Full Or Partial Feeds? - That Is The Question

Okay, I was all set to switch to a partial feed. If you happened to drop into your feed reader of choice during the last two hours, you would have noticed that I was on partials. Then, in reference to my earlier post on feed readers and stat counters, Kin left a comment which had me turning on my heels.

Kin pointed me in the direction of this post back in November by Meg at Dipping Into The Blogpond. From that one post, I followed a Bloggy Brick Road and arrived at my current conclusion which I'll elaborate on in a minute. But first, I highly suggest you swing by Meg's site and follow the links she gives. Be especially sure to read through the comments. I had no idea people felt as strongly about this as they do. I mean, I knew you were one or the other - kind of like (in Aussie terms) being a Holden or a Ford fan, LOL. But there's a whole underground 'thing' going on regarding full vs partial feeds.

Okay, my observations. I liked Meg's post, but even though I agree with her in principle and read her post with a grin (gotta love the cranky attitude, I've been that way myself today...*grin*), I do want to share my opinions on a few points she raised. By the way Meg, if you happen to click through to Lizzie's Home, I've just discovered your blog and love it. Please don't blacklist me, LOL.

Meg asks this question of anyone who burns partial feeds: Why do you do it? The following points are some of the reasons she theorizes about.

1. So I'd click through on your advertising?

Advertising, for some bloggers, is BIG. If you're well known enough (and I can list six big name American bloggers - we all know them! - who'd fit into this category, three of whom would be considered the cream of the crop) then you command attention simply because of your fans. Now I'm not saying being 'famous' in Bloggityville is necessarily a bad thing - these same five blogs (and scores of others) are ones I personally subscribe to because I get a kick out of reading them. They're funny. I can relate to them. But every single one of these six blogs have partial feeds. And not surprisingly, every single one of them has advertising. It makes sense, therefore, that their feeds would be set up this way. I'm not privy to their stats but I wouldn't hesitate to assume we're talking big numbers. Any revenue they gain from ads would be significant. Horrendous assumption? Maybe. But I'm confident enough to stick by that assumption nonetheless. BUT...

Even the bloggers who burn partial feeds in order to maximise visits to their sites and therefore money in their own pockets, are generally not doing it to annoy readers. Because at least for me, blog advertising and the associated brouhaha pales in comparison to a non-engaging writing style and jarring design. I think it's a teeny bit unfair to automatically cut someone off your subscription list simply for publishing a partial feed. Which brings me to my next point - advertising does not factor into Lizzie's Home and isn't likely to in the foreseeable future. Advertising/earning money from blogging was not the reason I began and certainly isn't going to be the driving force hereafter. And there are plenty of well-written, engaging, funny bloggers out there that fall into this category. Sure, it takes an extra click to visit our sites directly, but if advertising isn't on our page (therefore I guess cutting back on the lagging load times I kept reading about tonight) then this point becomes moot.

2. So I'd leave a comment?

I love, love, love comments. Most bloggers are secretly thrilled to get each and every one of them - kind of like when you were a kid and you found a letter addressed specifically to YOU in the mailbox. People who leave comments have been affected in some way (good or bad) by what you've written, and that's powerful stuff to a blogger. But publishing a partial feed doesn't have to always mean a solicitation for a comment. If the general anti-partial-feed movement is anything to go by, that's the last thing it will do. If I am affected by what someone else has written, I'll be moved to comment, regardless of whether they publish partial or full feeds. Of course if someone publishes a partial feed then the headline and first two lines of the post itself need to be totally eye-catching - more so than a full-feeder. This could lead to An! Over-use! Of! Punctuation! And! Excitement! When! It! Isn't! Actually! Warranted! which is equally as annoying as the partial feed itself, LOL. One of my favourite bloggers bounces around like this all the time and it always gets me laughing because even though she's a gal I always imagine her like a perpetual four year old boy, LOL.

3. So I'd increase your Alexa rank?

Okay, so before about three hours ago, I had never even heard of an Alexa rank, which shows how concerned I am by it! But you can sub in any other 'popularity measurer' you like - Technorati, stat counters, you name it. And this is the one that cuts closest to home for me. I don't have advertising, pay-per-post drives me absolutely bonkers, and while I squeal with excitement when I get a new comment, I don't think it has much to do with the fact I've published one particular feed option over another so far. But stat counters? Therein lies my undoing, LOL. Just like comments, most bloggers I know enjoy seeing their stat counters rise. And though becoming obsessed with rankings and stats can be counter-productive, I predominantly use mine to track where my readers are coming from and what they're viewing, not necessarily to watch my popularity soar. Because honestly? I'm like one weeny scale on the itty-bittiest fish in the great big Blogging Ocean. I have like 14 whole subscribers. I still get a kick out of a new comment because I feel like I know all the commenters personally, LOL. I wonder how much of that is lost for the Big Six Bloggers? There would have to be a point where they just cannot read each and every comment and that alone would kind of make me not want to comment in the first place, if you know what I mean. I don't recall ever commenting on any of the Big Six, mostly for this very reason.

So, after doing all this reading this afternoon, I came to these conclusions.

* If I'm not doing it for click-through advertising revenue reasons, how important is a partial feed to me anyway? Why not cut the reader some slack and stick with the full feed?

And second,

* If I am doing it for a more accurate picture of how 'popular' I am in Bloggityville, well, there are plenty of things wrong with that picture.

And third,

* While I'd love to get more hits to Lizzie's Home and therefore gauge better which posts have resonated the most (I'm finding that the majority of folks still don't comment, even if they've really liked a post) in order to produce more of that kind of writing in the future, really, does it matter? Wasn't the original reason I started blogging just to 'get out there'? When did all this other stuff become important?

Okay, so the irony of what I'm about to say isn't escaping me, LOL, but if you have any thoughts on this issue, please, please, please de-lurk! And if you have any tips on how to increase comments, I'm all ears (or eyes, as the case may be). I know that when I participate in blog carnivals I get by far the most comments but the vast majority of those are one-liner 'your menu looks great!' type things. The weeks that I haven't had time to participate my stats drop dramatically. I don't want to have the pressure of writing The Most Profound Blog Post Ever every single week, LOL.

Best comment wins a cyber Tim Tam... :P

Cheers,
Lizzie