
It is now time for a shameless self-promotion and an attempt to purchase you as my audience. Blogging, contrary to some popular opinion, is hard work and extremely time-consuming! You have to be on top of the news, post frequently to get and keep an audience, you have to condense a massive amount of information into bite-sized posts, and try to keep some semblance of a theme or narrative in mind. Participation and audience is key and it is probably the hardest thing to attract. I know: "boo hoo." SO, in exchange for your participation in my blog, my favorite set of posts (this would imply there might be more than one) will be awarded some ice cream. Everyone loves ice cream but if you are lactose intolerant or don't, I'm sure we could work something else out like a Meeting Street cookie or a pen or shot glass. Or something. So post, take the polls, help me out please. Pretty please. I'll buy you a cone! This is your opportunity to tell me that I have terrible taste in music, can't express myself with the written word and probably shouldn't have elected to write a blog for my final project because they are stupid and annoying. Or you could offer insight into some of the topics and the future of radio--especially with your new found expertise from your own projects. Plus, at this point I will be buying Professor Smulyan a treat which is probably less ethically sound (considering she will be grading this) than trying to bribe an audience with ice cream.
What do you think about the fact that blogs are dependent upon audience and feedback to be interactive, yet this is the hardest factor to capture, especially in the beginning? Is audience dependent upon the material, the writing quality, the reader's interest, the blogger's networks or something else?