Provocations and Pantings: End of the Year Blog Reader Survey

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

End of the Year Blog Reader Survey

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I have put together an end-of-the-year blog survey for blog readers. I know you probably have a million more important things to do this week than answer these questions, but should you choose to fill out this survey, it would be a HUGE help. Here's how you can send in your survey: 1. The easiest way I can think to do this is to copy and paste the questions in a Word document, supply your answers to the questions, and email the document back to me whenever it is completed. If you cannot attach the survey in a Word document, simply include it in the body of your email. 2. If you have a Blogger account, you can answer the questions in the comments section of this blogpost (if you care to have your answers read by the public). Here's the questions. They are divided into two sections: General/Objective (basic info) and Specific/Subjective (your personal feedback).

General/Objective

Do you own a blog?
How long have you been reading blogs?
How many blogs do you read regularly?
How often do you read blogs?
Do you subscribe to blogs (either through RSS/ATOM/XML)?
What browser do you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.)?

Specific/Subjective

What are some things you are looking for in a blog? In a blogger?
What would you recommend for better blogging in the future?
Do you believe blogging has made any impact on culture, church, or Christianity?
What do you see are the greatest benefits of blogs?
What do you see are the greatest dangers regarding blogs?
What style of blogging do you prefer (e.g. personal/interactive/disclosure or impersonal/reporter-like/no disclosure)?
What form or genre of blogs do you enjoy the most (news/reporting, personal commentary, culture watchdogs, theological/doctrinal, photography, satire/parody, or content-specific)?
Do you believe blogging has a promising future? In other words, do you see blogging as a tool to be used or a trend that is useless? Please explain.
Finally, do you regret the time you have spent reading blogs, or do you feel that you have benefited from them?

Thank you very much for helping me better understand the phenomena of blogging and how it relates to me as a blogger, you as a reader, and all of us as we aim to glorify God. From the feedback I hope to receive from this survey, I believe that I will learn a great deal from you guys!

8 Comments:

pregador27 said...

General/Objective

1. Do you own a blog? YES.
2. How long have you been reading blogs? FOR ABOUT TWO AND A HALF YEARS.
3. How many blogs do you read regularly? ABOUT FIFTEEN.
4. How often do you read blogs? DAILY.
5. Do you subscribe to blogs (either through RSS/ATOM/XML)? YES, INCLUDING THIS ONE.
6. What browser do you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.)? FIREFOX/MAC VERSION.

Specific/Subjective

7. What are some things you are looking for in a blog? In a blogger?
THOUGHT. SOME SORT OF DEPTH AND BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN FAITH.
8. What would you recommend for better blogging in the future? YOU DO A GOOD JOB ALREADY. KEEP IT UP.
9. Do you believe blogging has made any impact on culture, church, or Christianity? YES. UNFORTUNATELY, A LOT OF DISINFORMATION IS ALSO SPREAD, SO WE MUST BE AWARE AND DO OUR HOMEWORK BEFORE ACCEPTING A BLOGGER'S INFORMATION.
10. What do you see are the greatest benefits of blogs? A WAY TO COMMUNICATE THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE AROUDN THE WORLD. ALSO ABILITY TO MEET PEOPLE AND MAKE FRIENDS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE IMPOSSIBLE (LIKE WHEN I MET RAND FROM AFORMOFSOUNDWORDS.BLOGSPOT.COM AND TWINKLEMOOSE, HIS WIFE, FROM TEACHMETOPRAY.BLOGSPOT.COM).
11. What do you see are the greatest dangers regarding blogs? ONCE AGAIN, DISINFORMATION AND LIES.
12. What style of blogging do you prefer (e.g. personal/interactive/disclosure or impersonal/reporter-like/no disclosure)? A MIX. DEPENDS ON THE BLOGGER'S STRENGTHS.
13. What form or genre of blogs do you enjoy the most (news/reporting, personal commentary, culture watchdogs, theological/doctrinal, photography, satire/parody, or content-specific)? CHRISTIAN.
14. Do you believe blogging has a promising future? In other words, do you see blogging as a tool to be used or a trend that is useless? Please explain. I FEEL BLOGGING IS VALUABLE FOR NETWORKING, BEING EXPOSED TO DIFFERING OPINIONS AND IDEAS. ALSO, GIVES OPPORTUNITY TO GET INFORMATION THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IGNORES.
15. Finally, do you regret the time you have spent reading blogs, or do you feel that you have benefited from them? NOT MOST OF THE TIME. I OFTEN LEARN THINGS FROM BLOGS LIKE THIS ONE, AND AM ENCOURAGED BY OTHERS.

12/26/2006 04:11:00 PM

Timmy Brister said...

Just wanted to take a moment to say "thanks" to all of you who have emailed me your survey.

If you haven't taken the survey and have about 10-15 minutes to spare, please consider taking the survey and emailing it to me at gospelcentral[at]yahoo[dot]com. Thanks and have a blessed week!

12/27/2006 10:43:00 AM

EJ said...

