When to apologize for an absence away from your blog
I have been away from my blog for several weeks now and before I wrote an “I’m Sorry I’ve Been Away” post, I decided to be more constructive and write about the appropriateness of such posts.
If you have been taken away from writing your blog for ANY reason, consider the following:
1) Are you a part-timer or a full-timer? Full timers have a larger responsibility to their readership. In most cases, full timers probably plan for their absences with fill-in writers. Part-timers should not feel compelled to apologize for an absence. You can if you want to, but I feel it is not necessary. It just matters that you are back writing quality content.
2) Do you have a large readership or a small readership? Blogs with a large readership require extra effort to communicate with their audience. Blogs with a small readership still have a responsibility to their readers. However, this can be simply accomplished by saying “Hey Im Here, did you read about _____? (Fill in more thoughts here)”. Readers appreciate your back. They appreciate it more when you write something useful.
3) Do you need to give a detailed account for your absence? A lot of bloggers do. Frankly, I could care less about the details of their lives. I don’t read their blogs for that reason. Some blogs quickly become less about the topic and more about the soap opera of the writer’s life. Spare me! A simple note indicating general personal reasons should suffice. In the end, it really is not anyone’s business. You need to chose the level at which you want to share.
4) Were you away from your blog because of reasons that are either related to the topic of your blog or could be used as posts on your blog? If you write about technology and spent two weeks in the desert investigating how techology is helping the Masai, that is very relevant. If however, you spent two weeks on the beach playing volleyball and nothing whatsoever occurred that could relate to technology then skip the long posts about oceans waves and evening sunsets.
5) Finally, use your absence to create content. Maybe your absence gave you a renewed mind and a fresh perspective. Use that to your advantage. It is always a good thing to step away from your blog anyway. Use your absence as a reminder that breaks are necessary to success.
Posted by Paul Flyer on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 in Blogging
