I've been doing some internal, metaphysical navel-gazing on the subject of audiences. I've been writing for nearly a decade now and I like to think I have some understanding of what it takes to be appreciated by the masses as a writer.
(Either that or I am full of crap. Because of course, I have never been the bee's knees as a writer. Me writing about being a well-known-New-York-Times-Best-Selling-author would be like me writing about success in dating and relationships. There is no doubt I would be full of crap.)
The way I see it, the audience has three choices when encountering a piece of media:
1) Ignore - Simple enough. They can choose not to read it, watch it, listen it, whatever. They can skip the link, turn the channel, change the station, or skip the track. They do not partake and they do not care. Every writer starts off here. I remember the first article I ever wrote for the FSU student newspaper. I think only three people read it - me, my mother, and my college roommate, and he probably only read it to get out of buying beer that night.
(That article was terrible. I wrote about radiation and tried to tie it to checkout scanners at the university library. I asked the head of the library if students could become impotent because of the scanning devices. Seriously. On a positive note, it was the only article I ever wrote that was drastically edited. From then on, my editors barely changed anything.)
2) Absorb - Readers can lend an open ear to what you have to say. They can be passive participants. This is where old media stops. Writers today don't want to be old media. They don't want to talk at their audience. Even if the audience listens, if you want to be build loyalty and community, you should want one more step.
(Admittedly, this is where I struggle sometimes. Sometimes my academic leanings creep in to my writing and it becomes more informative than discussion-based. I'm working on better blending the two, both in online and in real-life conversations. Trust me, it's tough to pick up girls at a bar when you overpower the conversation.)
3) Respond - This is the key to new media. This is the premise in which Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are built. But of course, you can't have response without absorption. You want people to see and want to add. Writers today need to give fans that option. New media absorbers expect it. They feel a desire to participate. Anything else feels like too much like old media. That's ok for a book - something with a good story, or something filled to the brim with new information.
But if you want to be successful online, you need to connect. Hit them where they care.
What do you guys think? Am I kinda close? Do those steps sound right? Or is my navel-gazing blinded by the belly button lint of ignorance?
(For more reading on blogging and how to be an online success, check out Matthew Cerrone's blog. Matthew is the founder, editor, and principal writer of the successful MetsBlog.com and he knows his way around the web.)
