I'm still writing Part III of my series of posts comparing corporate media and personal media (Part I, Part II). In the interim let's look back at something I posted in November of 2004: Feedback: Bloggers vs. Reporters. I looked specifically at the feedback mechanisms available to traditional reporters and bloggers.
With most of the major blogging software any blogger can receive feedback in a number of ways:Stats
Traditional web server stats, via your server or a service such as SiteMeter, allow a blogger to know basic information about how many readers they may have (i.e. readership/circulation). Stats will let you know page views, session lengths, referrals, search phrases, etc.Comments
One of the more powerful tools of the blog. Anybody (in most cases) can provide a comment about what you have written. A conversation begins. In some cases a comment may provide a correction, or more information on the subject.TrackBacks/Links
TrackBacks allow the blogger to know who is linking to their blog. In a sense a blogger can begin to see what type of influence they have on the blogosphere. A-List bloggers often have up to a hundred or more trackbacks for a single post. That's influence.
Bloggers have always benefited from these feedback tools. Journalists that are starting to blog might also receive the same benefit.
