The thing I love the most about blogging is the conversation in the comments. The comments in a blog turn it from a broadcast medium to a community. I think community is where it’s at. Unfortunately, turning a blog into a community is the hardest part of blogging.
One of the best blogging communities on the web today is Fred Wilson’s AVC Blog. Fred gets 100′s of comments a day. They are killer comments from some cool folks. The comments are so good, it’s not uncommon for them to produce a secondary conversation. I’ve had some great conversations with folks in his comment stream. It is truly a community.
I want to build a community like that here. I love the conversation.
With this in mind, I was curious; how long does it take? Assuming the obvious, good content, consistency of posts, links from other blogs, etc, how long does it take to go from being a blog to being a community?
I looked at Fred’s posts starting from day. Like most new bloggers, he had few comments. He averaged less then 10 a day in his first year. In some respect you could say he was doing a little better than most new bloggers, as they avg less than 2 a day. But, after a year his blog was far from a community. He was posting some great stuff. His take on search during Google’s IPO is killer, considering it was over 5 years ago. I looked at year two, a modest increase in the comments and participation, but still no community. His third year, similar results. Then around March of 2008, something changes. AVC becomes a community. It wasn’t like a switch went on, but it was that month when comments on Fred’s blog started to act like a community. It was at that point his comment averaged 20 per post, with some posts having 100′s of comments.
I say Fred’s blog became a community in March of 2008. I don’t know the reason, if there were some event, like Twitter, or something else. What I do know is it took 4 1/2 years. That’s a long time, but worth it.
Fred has a destination blog. It’s a great community, with great readers, who are smart, engaging and not afraid to say what they think.
I want that here and if it takes 4 years so be it. At least now I know.
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1
You've got a great start…
Comment by aaronklein — December 14, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
2
Thanks Aaron, I met you on Freds blog! I love this shit!
//keenan
Comment by Keenan — December 14, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
3
Disqus does a great job of connecting different communities together. I have found 3 or 4 good ones to follow via Fred's and yours was definitely one of them!
Comment by aaronklein — December 14, 2009 @ 7:48 pm
4
Perhaps this is true. Your argument neglects evolution. When AVC started blogging almost 5 years ago, very few people were doing so. AVC was there to catch the wave, which took about four patient years to materialize.
In the past 12 months blogging has taken off (with other social media). This means there are a lot more new bloggers (like you and me) with an increased number of people who understand why comments are important. While the supply (of bloggers) has increased significantly, I don't believe the quantity of commentors has increased at the same rate. Therefore you are less likely to see the same wave in this media.
If that is the success you seek, you're going to have to be a leader not a follower
Tim
Comment by tim — December 16, 2009 @ 11:29 am
5
good point Tim,
Fred shared with me that in his opinion it was the addition of Disqus 4 years into AVC that turned his blog into a community.
Isn't it always about being a leader?
Comment by Keenan — December 16, 2009 @ 11:37 am
6
Perhaps this is true. Your argument neglects evolution. When AVC started blogging almost 5 years ago, very few people were doing so. AVC was there to catch the wave, which took about four patient years to materialize.
In the past 12 months blogging has taken off (with other social media). This means there are a lot more new bloggers (like you and me) with an increased number of people who understand why comments are important. While the supply (of bloggers) has increased significantly, I don't believe the quantity of commentors has increased at the same rate. Therefore you are less likely to see the same wave in this media.
If that is the success you seek, you're going to have to be a leader not a follower
Tim
Comment by tim — December 16, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
7
good point Tim,
Fred shared with me that in his opinion it was the addition of Disqus 4 years into AVC that turned his blog into a community.
Isn't it always about being a leader?
Comment by Keenan — December 16, 2009 @ 6:37 pm