AlphaInventions.com Can Lead Horses to Blogs, But Can’t Make ‘em Participate
I’ve come to understand that lots of traffic isn’t necessarily a good thing can actually generate some quality conversations when you echo what others are noticing.
Of the 4000 12000+ hits I’ve received in the last couple days, thanks solely to alphainventions.com, I’ve received 0 around 40 comments.
I’ve always preferred dialogue to monologue. And I still think that alphainventions.com is a really cool idea. However, just because a blog gets huge boosts in traffic (some by actual humans) doesn’t mean it’s actually contributing to the conversation. If “hit count envy” is something that afflicts you, then by all means, alphainventions.com is a potent weapon supporting your ultimate dominance. But I would suggest that a high hit count alone does not make any statement about the quality of your contribution to the conversation.
From the stats that WordPress provides, I can see that folks are actually clicking around through some posts, clicking some links out of the blogroll… but no one is saying anything. Of course, that could be simply because I don’t say anything of interest to them… 
Please don’t misunderstand. I think Alpha rocks, and I totally admit there is no way in hell anyone would have even found my blog, let alone would it have been found over 12000 times, without Alpha. My post isn’t indicative of any problems with Alpha. My post could just as easily apply to the “random blog” button. The issue I described is the difficulty in getting a conversation started when you don’t already have an audience of like-minds. Alpha cannot make a boring blog interesting – that’s not its purpose. Unless you’re reaching a like-minded viewer, a hit is a hit is a hit. To my mind, the “be all, end all” of blogging is the conversation, and hits be damned. Let’s all just love Alpha, and encourage further development on it. 
Well, here’s one comment. I agree on all counts. I have the hits, but that’s not really the point, is it? I feel like I have a bazaar table and everyone walks by…I think it’s making me feel worse. So, no soup for me…
ciarcullen
25 February 2009 at 11:55 am
Ditto.
Godefroi
25 February 2009 at 12:15 pm
thanks for reading!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:26 pm
Exactly! It’s a feeling akin to having a table at a virtual flea market… and when all folks do is walk by your table, you start to question why you showed up and unpacked all your stuff to begin with.. lol
Thanks, though.. your comment is the first one I’ve had in months!
shawn
25 February 2009 at 12:31 pm
Hey, now you have two! I agree with you though. It’s like being hit by a dry avalanche – all weight and no substance.
ian in hamburg
25 February 2009 at 12:31 pm
exactly!
btw.. i fully intend to comment in your blog, too… but i got lost in your 99+1 that doesn’t get to 99…
some of your posts looked insanely interesting though, so i’ll get back there first chance
thanks!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:27 pm
I agree 100% with this post. Alphainventions to me is just a churn and burn approach. I think alot of the “views” are it’s own site pulling up your site over and over so I wouldn’t be thinking all these people are views. To me, the people who keep thanking them for all the hits don’t really understand what is happening. They aren’t “unique visitors” nor are they all true “views”. Great post!
gimmeflak
25 February 2009 at 1:18 pm
Thanks! I think, with some additional development to fine-tune the audience your site is exposed to, alphainventions.com could be the next “killer app” for blogging… until then, though, I think the way you phrased it is perfect: “churn and burn” indeed.
shawn
25 February 2009 at 1:28 pm
It’s like stumbleupon only it seems computer-generated. With SU you can get tons of hits as well, but very few comments, I find.
ian in hamburg
25 February 2009 at 1:41 pm
At times I myself into the rotation repeatedly during the day and I get over a hundred hits and my stats show that many stay and actually spend time on it. Yet, not one of them leaves a comment on any of my articles. Go figure.
As you pointed out, traffic is nice, but if no one is bothering to comment, what’s the point of using the alpha’s site.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 1:52 pm
Yeah, it’s weird.. I’ve had folks read back through my archives, well over a year ago, but still leave no trace.
etre
25 February 2009 at 2:24 pm
Someone from this comment section visited my site today at and didn’t leave a comment? lol.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 4:02 pm
it could have been any one of 2, 959 visitors
lol
you can count on it that i’ll be paying a visit there, too
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:30 pm
I agree with you, but then occasionally – I’ll get a comment. I think I’ve had more comments from people visiting from AlphaInventions than I do from any other source. In general, I think many people don’t comment at WordPress.
