My good Irish buddy and fellow conspirator, Tom Raftery, helped me realize that I should be writing my blog to, well, none other than the four people who actually read it.
Sounds simple and somewhat inane, but seeing as I’ve struggled with finding my “blogging voice” for some while, all of a sudden this problem dissipates when I know who I’m writing for!
So though I necessarily have no idea who you four metaphorical readers are, from here on out, I’ve decided to dedicate and direct what I say to exactly to the four a’ ya. Thanks for readerin’ and I’ll try to keep it lively. Ya wankahs (an inside joke the four of you will get).
technorati tags: four readers, blogging, lesblogs
Factory Joe 
I’ve actually done that, though with the number varying between nine and twenty, figuring that the people who comment and link are the only ones that matter. It’s a very fun and free and intimate way to post, right up until you forget that the odd whistling sound you keep hearing is the breathing of all the other people, the non-readers, waiting for something to pounce on. Then they pounce on you, and the fun goes whooshing out.
Mate, I’d love to have 4 readers – and I have a radio show to plug my blog on every week (granted it’s community radio in tiny town Canberra – which I’m hoping explains a thing or two 😉
(By the by, you have 100 people who subscribe to this through Bloglines, so can’t be faring so badly)
cheers
Col
Count me in as number 5! I appreciate the work you’re doing in Flock. That’s mainly why I read your blog.
can i get a number ??
Just heard your interview with Amber and Sir Leo. Nice work. I have some idea’s about tagging, which you mentioned in the interview.
Check out my blog entry here:
http://www.bradsorensen.com/brad/winter/ringtone/archives/2005/11/social_bookmark.cfm
Read my comments here:
http://www.unionsquareventures.com/2005/10/delicious.html#comments
And you should integrate alcohol consumption with the browser. That’s a flocker worth flocking.
That’s a horrible, filthy, rotten, lie Chris – I never said any such thing (did I?) – I couldn’t have – I only have two readers – hi mom!
I must be ‘1 of 4’ since I get the joke – it’s on me!
Be ‘7a of 4’ considering how drunk we all were when Tom came up with that ‘fantastic’ theory, I’d say you were doing quite well to even remember that.
Give me a break Chris. You should be writing for yourself about what moves your booty.
I have this with Flickr. I have no reason for putting up photos just like that, but if I know my audience or at least have an idea of who those interested persons are (and perhaps even know some of them), I like doing it a lot.
Wow, apparently my readership doubled for the day or something. Seriously though, it’s more about learning to be less intimated when I blog — so that I’m more colloquial and less official.
I’ve been reading the Cluetrain Manifesto lately (on a tip from Tara, of course) and I’ve realized that my blogging voice so far has been somewhat forced, a bit too apprehensive, much too self-conscious (this is an offline issue I’ve got as well) and I think that’s because I didn’t know who I was writing for. The idea of “conversations” from Cluetrain has liberated me to write more freely and openly, I think, since I now feel like I’m only talking to a small, close, tightly-knit community of readers.
And I imagine that this will become pretty obvious the more I blog. I’m sure I’ll get burned for this at some point, but that’s part of it. That happens offline too, as Ben pointed out. You just gotta roll with the punches and know that the more you make yourself vulnerable and on a level with everyone else out there doing the same thing, the more likely you’ll have friends to back you should the need arise.
You blog like you’ve blogged for years (admitidly I’ve been reading posts you’ve written since this one, and then gone back to comment here as it seems to make sense symantically).
Keep at it. And it make 5 readers now!