I am listening to Eric Baumer present this paper at CHI 2008. It seems fitting to blog while listening….

Baumer, E., M. Sueyoshi, B. Tomlinson. 2008. “Exploring the Role of the Reader in the Activity of Blogging.” In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2008). Florence, Italy.

I think the paper will be available on Bill Tomlinson’s web page.

One of the interesting things Eric mentioned is that readers are much more forgiving of a blog of their friend than a blog of a stranger. They tolerate lame posts and poor visual design of friends, but not of strangers. (hmm, I hope I pass this stranger-test, but perhaps not always!) They also forgive erratic posting. I’m trying to fix that by posting this!

Both types of readers enjoy the random personal tidbits added to the otherwise professional blog, because it humanizes the blogger and makes the reader feel a personal connection to the blogger.

I recommend the paper based on his talk, and I definitely plan to read it.

Here’s my personal tidbit to keep you coming back for more… British Airways lost my luggage 9 days ago when I arrived in Scotland. I am now in Italy and have had to buy a new wardrobe, which is both excellent and kind of a pain. It has been quite an adventure and BA has been everything but helpful.