tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post3365110989834530951..comments2024-01-08T19:49:13.932+00:00Comments on Froogville: ManifestoFrooghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-12058015240376979132009-03-27T03:04:00.000+00:002009-03-27T03:04:00.000+00:00"Station"?! Statement, statement! What is happen..."Station"?! Statement, statement! What <I>is</I> happening to my brain?Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-78750684770325687142009-03-25T02:24:00.000+00:002009-03-25T02:24:00.000+00:00I fear I too lapse back into the modes of my first...I fear I too lapse back into the modes of my first career as a schoolmaster from time to time. Perhaps we should try setting "homework" at the end of our posts.<BR/><BR/>I have occasionally finished on a question or a particularly provocative station, followed by the single-word exhortation: "Discuss".Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-65914183209714667952009-03-24T20:42:00.000+00:002009-03-24T20:42:00.000+00:00Sorry for dropping the thread... duty calls. Or ca...Sorry for dropping the thread... duty calls. Or called.<BR/><BR/>The whole thing about comments is rather frustrating, from one perspective: absent comments, one never knows if one is really "getting through" to visitors. I get lots and lots of hits on just a few key words and phrases, pretty much all involving posts which were one-off, on topics I don't deal with daily or even monthly. But those visitors come to a page and leave from the same page, so I have no idea if their visit was fruitful (wouldn't mind getting a "thanks" sometimes) or pointless (providing the opportunity to use my blogging software's comment moderation or editing features, heh).<BR/><BR/>Do you WANT more visitors and/or comments?<BR/><BR/>An interesting post on the subject is <A HREF="http://www.dailyblogtips.com/qa-why-my-blog-gets-no-comments/" REL="nofollow">here</A>, with some apparently anecdotal percentages. E.g.: "I would say that 80% of the blogs out there average less than 1 comment per post."<BR/><BR/>Too many comments would overwhelm me, I think. In my head, the ideal would be the sort of comments in which the visitors speak with one another about the topic, rather than addressing me directly. That just about never happens, though; maybe it's my magisterial tone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-35124240261867483522009-03-21T15:03:00.000+00:002009-03-21T15:03:00.000+00:00Hi, er, Bill(?),How did you blunder upon this? I ...Hi, er, Bill(?),<BR/><BR/>How did you blunder upon this? I think there were links in the post to two other posts explaining the terms. Immediately before this one, if you were viewing the whole blog page - it's been a bit of a theme over the past few days.<BR/><BR/>My Chinese was poor when I got here (remembered a little bit from visiting in the 90s), and has got steadily worse since. I manage to fake my way quite well, though. I pick up a lot of slang online, and through friends who are translators.<BR/><BR/>The <I>fen</I> means 'angry'. And the <I>qing</I> is short for <I>qing nian</I> meaning 'youth'. The <I>wai</I> is short for <I>waiguoren</I>, i.e. foreigners like you and me. They are terms used on the Internet for particularly persistent and belligerent blog commenters. <I>fenqing</I> are the super-wound-up nationalist youngsters of China, and <I>fenwai</I> are the rather older expats addicted to baiting them. Both are rather sad, really.<BR/><BR/>Hope that helps.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-8430857992005839492009-03-21T12:31:00.000+00:002009-03-21T12:31:00.000+00:00Bu hao yisi...I'm not a blogger. I don't even rea...Bu hao yisi...I'm not a blogger. I don't even really know what that means, but "random passers-by" works for me. I've lived and worked here for going on six years now, but mostly in the suburbs. i don't get out much (anymore), but when I do, I hang out with my co-workers, who are Chinese and also, mostly out of towners. So, my association with the expat community, as well as the more 'sophisticated' elements of the Beijing society, has been limited. When I happen on a copy of "that's Beijing" I wonder what planet those folks are living on. My Chinese is OK, although, considering the amount of time I've spent studying, IT SHOULD BE BETTER. For instance, I have no idea what the terms 'fenqing' or 'fenwai' mean and so I'm not sure if I'm being encouraged to move on, or not. If you could help me out here(I get the feeling that these may be terms it would embarass my collegues to explain), I'd appreciate it. This will, of course, require that I return at least once more, which is not a problem 'cause I think you write pretty good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-18858965772978103512009-03-21T08:31:00.000+00:002009-03-21T08:31:00.000+00:00Thanks for the link, JES. I found the original NYT...Thanks for the link, JES. I found the original NYT article (or was it Time?) that the blog picked up on quite interesting, although it's rather old news here in China: 'Internet addiction' has been a hot topic here for 5 or 6 years at least, I would say.<BR/><BR/>I thought you might be interested in this <A HREF="http://www.chinasmack.com/pictures/spoiled-child-slaps-chokes-mother-in-public-for-toy/" REL="nofollow">photo essay</A> on the <B>ChinaSmack</B> news website about a feckless Chinese mother being brutally bullied by her wayward 10-year-old son. It's rather similar to the first example in the Net addiction article - an extreme, but not uncommon example of the 'Little Emperor' syndrome, the blowback from the One Child Policy.<BR/><BR/>Yes, the silence is rather <I>deafening</I>, isn't it? Although, on the whole, I think I'm rather relieved to be able to slip back into obscurity.<BR/><BR/>Do you know if there are any Net-wide stats on what proportion of blog visitors leave a comment? I'm fairly selective in my blog-reading, and mostly enter into friendly reciprocal relationships with other bloggers such as yourself - but even there, I suppose I leave a comment barely 10% of the time. I seldom or never leave a comment on a blog where I'm a one-time visitor.<BR/><BR/>I rarely have more than a handful of comments per week, although I am supposedly getting 300 visits per week on <B>Froogville</B> and nearly 250 on <B>The Barstool</B>.... so, maybe 1 or 2% commenting rate. Is that unusually low?? I used to have two regular and sometimes prolific commenters, but they've both deserted me of late. How do you fare?<BR/><BR/>Perhaps I should try to be more <I>provocative</I>....Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-17084172160730235352009-03-20T20:15:00.000+00:002009-03-20T20:15:00.000+00:00Love that this post has gotten absolutely no comme...Love that this post has gotten <EM>absolutely no comments</EM>. Don't you hate that -- the sense (based on a semi-objective measure like blog stats) that people, especially provocateurs, are suddenly paying attention? and then when you try to head them off with a pre-emptive strike, they seem not to even notice?<BR/><BR/>By the way, I've been meaning to direct you to a post on a third party's blog. (Full disclosure: a nephew of mine writes for this blog, although this post wasn't his.) It presented an angle on China and the Internet which I'd previously, utterly missed. It's <A HREF="http://liftingfogblog.com/2009/03/12/china-vs-the-internet/" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com