What Can I Do To Get More Discussion Going at KnowHR Blog?

Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 by Frank Roche

It’s funny, on my personal blog the ratio of comments to posts is 7:1. That’s over three years worth of data and something approaching 2,500 posts. Here, on KnowHR Blog, the ratio is more like 2:1. And that number is skewed a bit because a few posts got a lot of comments. Which has me scratching my head.

What do I need to do to get more discussion going at KnowHR Blog? Do I not ask enough questions? Do I not leave enough wiggle room (the Know-It-All Factor)? Is it a “who cares?” kind of a thing?

I think it’s because I don’t have my picture on the main part of the site.

I’m going to do a little experiment right in front of you. Yes, I might have to invoke Mere Observation Effect here, but I’m telling you all the same. KnowHR Blog has 600+ RSS readers, another 100 or so e-mail subscribers, an average of 1,600 daily uniques who visit, and in the range of 10,000 or so headline impressions through syndication. That seems like a lot of eyeballs. It seems like people who have something to say. I’m going to do a few experiments to see if we can get the conversation motor running.

User Comments

Steve

Sep 26th, 2007

OK, I’ll come out of lurker mode and comment….

I’m not in the HR biz but I enjoy reading your posts (I especially liked your 9/14 post on thinking errors – and by extension those very errors are leveraged in creating and propagating arguments based fallacious reasoning). Since this is your HR blog I refrain from posting comments since they would not be in or from the HR context. So I’ll continue to read your posts but rarely if ever comment here…BTW this is a great blog. (It’s all about affirmation baby, affirmation)

Returning to lurker mode….
Frank Roche

Sep 26th, 2007

Steve, you are a lovely, lovely man.
Carl Lingen

Sep 26th, 2007

Frank,

I nominated your blog for Outstanding Blog Award over at Orbit Now! (http://troyworman.com/wordpress/cool-friends/) Hopefully this will help awareness and comments on your site. Keep up the good work.

I know here we have the Central Iowa Bloggers, and a few of us carry out our conversations about business on each other’s post. Maybe it might be a good idea to set something up where every other week we have a moderator who takes on a case or question and tags 4 to 6 other HR professionals to respond and give their thoughts?
Charlie

Sep 27th, 2007

I’m waiting for openings to make you look silly, Frank.
Those are just too few and far between.
Scott McArthur

Sep 27th, 2007

I worry about this too Frank. I think some of it, at least here in the UK, may be down to anti blogging practices in the workplace. HR as the thought police!
Paul Hebert

Sep 28th, 2007

You ask a great question. My take is that on your personal blog the “commenters” are more connected and more invested in you personally and therefore have a greater desire to comment. On the professional blog, the readers are looking for information and ammunition to start other conversations with their colleagues within their organization. In other words – it’s about them not you on the business side.

I also believe as the medium has matured the quality of blogs postings has gone up and the need to comment has gone down (IMHO.) Many posts I read don’t require a comment because they do a great job of establishing their point of view backed up with good logic. I read it, file it and use it for future work and to expand my own thinking.

In addition, the number of blogs I read has gone up – leaving me less time to comment. I want my comments to be at least as good as the post so they take time. Sometimes they take as much time as it takes to put a post up on my own blog. I therefore am very selective about where I comment. I would submit that the number of comments you have posted has decreased as you spend more time reading other blogs and writing quality posts on your own. Just a guess.

I liken it to being at a cocktail party. When the number of people is small you have deeper more engaged conversations. As the number of attendees grows, there are fewer, deeper conversations. You bounce around listening in and looking for a specific conversation where you think you can add value and where you can have a more substantive dialogue.
Sometimes you find it – sometimes you don’t. But by spending time in that conversation you miss out on others. A choice is made… listen in on a lot of conversations but contribute less, or contribute more to one conversation and listen in on fewer.

It does make it harder from an author’s perspective.

I now wonder if conversation is the appropriate metric for judging the success of a blog. Kris Dunn at HRCapitalist uses a metric for his HR Power Blog List based on whether he forwards your blog info on to others.

I think that is a good way to judge the quality of a post versus comments.

Sorry for the ramble but I think you’ve hit on an important conversation.
Frank Roche

Sep 30th, 2007

Carl, that is so kind of you. Thanks, man! I like your idea about sharing ideas in that way, It’s a way to get the party started.

Charlie, you won’t have to wait long.

Scott, lol, HR are the thought police. We know what you’re thinking!

Paul, I’ve been talking to people for days about your comment here. It’s so right on the money. You’re right, with my personal blog it’s a way to talk to people who I know. With this one it’s more of a news item. I can read the newspaper, enjoy a story, and move on. Just like you pointed out…they don’t need commentary.

It’s funny, blogging a few years ago was about comments….but your post here has me really thinking. I do like Kris’s approach…write stories that are worthy of passing along…that’s a good standard. And I think your comment here should be front-and-center in the discussion of the maturing of blogs. Thanks much, Paul, for stimulating my thinking on this.
Paul Hebert

Oct 1st, 2007

Frank:

I too have been thinking about this a lot. Mostly because – even with increased subscriptions, increased mentions in the blogosphere and some nice affirmations from fellow bloggers – my technorati rating is taking a hit. I started asking myself if that number – the number of blogs that link to me – was all that important.

I’m sure you, like a lot of us, are spending time thinking about original content versus simply connecting to existing content. It’s not about links anymore. It’s about value. How do we measure the value of the post and the blog in general.

There is the value I place on my own blog – does it lead to new business – heck – that’s one of the main reasons I started it in the first place. Then there is the value I place on other blogs – does it enhance the way I do my job – am I learning, adapting, etc. Very difficult, and different, measurement tasks.

Subscriptions seem to be a good proxy – it does indicate the number of people who find the content valuable enough to click and connect. Whether feed reader or email. To me that is a good indicator that the effort is paying off.

I’m more convinced than ever that business blogs are less about conversation and more about connection. Are people connecting to the content – whether they comment or not. Comments are bonus points.