How do you discover blog posts? – Analysis of my poll

September 10, 2024

I started a poll on Mastodon to find out how readers come across personal blog posts. My observation was that posts not actively promoted on social media often only reach a small audience. But how exactly do readers actually find their way to blogs? To learn more about this, I asked how you discover blog posts.

The question was: How do you discover blog posts? (Only one answer was allowed.)

Results

A total of 184 people participated in the poll, and the distribution of answers was as follows:

  • 42% “Only what appears on social media”
  • 28% “Various ways”
  • 24% “Via subscriptions, feed readers, RSS”
  • 5% “None of the above”

Additionally, there were some comments on how readers find blog posts. Here are a few excerpts:

  • Dedicated Mastodon accounts or hashtags
  • RSS/Atom feeds
  • Mastodon notifications for friends’ posts
  • Twitter (formerly)
  • Recommendations from friends or acquaintances
  • Crosspromotion
  • Newsletters and email subscriptions
  • News aggregators and apps
  • But also: Print media, radio, and television

Conclusion

The poll confirms my suspicion that blogs struggle to gain reach without active promotion on social media and other channels. Only a quarter read blogs via feeds or subscriptions. This surprised me a bit. I do this myself and find it very convenient, easy to organize, and effective. As a blogger, this confirmed the impression that it is important to promote blog posts on other channels—perhaps even a newsletter is a good idea.

Thanks to everyone who participated, shared the poll, and shared their insights

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