Foodback at cha!
After a week, I suppose it’s time to summarize the results of the Orny’s blog reader survey. I found the results kinda interesting, generally not as grim as I’d expected.
I got 15 responses, which is a pretty decent response rate. Looking at the list of people who have friended me, I think at best I could expect around 20 responses, so 15 is a 75% response rate.
I had 2 responses within 2 hours, 10 after 24 hours, and 15 after 48 hours. No one has answered after 48 hours (as of this writing at 160 hours). That means people read my posts soon after they come out, which would be expected if my posts appear on their Friends Page.
To that point, 85% of people said they read my blog via their friends page.
65% of respondents said they read my journal daily, which again would make sense if I’m on people’s Friends Page. No one said they read it less than weekly, although a week into the survey, that’s a bit of a self-selecting set.
Not one person thought that I posted too often. I don’t think so, either. I generally don’t post unless there’s something worth saying. At least IMNSHO.
Of the 15 respondents, 60% said that I did not post often enough. Again, that’s a pleasant surprise.
78% of respondents said they read 75-100% of my posts. This is a surprisingly high number. I was expecting a lot more people to skim my posts, since they’re often lengthy, and sometimes repetitive.
No one said they read less than 50% of my posts, and no one checked the “I really don’t read very much of it” item. Again, I’m flattered that people think my stuff worth taking the time to read.
77% of people said my journal makes them laugh, and 70% said it made them nostalgic. Only a couple people said it made them angry or bored, so I think those are pretty good stats. The only head-scratcher for me is that five people said it made them sad, which I’m a bit curious about. And I’m kinda annoyed that no one said it made them want to give me money!
I got very few responses to the question of what there’s too much of in my blog. The answer I most expected was that there was too much heavy, thoughtful stuff. Although that was indeed the most popular response, only two people felt that way, and that’s a much lower number than I feared.
61% of people want more photos and more sex. Well, photos I can do, and I’d also point people at my Flickr account. Sex… Well, I can share, if you really want, but I’m not sure you’ll get what you’re thinking of. I found it kinda odd that the people who want to see more sex aren’t the ones I would have expected, and 70% of them are women. People also want to see more short posts and relationship stuff, and I’ll see what I can do there. Brevity is challenging.
The most openly controversial topic in the whole survey was Carmen Miranda. Four people said they wanted less, one explicitly wrote “Carmen Miranda” in the open text box asking what they didn’t want to read about, and another posted a comment to the same effect. On the other hand, seven people said they wanted more Carmen Miranda. That means very few people are neutral on the topic.
By the way, Wikipedia states that in 1945 Carmen Miranda was the highest paid woman in the entire United States, bar none.
Finally, 74% of responses said that they liked my blog just the way it is. I’m glad to know that I’m doing something right, and hopefully my stuff will continue to be of interest to people.
The full result set can, of course, be found here.
Thanks for reading!