Monday, January 03, 2011

What does it take to get a comment around here?

I'm only be mildly critical here, particularly because there are some days that I wonder what it takes now-a-days to get readers to actually leave a comment and join in a conversation.

But, let's put that aside, because that's not what this is really about.

In all seriousness, Jack Curtin chose the week between Christmas and New Year's to run a 6-part feature highlighting the beer year that was 1995 told in the words of others. Last week, he was a bit perplexed by the lack of commenting traffic throughout the special feature. This might or might not be surprising based on your perspective, especially considering that the winter holidays can, some years, generate the lowest level of website traffic of the year. Why do you think I do a New Year's Eve event calendar?! :)

He makes a very strong argument in his well-crafted, multi-part feature, supported via the voices of many who were involved during that time, that 1995 was a seminal year in Philadelphia craft brewing and "better" beer bars.

It's some of his most compelling work in some time (that actually is a strange form of a compliment) and you would do well to start off your new year properly by jumping over to his site and giving it a thoughtful read. You'll laugh, you might cry, and you might even learn something. I know there were a couple of names in there that I didn't recognize.

It seems lengthy at first, but reading through all six parts combined should not take much more than 20 minutes (not including my verbose comment job in Part 6).

Plus, you clicking over there gives me an opportunity to reciprocate some thanks for his Beer Blogger of the Year accolades that he bestowed upon me in a subsequent posting. That, too, is another compilation of fun and information.

7 comments:

Adam said...

I would say my Internet reading tends to be small chunks and I don't feel I can comment on something I haven't fully read. I might mispeak or something.

Congrats BTW.

Also, could it be that Facebook tends to steal the blog commenter's energy?

Bryan Kolesar said...

Ha, now I know what it takes to get a comment, heheh...just kidding!

But, you're absolutely right ...and not only Facebook, but the Twitters, YouTubes, and other technologies of the world's last ten years or so all contribute to the changing ways in which we read, write, and communicate. Some days I can testify to the advantages, but many days I'm more concerned about the drawbacks.

kmudrick said...

I realized a while ago that I had nothing really pertinent to say or add to the conversation, especially on jack's blog. Felt more like commenting for the sake of commenting.

Also, I only recently started getting my rss back in order (using the iPhone app "reeder" to sync with google reader.). So there's several months of beer blogging i missed.

kmudrick said...

Oh also, I find myself not caring about the politics and internal goings-on of the craft beer world.... Nor all the top 'x' talk.

I do like hearing about cool places to visit or new beers to try... Or what places have events and specials :)

Bryan Kolesar said...

Ah, reeder. I'd heard of that a little while ago and forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder, I'll check it out tomorrow.

Yeah, I hear ya on all of the "non-drinking" stuff related to beer reading/writing. That's why, as simple as the calendar and stuff like it is, I do those kind of postings...because I hear from many like you who say that's what's most important--finding a great beer to drink with friendly people, period. Knowing the readers here and what they find most important is important to me, so please keep the feedback of all kinds coming.

By the way, a healthy run with beer afterward is a good idea too, right? Stay tuned for a potential one on 1/22 in Paoli, but I don't want to get too specific yet :)

kmudrick said...

Reeder is great for me since, where I work now, internet access is kind of locked down. So being able to read everything on my iPhone is key.

I'm always up for a run with beer afterwards - you know me :) I'll keep the 22nd free.

Rich Isaacs said...

Hey Kevin!

As far as commenting on the 1995, I just had nothing to add. It was interesting, but I wasn't even in Philly in 95 so it's hard to put it all into context.