Forgive this nuts-and-bolts post on this Thursday morning, but I wanted to solicit your feedback on a change I’m considering making: switching my RSS feed from showing the whole blog to only showing partial posts.
If you don’t read this blog in Google Reader or another feed reader, check out this incredible GIF of a hilarious cat and have a great day.
If you do read this blog in a feed reader, I’m very curious to know what you think. This impacts you, and I don’t want to mess things up.
Here’s the thing – when I started this blog, I wanted everyone to be able to read it as easily as possible. I didn’t really care if that happened on this blog or on other websites or anywhere possible.
But lately, I feel like the discussion on the blog has become a bit fragmented because so many sites out there are syndicating this blog willy nilly. People don’t always realize the great discussions that are happening in the comments section on the for-real blog because they are reading it in a place that just pulls the blog content and leaves it at that. If people were forced to click through to read the whole post I feel like we could attract even better comments.
I’m also finding this blog pop up on more and more sites where you can get the whole blog… only other people are advertising on the page. So basically you can read the whole blog only someone else is making money on it.
But I don’t want to cramp your style. Would it bother you if I switched to a partial feed and people had to click through to the for-real blog to see the rest? Do you mind if I give it a trial to see what happens?
Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Art: Geometrie & Vermessung & Messstab – Walther Hermann Ryff
Anonymous says
For some reason I find your blog a little impenetrable. It took me some time to work out how to get to the comments, as it has in the past.By the time I want to make the effort again I'll have forgotten and the whole irritating process will resume.
I don't mind if it's a partial or the entire blog, but I do like Betsy Lerner's blog, which gives the complete post but has a very clear 'Comment' + 'See all comments' to click on each post to take you through if you're interested. I find this so simple and flexible.
Sarah Nicolas says
Please, please, please don't do it. I read my subscriptions primarily on my phone and may click on one out of a hundred of your posts if you switch. And that's a big MAYBE because it is a huge inconvenience.
I like your posts a lot, but if you do this, you'll lose a reader in me.
Kristi Helvig says
I always click through if the post title interests me, and I'm sure I'd click through for you. 🙂
AJMaguire says
Personally, I like being able to read the whole thing without having to click anything. But it's your call. I'll still read, regardless, but that's because I'm kinda obsessive compulsive about finishing what I start.
Anonymous says
Wow, this is an interesting discussion . . . I have never heard of RSS feeds before (or if I had, I didn't know what they were!)
For what it's worth though – I love visiting your blog. I click on it everyday to see if you have written a new article, and I always read the comments too.
SK Figler says
My answer is a definitive "I don't know." I think I read you on Google. Does "partial feed" refer to those that say "read more" in red or blue or green? I tend to click that when the topic interests me, not when it doesn't. As you can tell I'm digitally-challenged—the other meaning; my fingers and toes work fine—and sort of just get along in this new world.
So, do what you like. You're a good enough "read" to hunt you down, to the extent of my abilities.
—SK Figler (my blog: SKFigler.com)
Gehayi says
I tend not to click through to truncated posts, and I bypass posts that I have to search for. If your posts didn't show up in my RSS feed among all the other posts I read, I probably wouldn't read them.
Abdullah Khan says
Its OK
Abdullah Khan says
Its OK!
Nancy Thompson says
Not at all. Would I still get an email notification when you post? That's how I connect to your blog and make damn sure I never miss a post.
Adam Heine says
I almost always click through, just cuz the blogs are almost always prettier than Google Reader (shoot, BLANK PAPER is prettier than Google Reader). So don't worry about me.
Other people getting ad money for your work, though, that kinda sucks. Maybe you could consider take-down requests OR some sort of link-to-the-comments/copyright notice/whatever as a footer of each blog post? Neither would solve things, but at least it would make things more clear.
You could also include a footer that was like: "Comment on this post at NathanBransford.com" or something more enticing.
Candice.Abraham says
I read my blogs through Google Reader but I often click through to your blog anyways, Nathan. I like to also read the comments sometimes. It doesn't bother me, although it seems to bother a lot of other people. Still, if other people are making money off of your blog as a result I would understand why you want to take more control over your own content.