Perhaps that’s because I suck and people aren’t interested!
Joseph
25 February 2009 at 2:14 pm
Actually, you bring up an interesting observation (about WP folks not really commenting much). From what I’ve seen, that does indeed bear out a bit – the exceptions would be ‘niche’ blogs that address a community from the outset. Most of the ‘personal’ blogs I’ve run across seem to have only slight participation (although still higher than mine has enjoyed).
etre
25 February 2009 at 2:26 pm
I think you’re brilliant for writing a post about getting so few comments which then drives the comments you seek.
My blog typically averages about 200 hits when I post something new, but when I featured a headline mentioning AlphaInventions I got over 8,000 hits in 24 hours. I think one of those people left a comment.
Then again, the audience is fellow bloggers, right? But I’ve left at least a half dozen comments on other blogs.
I have also checked out a number of different blogs as a result of checking out AI and I’ve learned some cool stuff on some of them.
I’m wondering if anyone out there getting major traffic from AI is using Goggle Analytics to learn more about the traffic they’re getting? Are other folks getting any increased advertising click throughs as a result of the additional traffic?
creativegreenius
25 February 2009 at 2:21 pm
Ya know what? About the time the third comment rolled in for this post, it did hit me that there was some *serious* irony in this post-about-no-comments generating comments..
That’s an interesting question regarding using Google Analytics. Maybe in a day or two, I’ll compose another post about this, but ask that question… wonder how many hits THAT would make for? lol
etre
25 February 2009 at 2:29 pm
I have to say I agree. Hits don’t mean a thing if no one says anything. Even when the hits are actual people does not make much difference if they just hit and go…
I like to converse!
Good blog!
Yeve Eeffoc
25 February 2009 at 3:03 pm
agreed!
and thanks!
will check yours out, too
etre
25 February 2009 at 9:44 pm
well, i tried to anyway.. getting 404
?
etre
25 February 2009 at 11:41 pm
Looks like you lead the horses to water, and they drank because you told them about horses that didn’t drink.
Irony?
Hey guys I it’s only me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make things better. Good job on the feedback.
alphainventions
25 February 2009 at 3:29 pm
Sorry to post 2 comments, but don’t you think it’s time for an update. Your post says you have 0 comments. I promise I’m not antagonizing you.
alphainventions
25 February 2009 at 3:35 pm
lol
honestly, man.. i meant every positive word i said – your service is a kickass way to get traffic. my comments are really directed at the folks that visit but don’t participate at all.
up above this comment, i mentioned that AlphaInventions.com could very well be the next killer-app for blogging, just needs a bit more fine-tuning to get there
great job overall
etre
25 February 2009 at 9:47 pm
Thanks for clearing things up, and for your kind words. I see you’ve got a couple of people getting at each other here.
A lot of people can learn from this blog.
alphainventions
25 February 2009 at 11:24 pm
oh, and i finally got around to updating the post… lol
also, i added an EDIT section at the end.. I don’t want anyone misunderstanding what I’m saying. I really do think Alpha is cool. I see a lot of posts about blogs where the hits are just outrageously going up up up… so my post is more to do with the next question.. as in: “OK, Alpha got you the hits, how would you keep people coming back though? How do you get them to want to stay and talk?”
Definitely keep up the great work, man!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:33 pm
Hi, I too found you on alphainventions, but I don’t quite have the hang of it yet. I watch the blogs flip through while looking to see if mine shows up, then I read enough of others to see if I am interested in them. Then I am such a spaz, by the time I find the pause button it has flipped by already. Since alphainventions found me I have had sooo many more hits than I ever had, but I launched itsfreddiegirlcomics.typepad.com to gain exposure to my new comic strip and my writing. I love getting comments, but I really haven’t done anything to really spark a dialogue with commenters other than whether or not they like it or not, either. I have found that the blogs I have commented on in the past few days, everyone has reciprocated and checked my blog and commented. I think that might be the key. Vicky
Vicky
25 February 2009 at 3:39 pm
you bring up a good point. ultimately, someone has to “make the first move” so to speak.
thanks!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:00 pm
You’re welcome….I’m totally new at this and learning as I go along….and loving it more every day!