General/Objective

1. Do you own a blog? - YUP
2. How long have you been reading blogs? - 14 MONTHS OR SO
3. How many blogs do you read regularly? – 10 OR SO
4. How often do you read blogs? - DAILY
5. Do you subscribe to blogs (either through RSS/ATOM/XML)? NOPE
6. What browser do you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.)? IE (USUALLY)

Specific/Subjective

7. What are some things you are looking for in a blog? In a blogger? EDIFYING & CHRIST EXALTING POSTS THAT DEAL WITH CURRENT ISSUES AND BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES, BUT ALSO RANDOM ENCOURAGING ON VARIOUS PASSAGES (…IT’S KIND OF WHAT I DO, ACTUALLY)

8. What would you recommend for better blogging in the future? - PASSION. BLOGGERS FOR THE LORD NEED TO KEEP PASSION FOR CHRIST AS THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION.

9. Do you believe blogging has made any impact on culture, church, or Christianity? - YES. PERSONALLY, IT HAS BEEN AN OUTREACH FOR ME TO GIVE TO PEOPLE I MEET ONLINE OR WHEREVER FOR EXPOSURE TO THE GOSPEL.

10. What do you see are the greatest benefits of blogs? - AVAILABILITY.

11. What do you see are the greatest dangers regarding blogs? - NO CHECKS/BALANCES. THERE IS NOT A SBC OR GARBC (ME) GROUP THAT HELPS TO MONITOR THINGS SAID BY CHRISTIANS WHO ESPOUSE THE SAME ALLEGIANCES. LIKE THE REST OF THE NET, THERE’S A LOT OF GARBAGE OUT THERE.

12. What style of blogging do you prefer (e.g. personal/interactive/disclosure or impersonal/reporter-like/no disclosure)? BOTH. LIKE ANY PASTOR, TEACHER, OR STORYTELLER – ANY PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT OR OPENNESS MAKES THE MESSAGE EASIER TO LISTEN TO.

13. What form or genre of blogs do you enjoy the most (news/reporting, personal commentary, culture watchdogs, theological/doctrinal, photography, satire/parody, or content-specific)? THEOLOGICAL/DOCTRINAL

14. Do you believe blogging has a promising future? In other words, do you see blogging as a tool to be used or a trend that is useless? Please explain. – USEFUL. PERSONALLY HERE’S WHY IT’S USEFUL. MY BLOG IS NOT SUPER POPULAR (TONS OF READERS) AND SO THE COMMUNITY WIDE EFFECT IS PROBABLY NOT GOING TO COME FROM OTHERS READING THE STUFF THAT I WRITE. HOWEVER, THE BENEFIT OF IT (AT LEAST THE WAY THAT I DO IT) IS THAT I AM FORCED TO STATE WHAT I THINK IN SUCH A CLEAR WAY THAT I COME TO UNDERSTAND AND ARTICULATE THE IDEA BETTER IN OTHER VENUES. PLUS, I TRY TO DO A GOOD JOB OF RESEARCHING MY COMMENTS BECAUSE – ONCE IT’S IN PRINT, IT’S OUT THERE AND YOU’VE GOT TO EITHER DEFEND IT, EXPLAIN IT, OR RETRACT IT. BASICALLY, IT MAKES ME BE A BETTER STUDENT OF THE WORD, AND MY MINISTRY (SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER) AND MY WALK HAS BENEFITED FROM IT.

15. Finally, do you regret the time you have spent reading blogs, or do you feel that you have benefited from them? ONLY A FEW TIMES HAVE I REGRETTED IT. ONLY WHEN A DEBATE HAS GONE ON OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME WHEN IT BECOMES SO APPARENT THAT THE OTHER PARTY NEVER REALLY WANTED TO DISCUSS AND DEBATE FAIRLY, ONLY TO BASH & TRASH.

12/27/2006 12:09:00 PM

Danny Slavich said...

1. Yes
2. A year and a half +/-
3. 8 to 10
4. Daily
5. No
6. Firefox

7. Evangelical, pertinent and brief. To be honest, I rarely read posts longer than 2 paragraphs.
8. I don't know that I have a useful answer. Maybe my answers to the rest of the questions will somewhat answer this question.
9. Somewhat. I think a lot of it is ego-centric opining, but I would say that it is more helpful than not.
10. Anyone can express anything they want to.
11. See #10.
12. Personal. I think that too many blogs try to be theology text-books. And, honestly, most people writing them haven't earned a voice worth listenting to. For example, if I'm going to read something on, say, the Atonement, I'm probably going to spend my time reading John Murray, etc.
13. It really depends. I mostly read evangelical blogs, but not always the extended theological discussions (see #12).
14. I think it will last for awhile, but I also think a lot of blogs will be posted that nobody reads. It definitely gives more people a way of influencing others with their respective opinions. But only so many people can have a significant amount of influence.
15. Generally, I think it is useful.

12/28/2006 09:03:00 PM

Unknown said...