Anonymous says
I don't like the click-through and have always appreciated that you don't do it. The two may be unrelated, but yours is my mainstay of blogs. If I look at nothing else when I connect, I check Nathan's blog.
Anonymous says
I'd probably stop reading if you switch to partial RSS. With the full RSS feed now, I click through when I'm interested in reading the comments. I'd be annoyed at having to click through to read the full post.
Anna L. Walls says
I subscribe by email. I'm not one to leave comments very often because I don't like to scroll through 100+ comments to find the 'post a comment' button. I mean, I envy you all your followers and that they comment – it's a time thing.
I subscribe to another blog where I get a partial and I'm sad to say there may have been some posts I might have been interested in only I didn't go there to find out.
Emy Shin says
I rarely, if ever, click through partial RSS posts. Actually, I tend to skip them altogether, not even reading the title and teaser. It doesn't mean that if you (a general you) switch to partial feed, I will stop reading. However, it's just very likely I will be too lazy to click through.
I am a lot more likely to click through after reading the full post and finding myself moved to post a response (as with this post).
Anonymous says
If you made the switch, I'd delete your feed and subscribe via email. Whatever works best for you – that's what you should do. You shouldn't need to make sacrifices for my convenience; rather, I should be able to find a workaround. You and your ideas are worth it!
Lauren B. says
I guess I should add that I DO also visit the regular blog on my laptop when I want to read comments, which is often. But I use the RSS specifically for reading-while-commuting, in which case the partial feed would be useless.
Marti says
I rarely comment any more (used to be a regular but time constraints with medical issues have kept me away). I have to agree with the majority here – I think it is a very bad idea and will lead to a massive readership loss.
It might bump up your page views to force readers to click through to your domain, if that is important to you, but I would hope your goal would be to have people read you, in whatever format they choose, and it seems many here have chosen Google reader and have admitted they would no longer BE readers if you switched.
I understand it is your blog and your decision. But I would request you not do it.
Debra H. says
I read your blog in email, but only those posts that are pertinent to my interests. I generally decide whether to read all the blogs I'm subscribed to based on the email subject line and, maybe, the first few lines.
SmittenKitchen.com switched to partial posts over a year ago. If I'm interested in her post I always click through.
It's unethical for others regularly to post your blog for their own profit, even if they acknowledge you as the writer. You need to protect your interests.
Ed says
Like some others,I use Google Reader, but if a post interests me, I click through to your website anyway, so it wouldn't make a lick of difference.
Carla Marvin says
Well, I read the blog in a variety of ways, and it wouldn't bother me at all to see only partial posts in the RSS feed, because reading only a bit of something almost always makes me want to read the rest. I know some people who only read headlines (or titles) and if they aren't drawn in by that, then they don't read the rest of the post anyway. So I think that as long as the first parts of the posts are enough to catch readers' attention, it should pique their curiosity enough to have them click through—minus of course, those who aren't allowed to do so .
Graeme Ing says
Holy cow, what a huge response, but then it is a great question. I've been pondering the same decision, for the exact same reason of community comments. I don't really care about the traffic per se.
Like many people, I do NOT click through on partials. I'm in an RSS reader for a reason.
There's also a reasoning behind why people find partials less attractive. The human eye tends to grok the whole page at once and glean a certain amount of interest from several paragraphs in, or headlines further down the page. You don't get this attraction with a partial.
Please post your decision and perhaps a summary of the response?
Mystery Robin says
Well, I almost never click through on partials. Given your post, I can see why you might want to go that way. Right now, I read every post of yours. I would probably read fewer if I had to click, but would look at the ones that sounded especially interesting. I know a click isn't hard… it's just how it usually goes in my google reader. 🙂
Leanne Bridges says
DO IT! If it works for you, do it. I am grateful that you spend your time giving out such great advice.
Have a great day, Nathan.
Anonymous says
I would ask, why do you want "better" comments? I read via Google Reader on a smartphone, and today I think I'm at least 124th or so in the comments. I click through to the comments on blog posts that interest me (yours and others), but rarely make comments myself. If you switch to partial feed, it will feel like your goal is to get page clicks, not to disseminate useful information.