Vicky
25 February 2009 at 10:18 pm
I read and rarely post. My blog, gets gets hits and I always wonder who they are. More comments would be nice. But then I would wonder why total stangers were commenting on my blog?
nikimeiners
25 February 2009 at 3:39 pm
lol
thanks for stopping by!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:01 pm
Well let me jump on the band wagon here!! I feel exactly the same way, but how smart of you to get comments by posting a piece about not receving comment! Maybe we’ll start some comment karma here.
Damon L. Jacobs
25 February 2009 at 4:08 pm
no kidding!
it didn’t dawn on me right away that this post might actually generate comments… i would have definitely made this post sooner if i had known!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:03 pm
I paused on your blog on alpha inventions. I write a personal blog and personally I don’t mind if people comment or not, I do like them though. I am happy if people are reading and are hopefully getting something out of it, even if they don’t leave a comment to let me know.
melancholymylove
25 February 2009 at 5:44 pm
thanks for pausing for my pages
I’m just not very good at talking to myself, i think… i bored myself pretty fast.. lol
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:04 pm
It seems a common error to believe that because you don’t get comments, alpha isn’t working. It’s working great. And the comment about the hits just being because you’re showing on alpha is dead wrong. I have a program called Feedjit that shows you the origin of the hits, the place, the operating system, when they arrive and when the leave. They’re real people from all over the world. And some of them do leave comments, if you’re saying anything interesting. It’s up to you. Do you respond when you do get comments? If not, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. Learn how the game is played instead of blaming the game itself.
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 6:46 pm
Hey Shakespeare, obviously you missed the point of why etre wrote this article. After looking at your blog, I see that he has gotten more comments on this one post than your entire site combined. Maybe you just aren’t saying anything interesting. And, if you had taken the time to peruse these comments, you’d see that he does respond.
If you see blogging as a game than apparently, it is you who doesn’t know “how the game is played”. But then I guess you’ve no one to blame for that, but yourself.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 7:50 pm
I’m sorry you completely misunderstood my comments. I, on the other hand understood the author quite well. As to whether or not i’m saying anything interesting, my base of 350+ regular readers would seem to indicate that I am. Given that i’ve only been blogging for two months, i’m given to understand that is quite an accomplishment. It represents more than 30% of my daily readership, and incidentally, I average 4,000 pages hits a day, so while you might be underwhelmed by my blog, i’d say that says more about you than it does about me. My post, unlike yours, was not defamatory, I was making general observations about blogging. I wonder why you chose to see it as negative and felt the need to leap to the defense of someone who can obviously fend for themselves. No matter, I stand by what I said, and i’m sure intelligent people took it the way it was intended, including the owner of this blog.
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 8:03 pm
Further to my comments, I found it interesting that you place a negative connotation on the word game. As a writer I have always enjoyed the game of writing as much as I enjoy my other pasttime, photography, also a great game. As for blame, i’ll leave that to the bitter and disillusioned, for it is they who frequently use it as a bludgeon on those who take joy in what they do and excel at it. Hope your blog is going well.
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 8:21 pm
Actually, I’ve got nothing but good stuff to say about Alpha. I’ve pointed out a few user-centric ways that I think it could be improved, but like I commented earlier today: with a little tweaking, it could very well be the next killer app for blogging.
I’ve been blogging in one form or another and building web presences since ‘94, so I definitely know the game. My post isn’t so much about the game itself as about how differently the game is played from one blog(ger) to the next. As I indicated in my post and comments, I am absolutely appreciative for the exposure Alpha has given me. I’ve just been talking to myself for a long time on here, and would love to start talking to others.
