Comments on: How to Write to Blog Lurkers

By: Linda Sherman

Linda Sherman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:24:43 +0000

Forrester did an interesting study last year (http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2007/04/forresters_new_.html) that divided participators on the internet into different demographic categories that they created. “Lurkers” would be called “Spectators” and account for 33% of users. Among other things I do, I am acting Community Manager for http://SingularCity.com and my members are upscale, median 40 years old (unmarried, living in Los Angeles) which means they are primarily “spectators”. I find the best stimulus to lure them to comment is photo sharing.

As a matter of fact, if you are on Twitter, have you ever noticed how quickly your followers will jump to a TwitPic you post?

Note on the Forrester study that “critics” (actually comment on blogs) are a relatively small percentage of readers.

Linda Sherman´s last blog post..Does Your View At Work Enhance Your Life?

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:35:34 +0000

@Christine
Well, you definitely added something here – I love that you got ideas from the comments as well as from the post. Keep up the great commenting!

@Tracy
Forums are even harder to maintain. Unless the topic self-generates many people (myself included) have discovered that it’s super-difficult to keep the conversation going.

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Are You Working Yourself Too Hard?

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:26:27 +0000

Oh, I forgot to say, thanks for the great reminder that our blog audience isn't just the regulars in the comments section. It's easy to forget! Tracy´s last blog post..People who need pupa are the pluckiest people

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:24:53 +0000

As a forum owner and blogger, I used to drive myself batty trying to figure out a way to coax out lurkers. While I still do all that I can to make sure that it's clear that comments are welcomed and encouraged, I've come to the point where I no longer feel like something must be wrong if every person doesn't leave a comment. It's funny, there were many people I assumed never read my blog and it turns out they all do they just never thought to comment! And as others said, what percentage of people write letters to the editor? If you go by raw numbers, less than 1% of the visitors to my blog comment. Of course, that includes a couple of viral posts, so the numbers are skewed. I'd guess for an average post 5-10% would be a good page view to comment ratio for me. What I love is getting trackbacks and finding out some of those lurkers have gone on to share my post on facebook, twitter, their forums, etc. Heh, it's funny, I've often felt a little sheepish sharing my fellow bloggers work on the forums because I know nearly all of my posters will comment about it on our forum and not on the blog post because I know how much most bloggers appreciate comments. Tracy´s last blog post..People who need pupa are the pluckiest people

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:06:06 +0000

Very good points. Thank you. I also have to say that I read almost all the comments and got some great ideas from them too. My blog has mostly lurkers and while trying to entice them to comment, at the same time, I understand their hesitance. I am trying to leave more comments in my travels, but like so many people who commented here, I'm just not sure that I'm adding anything to the conversation. It's an interesting predicament. Christine´s last blog post..Some of My (Current) Favorite PlugIns