Do you judge a blog by the comments and number of conversations happening there?

I was having a corridor conversation with a colleague and the discussion centered around blogging. During the conversation he made a comment that struck a sensitive chord in me. He said “Nowadays everyone thinks or pretends to be a good blogger but if you go to their blogs, you will see zero comments on most of their posts”. Well that’s exactly the way my blog is, I thought to myself. Does that make my blog lousy? Well apparently by his standard it does. But I feel that it’s the wrong way to judge someone’s blog. I monitor my blog visitor statistics very regularly. I have a loyal group of subscribers and a decent amount of unique visitors monthly. Also the average time spent and average pages visited on my blog are favorably high numbers as well. Above all this I do get a lot of emails from friends and strangers after reading my post. Once I had a Japanese man who wrote to me, how reading one of my posts made him believe in love again. But then why is it that my visitors don’t like to comment on my blog? I tried to come up with my own set of assumptions and answers
- My blog posts are usually feel good, motivational, inspirational or just my rants. I don’t write anything controversial that elicits anger or strong opinions. So maybe there isn’t much room for commenting?
- Many of my friends and other visitors prefer sending me comments offline on email or on messenger. Quite a few go on to discuss their private lives and how they related with my posts. Could they be shy giving these details on the blog?
- Maybe I haven’t marketed or connected myself well enough on the whole web 2.0 thingy?
- Maybe I haven’t established my self professionally or personally for people to pay attention to what I have to say?
- Or maybe there are few readers for the kind of content I generate.

But despite of this I am going to continue blogging as it makes me happy. Maybe I will get better with time and maybe peoples taste in content shall change. Hopeful

Comments anyone? (Nice try right :) )

What's the world thinking about?

I was having a conversation with a friend over dinner this evening and he told me about websites that track people’s feelings through blog tags, twit’s, facebook status etc and that a common theme could emerge out of them. So I went ahead to ask him, do you really need a software to tell you what is going on in peoples minds? Its quiet easy to predict the common ones.

- Life is : unfair, unpredictable, too short, too long, is a bitch, beautiful, endless, continuous change, my family, my girlfriend, my wife, my husband.
- I feel : lonely, left out, isolated, alone, miserable, sad, depressed, not loved, angry, happy, loveless, elated.
- I hate or love : my boss, my family, my pet, my school, my company, my job, my friends, my situation, my finances, my addiction, my life.
- The world is afflicted with – evil, global warming, hunger, disease, inhumanity, terrorism.
- I need : money, a life, a partner, sex, happy marriage, religion, happiness, children, emotional support, a meal, a roof above my head.

To my cool dad 'Happy Father's Day'

On this father's day I wanted to repost something I had written about my dad a few years ago. I would like to wish all the fathers out there a 'Happy Fathers Day' and may you all enjoy everlasting love and happiness with your children. And to my dad I would like to say I love you and that you have been a great dad. As grandpa died when you were very young, you have always known the importance of having a father in a childs life and you have played that role to your very best. I hope whatever i achieve in life serves as a great reflection of how you brought me up.

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I was at my at my sister's place today for tea this afternoon and we were generally chatting and remembering our school & college days. During our conversation I recalled an incident where i thought my dad behaved super cool. This was during my last year of engineering away from home in a city called Pune. In my last couple of months of engineering I was kind of depressed and low and my parents knew it, so they decided to come by to Pune to stay with me for a couple of weeks. About the same time Bon Jovi was visiting India and doing a concert in Mumbai and I so wanted to go but for the fact that it conflicted with one of my viva's (exams) in Pune. My dad knew that I loved music and knew how much it meant to me, especially when I was not feeling too good about my self at that point in time. So my dad few days before my exams on his very own went over to my college and spoke to the professor who was the head of my engineering department. My dad requested him if my exam could be accommodated on an earlier date as my mom was not well and that he needed me back home. So the Head of the department relented and I made it to the concert. My dad has always been the ‘studies come first’ kind of a person but this time round he really surprised me with his gesture. It’s the fact that he had to lie about something to get me back to Mumbai. For person who has been simple and honest all his life I know this must have been tough for him. Thanks dad, you are super cool.

Should technology companies proactively warn their consumers of the ill effects of excessive use of technology?

We are all quite familiar with the advantages that computers and the internet bring in our lives. Its effect on our productivity, connectivity with our friends and family, improving our knowledge base and the quality of entertainment etc, are well documented and well articulated by technology marketers. A PC for every family and child is a reality that should be worked at and its importance is not questionable or debatable. If any kid wants a serious shot at success in the new millennium then being out of the technology revolution is not an option. But like my mother always said and I am sure yours did as well “Too much of anything is not good”. As technology marketers, are we doing enough to educate the consumers about the ill effects of its excessive use and over dependence on it? I know some technology companies have already started their campaigns around the environment and strong family values but I feel we are just beginning to scratch the surface. If I were to think through the top of my head a list of possible problems that excessive use of technology brings it would be as follows
- Social Isolation of children and adults who spend way too much time on their computers.
- Preliminary research supports that people who spend excessive time on computers show signs of loss of social etiquette and develop an inability to deal with real life situations.
- Illusion of a false personality that they may adopt in their virtual worlds. It’s amazing how strong this influence can be on young impressionable minds that they may actually believe it to be the real thing.
- High stress levels in the body at the joints and even emotional fatigue can set in.
- Deterioration of language skills as people get used to internet lingo.
- Last but not the least the proliferation of existing social problems like pornography, prostitution, white collar thefts, identity thefts etc.
Though the above points are based on my judgment and assumptions, I am quite sure that there is research out there that can back up these assumptions.
So then who should take the lead in educating and preempting the consumers of these issues? Does the responsibility lie only with the user and parents? Many may argue that people are mature enough to make the right choices. But are they really and should it be left at that? I think these problems bring up an excellent opportunity for technology companies to take leadership in. All technology companies can play a role in researching these potential social problems and then educating and spreading awareness about it. I am quite positive that consumers will appreciate, trust and look upon such companies that are willing to shoulder more social responsibility. What do you think?

Hold your tears my beloved

Hold your tears my beloved
As your tears make up an ocean
An ocean that will drown me with sorrow
Neither will you forget, neither will I forget
That we belong together

Hold your tears my beloved
Your tears sadden my heart, they sadden my soul
If our hearts meet, then our destinies will meet also
Neither will you forget, neither will I forget
That we belong together

Hold your tears my beloved
As all the distance and constraints will disappear
As I walk towards you and you walk towards me
Neither will you forget, neither will I forget
That we belong together