Great comment, thanks for posting!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:11 pm
I like your edited version of this article, which I was sure you started to garner comments. And, I agree about Alpha. It has a tremendous amount of potential. With some modicum of financial backing (these days? Hmmm.) I’ve no doubt that the owner of the site will take it to a whole new level.
btw, excuse the little diatribe between godlessmonkey and myself. It wasn’t my intention to highjack your article. It just happened. I’ll go away now back to blogging to myself.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 10:37 pm
hey, no worries… back when I was actually hoping for regular commentary, I used to have a text box in my sidebar stating my commitment to not delete any comments ever, unless they were spam or just baseless-hate-speech messages
i agree w/ Vicky.. it’s been quite entertaining!
etre
26 February 2009 at 10:04 am
LOL, I definitely have to comment on the post about no comments that has 22 comments.:) Love it! Internet magic, go figure!;)
Peace~
lovinginthenow
25 February 2009 at 6:57 pm
Yeah, guess I should update the original post, huh? lol
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:12 pm
Well…what do you want, really? Hits…I’ve got a lot from alphainventions, but what does that means? As I see it – its like the window-shoppers at the mall…a couple of real buyers, that’s all! Having said that I think you’d get a lot of exposures…cheers man
merahza
25 February 2009 at 8:53 pm
Good analogy, and as with window shoppers, if they’re enticed by what they see they’ll buy, if not, then they won’t. Doesn’t necessarily say anything about the quality of your merchandise, but it might. What counts in the number of returns you get, especially those who return 10+ times. That tells the real story of how good your blog is. Well, to those who read it anyway…
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 9:04 pm
excellent comparison!
cheers!
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:13 pm
Just calling a spade a spade. Ending your comment with “… you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. Learn how the game is played instead of blaming the game itself,” is nothing short of lecturing and insulting. As for the rhetoric I used in calling you on it, that was in no way, shape or form defamatory nor, by your backhanded inference, does it give you enough information to characterize me as bitter, disillusioned or unintelligent. I simply put it back on you and obviously you didn’t like the fit.
To answer your query about why I would “leap to the defense of someone who can obviously fend for themselves”, I just like to take people’s comments, such as yours, to task and you did exactly what I knew you would do… back peddle. If you didn’t intend your comment to put etre in a position to fend for himself, then why use the word “fend?”
Hope your blog gets more comments.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 10:04 pm
Again, you want to tell me what I meant by what I said. Your arrogance is breathtaking. Back peddle? I have nothing to back peddle on. I don’t let my mouth write checks my ass can’t cover.You don’t know me at all, and the people who do would not recognize me from your comments. I have no idea what your problem is, but I do sincerely hope you seek help.
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 10:10 pm
Arrogant? Me? Wow, thanks. And thanks for the advice that I should seek help. I think what would really help is for me to kick someone ass, or get a good ass kicking. Either will suffice.
Come back to see me any time junior, that is when you learn how take responsibility for what you write. I’ll keep the light on.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 10:26 pm
That’s something i’ve always done. If you took the blinders off you’d be able to see that. What I don’t do is tell other people what they meant by what they said, that is the epitomy of arrogance.
And by the way, unless that’s an old picture of you, you’re the junior, not me. One more thing you’ve gotten wrong.
godlessmonkey
25 February 2009 at 10:51 pm
61 here… junior, and proud of it. If you weren’t so self-absorbed you would have at least had the courtesy of going to my blog (like I went to yours) and seen my picture.
Lets see, you “don’t tell people what they meant by what they say” Let me read that again, without my blinders… Nope, the blinders don’t seem to interfere with my perceptions. Sorry.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 11:06 pm
Fair enough, I had a look around your blog. I like the layout. Clean, uncluttered, good use of color. I also like your writing style. Good voice.
Now, If you’d like to give me an example of telling others what they meant, i’m listening. By the way, you don’t look 61. You have a couple of years on me, so i’ll say fair cop on the junior comment.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 12:07 am
Damned, with all those compliments, you’re making it awfully tough for me to want to continue beating up on you.
Should we just kiss and makeup?
Jim
26 February 2009 at 12:19 am
Ok, but no tongue on the first date.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 1:23 am
Alpha Inventions has helped a lot of people find my blog, but I also wonder why more people don’t leave comments. Then I realize when I click on Web sites I find through AI, I often don’t leave comments, though I do leave them occasionally if I feel I have something worthwhile to add to the conversation.