You got me to comment today, but it took a lot of effort on my part, between waiting for the page to load on my phone, clicking many times to scroll through the 100+ comments already here, and then Swype my way laboriously over my keypad. Forget about editing! And since I'm not really saying anything new, I can't help wondering if you'll even read this among so many others? Since I can't see subscribing to hundreds of follow up comments, I'll probably never know.
Have I spent more time on your page tonight than I usually do? Yes, so if that's your goal you succeeded. Once. Will I go through all this trouble again? Not any time soon, if ever. Why should I, when so many others will invent that wheel already, before I get here. If you want people to READ your posts, please don't make it harder to do so. If you want people to VISIT your blog, find some other way to distinguish yourself so we want to. And if you aren't happy with the quality of comments/discussion from your READERS, I'm pretty sure alienating so many of them (myself included) won't improve matters.
ETA: I spent close to 30 mins typing the above, and when I tried to publish using my WP login, your website took me to a page saying I had to login first – with no login link. When I hit back, all my hard work was deleted. Luckily, I've been in similar situations and copied the text before I hit submit. But it's another reason I rarely comment, and won't do it more, just to make you happier. Oh, and it's taken me another FIVE minutes just to Swype this paragraph. No lie – I timed it. Sign me, Disgruntled-Possibly-Former-Avid-Reader. (8 mins now…)
seo in arizona says
Well if you think that this could help you even more. Then might as well do it, my Scottsdale SEO team is currently doing a test regarding RSS feeds and so far we are hoping for great results. Thanks for sharing!
Karen Prince says
When your latest post pops up in my email, I go "oh goody, a post from Nathan."… and I would read the whole thing even if I had to strain myself for that one extra click. Just a thought though, even if people are posting your blog willy nilly and making a profit off it, surely at least some of the people reading those posts would become dedicated fans and followers of your genuine posts. One of them might just be the one who convinces everyone to read your book.
J.C. Martin says
I receive your posts in my e-mail, and quite like being able to read the whole post in my inbox. If I end up receiving partial posts by e-mail, I'll still read your posts, but perhaps not every single one.
River Byrnes says
I have been mostly a silent reader for many a year now. I subscribe via email and click through to the original post all the time. It makes for much easier reading, gives me those lovely pictures and yes, I do also read a lot of the comments, I find them very interesting and I learn a lot from them also.
I think your blog is absolutely brilliant and well worth the extra little bit of effort – there sounds to be a lot of laziness involved in people's reactions, though I suspect that having to click through means needing a better connection to the internet while on the go (someone mentioned 4G – we don't even get 3G here…).
wendy says
A partial feed wouldn't deter me from coming here, Nathan. This is my favourite blog. I receive updates via email, btw.
jongibbs says
Partial feed = "Next!"
I don't know why, but partial feeds always make me feel like the writer's trying to manipulate me somehow.
Nadia Lee says
I unsub if RSS feeds I subscribe to switch to partial & stop reading those blogs. I just don't have the time to go to every blog or read every discussion.
gordonzola.net says
I absolutely prefer the full feed. It's about readability. Even if I intend otherwise, I also find myself reading the full feeds more often than clicking through the partials. I have noticed this in my habits when people have made this switch. I'll be all, "Hey, how come bloggerX never posts anymore?" and then realize I just hadn't clicked through in months.
Carol Newman Cronin says
Go for it.
I get your posts through Feed My Inbox since I never check Google reader anymore. I might not read quite as many of your posts in full, but you'll regain some control of your content which is important.
midnightblooms says
I read on Google Reader. I much prefer full posts and will usually skip any partials unless they grab my attention. I just don't have time to visit individual sites to read posts. That's why I use a reader.
I won't unsub if you go to partial feeds, and I completely understand your desire to have a bit more control your content, but I almost never read or comment on partial feeds.
M.R. Anglin says
No partials, please. Clicking through to the real sites slows my computer down considerably, so I don't do it often.
