It’s OK not to be popular

July 26, 2006

I’ve been pondering this thought recently. In the world of blogging, most bloggers I come across are desperate to find the latest tips and tricks to attract new people to their blog and rapidly increase their traffic (and revenue) and that’s completely fine.

But the blogs (and sites) which get the most traffic aren’t necessarily the ones with the newest ideas or the most insight. There’s so many gems out there in largely undiscovered blogs which plod along with very little traffic.

So why don’t they give up? Their writers simply enjoy writing and sharing their thoughts with the world. Popularity isn’t vital to them - in fact, when they become popular overnight (thanks to Digg or delicious), they’re often not ready to handle everyone criticising their thoughts and opinions or aren’t sure how to manage the flood of emails and comments from people.

The blogosphere is a little like high school. A lot of people spend all their time wanting to be popular, trying to get into the “it” crowd, spending so much energy and heartache on the goal - even going to the extreme of changing themselves to be more like the popular crowd. Others are OK with a smaller group of close friends, where they can be themselves, have fun and enjoy life.

Someone I know writes a personal blog and once wrote us an email saying not to give out the address to just anyone - they wanted to keep it to close family and friends. I smiled to myself and wondered why they started a blog. But, a year later, it’s one of the blogs I wanted to most read when I got back from holiday.

Another I know was happy with a small, slowly growing close group of commenters who they had good relationships with and then found their blog was linked up by a major player somehow and bam! The dynamic was disturbed by party crashers and things were never quite the same again. The secret was out and the blog’s sudden popularity changed the author, changed the tone of the blog permanently.

I’ve had different blogs become popular for one reason or another overnight and because I’m not the biggest fan of crowds (I’m happy speaking to one but trying to mix and mingle in a crowd of strangers at a party isn’t something which energises me) I found the experiences to be rather exhausting (even if the feedback is positive). Dealing with the rush of emails and comments is usually something I hope will die down reasonably quickly. I’m happy not to be popular, to fly just below the radar.

I honestly think that it’s OK to fly just under the radar and not to be popular straight away when you start a blog. It rarely happens. But sometimes I see people working so hard on being popular or having popular people link up to you and sing your praises that I wonder if they’d still blog for the love of blogging and not just for the love of a (paying) audience.

(*Of course, blogging where income is the primary objective brings with it certain pressures but most small businesses take a long time and hard work to get up off the ground. Good things take time.)

I personally like the ebb and flow of visitors to this blog. I don’t feel pressured to keep it up - I’d rather write when I’m inspired to write than write to a schedule (or write to say sorry for why I haven’t been blogging). Lately, I’ve been thinking about secretly starting some blogs I’d love to write about and I’d be happy writing even if no-one came along except a few of my friends every so often. If you’re thinking about starting a blog and the thought of no-one visiting for quite some time doesn’t bother you either, go for it :)
Oh - and who knows how useful and popular your posts might be in the future? Your blog might be a treasure trove to someone one day.

See also
Comments

  1. when they become popular overnight (thanks to Digg or delicious)

    I don’t think it’s appropriate to even use the word “popular” with sites that are hit by digg. From past experience, digg does more damage than good. The swarm of traffic that comes in after a story has hit the front page does not necessarily mean positive traffic. From past experience, that euphoric feeling after being dugg to the front soon subsides as you realize that the out of the ordinary stats that you experienced will soon subside to what they were prior. The digg crowd carries an almost mob-like mentality. Everyone else is digg’ing that, I better do so and check out the site.

    Del.icio.us on the other hand, now that’s something to mate with the word “popular”. When readers are bookmarking your site, that means that they find your content intriguing, your writing meaningful, or your overall persona worth returning to.

    — Derek Punsalan, July 26, 2006

  2. Good points Derek - by popular I was just meaning lots of traffic. Lots of traffic surges aren’t positive experiences because of what you call “mob-like” mentality.

    — Rachel, July 26, 2006

  3. You’ve always got such great insights and thoughts. It’s fun and refreshing to read what you’ve got on your mind.

    I’ve noticed that, at least with my blog, entries with very specific information generally get hit much more than general informational entries. Take the example of the overheating issues of the HP Pavilion DV1000 series laptop. I’ve had my laptop for not all that long and had issues with it. So naturally I commented on my experience along the way and HP’s varying list of suggestions

    It’s remarkable how much traffic I get just for that single topic. Apparently I’m not the only one having problems with that laptop. (’Course, given that it’s an HP and not a MAC also explains a lot).

    At any rate, thank you for your great insights. It’s been fun lurking, but a good time as any to join into your community.

    Thank you cre8d.

