me excited. I don't even understand the points system...too complicated for this simple mind

I've probably been featured more than my share of times, and there have been several articles I really wished had made it and didn't. I think a lot of people don't realize that I was doing this on various messageboards for years before there was a JU. It may seem like I haven't "done my time", but Brad has been suffering through my crap for ages. If he is comfortable with it, it isn't because of the short time I have been here.

To be honest, the quality of comments I get on articles that aren't featured tend to be much, much higher. Sure, there aren't as many, but most of the time you can really tell the people read them and want to talk about them. Too many people just slide down the title page, leave turds or cheers on the featured ones and wander off.

Brad really seems to try and put a balanced plate of articles on the main page. I don't think any automated system could make sure than Liberal AND Conservative AND Tech, etc., gets there. As for quitting, I think that is just the opposite of what people should do. If you stay and show consistant, well thought-out articles you have a good chance of being featured I think. If you try for a couple of weeks and leave who is going to know much about you?

The whole points thing takes way too much dedication, imho. I get in a fizz and write a few articles and get in the top 20 or so in the sites, and then slide back. I was something like 14 a couple of weeks ago and now I have slid back to 40 or so. The time it would take to keep that much attention every 30 days is more than I have, lol.

Some tips to succeed: Spread as much gossip as you can, the dirtier the better.
Make no effort to be coherent, cutting and pasting different help pages to make pretty pictures.
Sharing as much aches, pains, hygeine, chores, and trials and tribulations.
Try using Blogger.com to help with Joe User to help with another web site project.

Ignoring the comments which are JoeUser specific: Liking to write regardless of promotion of what I've written and the number of comments I get is why I journal rather than Blog. The things I write are often very personal, but at other times very public, and journalling just feels better for that type of writing. If I were writing "articles" more specifically, then perhaps I'd Blog instead (and JoeUser would be the place of choice for me). For now, I'm staying with my journalling site

I agree that writing for the sake of expression is really what it's all about, at least for myself. It IS nice when others read your articles and post comments. It let's you know that you are getting it "out there", but really isn't the point.

Most of my own stuff get's few comments, but I enjoy writing it anyway, and the comments they do get are all that much more enjoyable for it. To date, I think I've only had one featured article and even that surprised me. Sure, it was nice to know that something I wrote was featured here but I would have felt just the same about that article if it hadn't been featured at all.

Joeuser is unique in that there is a real sense of community here and perhaps that can cause some to feel thar they aren't being accepted in the community? I don't know, just a thought. A desire to "belong" perhaps?

I had noticed a few blogs stating folks were leaving because they didn't have sufficient readership. I can understand their frustration. When you put a lot of thought or effort into writing a solid, decent blog it can be disheartening to not get a single response. I know!

This is one reason I've tried to promote newer bloggers on my site. I know all too well how frustrating it can be to write a good article and have it sink.

But it really is a matter of sticking with it. I've noticed that, over time, the number of my articles that sink has begun to decrease...and that even when they sink, they still have a good number of points from high readership.