Mieke Zamora-Mackay/@MZMackay says
Personally, I prefer the full posts on my reader. I understand your issues with keeping your current set up, and I admit, I have missed changes to some blogs (like site re-design, etc) unless the blogger specifically posts that they've made changes.
For you, I would be fine with partial feed, because, I would click through to read your full post. There are some bloggers that I wouldn't do that for though.
I'll be fine either way you go.
Connie B. Dowell says
I use Google Reader and I wouldn't mind partial posts. I usually look through only the beginning of posts on Google Reader and then, if I'm interested, click through regardless of whether the whole post is available on RSS feed. I do so for the exact reason you mentioned: the comment discussion. If I'm interested enough to read a whole post, I'd like at least to skim through the first comments, maybe to contribute to the discussion myself.
John Waverly says
I've heard Mur Lafferty talk about the Red Line of Death: the point in a submitted story where an editor stops reading and thinks, "Next".
This is how I read blog posts, often I will read until I reach the red line of death, then go to the next one. Sometimes this is the first sentence or two, often it's in the first three or four paragraphs.
Just know, that for partial feeds you are providing your own, potential, red line of death. If I'm not hooked before the cut, I'm onto the next blog. It's easier and faster to hit Next than it is to open up the full content. You won't get the he-usually-has-good-stuff-so-I'll-give-him-another-paragraph-or-two reaction anymore.
That being said, I enjoy your content today and I'm completely confident in your writing ability to hook me in the first few sentences. You already do it fairly often, and being forced to practice that skill will make the blog better overall.
Margie says
For you, I'd click through.
Sharon Lynn Fisher says
I know I will be less likely to read the whole post if I have to click through. It's just a time thing. I think you will end up putting some pressure on yourself to always make that first paragraph very sexy!
Daniel McNeet says
Nathan,
I will be pleased to participate in your experiment.
Thank you.
Anonymous says
I read in Google reader and would honestly likely unsubscribe if you switched to partial rss feeds. Like an earlier poster said I find truncated feeds disrupting …
Misha Gericke says
I must say that, given the amount of blogs in my feeder, I'd skip over yours if it was truncated.
The only blogs I actually always click through to are those whose authors comment on mine.
When I have time after that, I scan through posts in the reader before I click through.
Anonymous says
Much as others have said above, I use Google Reader to save time. Even then, it's tough to read all the blogs I follow (and I don't even follow that many!). It would be easiest and most efficient for me as a reader to keep it as it is, BUT if this isn't what's best for you (and it really sounds like it isn't!) then I think you should do what IS best for you. Other people shouldn't be making money on your hard work (IMO).
Maybe you need to step back and think about your honest reasons for writing the blog (when you were an agent, it seemed to me to be a way to give back (or just give!) to the writer community, now that you're at CNet, it seems to have switched a bit to more of a community-based place to chat…or maybe I'm getting that wrong) and then make your decision from there.
bethchristopher.com says
It wouldn't bother me a lick. If I'm not drawn in by the subject and first paragraph or so, I don't read the blog. (Yours is the exception, of course!) I'm not on Google Reader, however.
fakesteph says
I'm not a regular commenter, but I am a regular reader. Because I've been reading your blog for years now, I *may* click through sometimes in a partial RSS feed, but right now, I don't click through for anybody.
ginnad says
Well, I use Google Reader, and don't like partial feeds. But I'm surprised by all the people who say they would unsubscribe.
There are extensions etc. that fix that! I use Super Full Feeds for Chrome, but there are dozens of these.
Problem solved! If any of the blogs I follow switch to partial feeds, I adjust my super settings accordingly. If you do switch to partial to avoid scrapes, you could direct your 'real' readers to such extensions.
(Not an ad for Super Feeds or anything. As I said, I'm sure there are dozens of alternatives.)
Two Flights Down says
I use Google Reader and love that your blog contains the full post. However, I do like your blog enough to click through, and I hate when people make money off of other's hard work, so I say go for. Seems like a harmless experiment, anyway. I don't usually comment, though, because I feel like my comment gets lost here rather than contributes to the discussion.