Hi everyone,
A quick weekend question: A while back, in fact soon after this blog got going in April, we changed the settings so that you can read the posts without ever coming to the blog website. This was based upon requests from the readers, one of whom said (I am paraphrasing): "You're not selling anything on your website, so why are you forcing me to your site to read the posts?" It was argued that when you have many tabs open, the marginal cost of opening another one is high, so you'd rather read the posts in your Reader. We were more than happy to oblige and today we have more than 900 subscribers on Google Reader (and another 500+ email subscribers).
However, reading some of the posts I missed while I was on vacation today on Google Reader, I realized that I don't see the comments on the post in the reader, only the post itself. This is likely not an issue if you're one of those people who read the posts as soon as they're out (there will likely be no comments), but if you accumulate posts there and visit regularly but somewhat infrequently, you may miss some comments, some of which might be even more interesting than the post itself. Am I right on this?
So, while it is true that we're not selling anything, we ARE trying to generate discussion of topics of interest to the readers. And whether you comment or not must, at least partially, depend on whether there were other comments that peaked your interest or prompted you to reply, etc. While the average post gets 3 comments, the variation is sizeable.
So, readers who read exclusively on Google Reader: how do you see this? This is definitely not cause for us trying to force you back onto the site (rest assured), but perhaps there is a technological solution? Please let us know what you think, which, I believe, requires you to come to the site...
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