The way I look at it is this: At least I know people are checking out my blog. If they don’t leave a comment, maybe that’s because they don’t really care about what I wrote – OR – my preference is to believe they agree with my commentary or at least respect it enough not to denigrate the comments section with uninformed or mean remarks.
Craig Wieczorkiewicz
25 February 2009 at 10:34 pm
Great points. Yeah, I think my total hit count for almost 1.5 years of this blog on WP.com was somewhere around 40… lol.. and most of those were me when I wasn’t logged in…
etre
25 February 2009 at 10:37 pm
That sounds about right. I leave comments on maybe 10% of the ones I visit, but then again i’m self-absorbed. Or is it enlightened self interest?
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 1:23 am
I don’t how know how you did it. Must your writing skills are good and my suck. At the moment there are over twenty people reading my blog’s article about your article and not one of them is leaving a comment. I’m think that it’s a conspiracy headed up by godlessmonkey.
Jim
25 February 2009 at 11:55 pm
You’re on to me. I’m nefarious. First I take etre’s blog, then yours, then the rest of the blogosphere.
Seriously though, there are several reasons people don’t comment, I really don’t think it has anything to do with Alpha.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 12:10 am
I don’t think anyone has assigned any blame to Alpha. In fact it’s been lauded.
The reason I don’t get any comments is because the majority of my visitors, short of the few, well, actually two, who have been commenting here, are from Mizoram, the 23rd state of India. They apparently don’t speak English, and I don’t have a translation flag on my blog for their country.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 12:26 am
The Google translator doesn’t have it? I put that one on mine, but I have no idea if anyone is using it.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 1:21 am
I was kidding. I never even heard of Mizoram until I watched a National Geographic program about how it’s bamboo forrest is suffering from rat infestation.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 7:33 am
No, no, I wasn’t saying blame had been assigned, only that the lack of comments had nothing to do with the hits having come from Alpha.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 11:02 am
I agree.
Based on the stats you gave me last night in respect to the amount of visitors on your blog, you’re obviously doing something right. It’s taken me six months just to get a couple of hundred a day with only 15 subscribers and that’s because of Alpha.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 11:09 am
maybe one of us should author a post entitled “lots of comments resulting from posting about lack of comments” or something? that would likely do the trick!
we could all just trade out.. i’ve had my turn… next is you, then godlessmonkey can have a go
etre
26 February 2009 at 12:24 am
Excellent idea. I’d do it, but then the title might confuse Google’s search engine. I don’t want to risk losing the two-three visitors it directs to my site daily.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 12:34 am
Thanks for commenting on my blog etre and Jim…oh, I just updated it if you want to check it out again. I did ask a question of my readers to spark comments…let’s see how it goes. Oh, and to you and Jim and Godless Monkey…your comments to each other are much better than anything you could see on one of the tv newschannels! I’m loving the comments on your blog at least, in case I don’t get anymore on mine!
Vicky
Vicky
26 February 2009 at 1:00 am
So after posting that you’ve been getting no comments via alphainventions, not only do you know have more than 60 comments, you’ve got your very own little flame war happening!
Thanks for coming over to mine and leaving that thoughtful comment, btw. Are you Canadian by any chance?
ian in hamburg
26 February 2009 at 1:53 am
flame war? nah. godlessmonkey and I were just busting each other’s balls. We are now life long friends. Isn’t that right godless?
Jim
26 February 2009 at 7:30 am
Yes, but there will still be no tongue.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 11:06 am
I’d rather have my eye balls slowly carved out with a white hot dull butter knife.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 11:17 am
Actually, I’m Texan, living in Canada for about a decade now…
etre
26 February 2009 at 10:00 am
Yeah, I was born there too. It’s a good place to be from.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 11:05 am
That’s for sure. Too many damned Baptists.
Jim
26 February 2009 at 11:13 am
Flame war? Oh my. I’ve been on the web for more than 15 years now, nothing here even faintly resembles a flame war. I’ve seen exchanges where the participants needed to be wearing asbestos underwear.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 11:04 am
After all the hype last night about AlphaInventions and now it appears to be frozen on “Please Wait…”
Jim
26 February 2009 at 10:06 am
Shift happens. But only if you hit the back button.
godlessmonkey
26 February 2009 at 11:05 am