    — Michael Tangen, July 27, 2006

  4. Rachel

    I think readers should come back because they think you cover interesting topics.
    On my Blog ‘Serge the Concierge’, I try to stick to topics I care about.
    Sometimes they are popular, sometimes not.
    Some posts get readers over time.

    Thanks for your thoughts

    Have a good day

    Serge
    Biz:
    http://www.njconcierges.com
    Blog:
    http://www.sergetheconcierge.com

    — Serge Lescouarnec, July 27, 2006

  5. I agree, I think it would make for some better blogs if everyone read this too! Do it because you enjoy it, not like its a contest, or because you think its cool.

    Having had both, I sometimes miss the feel of my blog when I first started it and only knew two or three people who I checked with everyday.

    — Pete, July 27, 2006

  6. This post is one of the reasons I enjoy reading your blog…

    attitude is everything :)
    I think the whole web rock-star mentality is so funny… The authors that I enjoy reading the most are the ones that write simply because they enjoy what they do, and they want to share that with the world.

    — Ryan, July 27, 2006

  7. Well said, Ryan.

    A friend of mind expressed it this way, that for him, a blog is simply what it was intended to be at its core: a web log. He logs the events in his life and occassionally will have something on his mind on a given topic and will blog about it. No fancy-schmancy rock star thing going on there.

    Like the web, a blog is what you want to make out of it and can function in many ways…whether for business, perpetuating the self-conceptualization that you’re a blogstar, or just like to brew beer!

    — Michael Tangen, July 28, 2006

  8. I agree wholeheartedly with your ‘it’s ok not to be popular’ thinking. As long as you write from your heart and not be a sell-out to get the traffic, your core group of readers will be coming back to your site.

    There are people who blog for the sole purpose of getting the traffic instantaneously. It doesn’t work that way. You have to build up your rep and your image in the blogosphere and a 1-hit-wonder post will do more harm than good.

    Keep on writing and educating us Rachel.

    — AJ, July 28, 2006

  9. Rachel,
    I am new to your site and new to the blogging world (although I have easily become addicted to it! just one more blog…) I began a blog because I have to write. I don’t have a choice. There’s something inside of me that demands “the need to express” (I admit, I’m a Renthead). But I also had to come to terms, almost immediately, with the fact that I may never be read. My blog may never rise to the top of the “must reads.” My stories may never be published. Still, I write.

    — Heather Goodman, July 29, 2006

  10. Personally, I only blog for money and power. ;)

    — Richard Hall, July 30, 2006

  11. You’ve made such a good point, Rachel! It highlights some of the things that have bothered me about the blogosphere generally.

    I wonder also whether it needs to be said that Christians who blog must always be mindful of the tendency towards sinfulness (and therefore self-promotion, self-aggrandisement, fame, etc.) and the imperative of service (i.e. blogging for the sake of others).

    — /Karen/, July 31, 2006

  12. Personally, I only blog for money and power. ;)

    Which is precisely why everybody loves you, Richard!

    AC

    — Andrew, August 1, 2006

  13. Nice post, I’ve become a bit too focused on traffic as of late, I’ve really forgotten what it’s like to just blog for fun =)

    I love your site too, very useful articles!

    — Yvonne, August 3, 2006

  14. I have been thinking this issue over and over again and try to figure out why am I continuing blogging. But his post clarify a lot questions I was asking meself.

    Well written! Just write whatever I want to share, that’s the way it should be.

    — Richard Hong, August 4, 2006

  15. I’ve been blogging on and off since about 2001 with only nominal effort to get anyone but friends and family to notice. I’ve watched friends and acquaintances amass popularity and readership, and often wonder if I should be aspiring to reach or exceed the same level. This post makes me feel a lot better about my lack of ambition to be an “A List” or otherwise notable blogger. Thanks!

    — Nyomi, August 8, 2006

  16. Wowh! Rachel, that’s a great post. I’m just a new one also but I was pondering about this very thought. Is traffic the only thing to bloggers. I was really trying to know how to value blogging?

    I think really blogging should be a community stuff. Grouping some friends, some visitors you keep in touch with and build around to have fun. Really build something and give a unique identity to your blog.

    Otherwise with the whole lots of popularity one is trying to get, the blogging just becomes like some another past-time job. Blogging is that working? Replying to thousand of comments, mails etc

    I think I’m still the kind of blogger who is trying to understand what he finds cool and fun into that new activity.

    — Hans, September 23, 2006

  17. [...] Relationship is far greater than popularity It’s a bit like in college what Cre8d blogger Rachel details in her post, It’s OK not to be popular contrasting Relationship against popularity. We do something and want everyone to know about it, to see how cunning, how “fashion”, how intelligent, how cool we are. We try to become popular : who might not be knowing about the greatz “…….” [...]

    — BlogoSquare | Crispy bits : the sequel 1, September 28, 2006