Friday, 22 May 2009

State of the Blog: stars, contact and summer slowdown

Friday, 22 May 2009
I'm debating whether or not to overhaul my star-rating system this summer. Currently I have a 5-star system, but I'm a little concerned that so few reviews ever get a 1-star or 5-star review -- which makes it closer to a 3-star system in reality. No?

Anyway, I'm wondering if: (a) 4-star ratings would be better, (b) if half-stars should be added, to flesh out the spectrum of opinion, or (c) a mix of both new ideas. Any thoughts? I may just keep it the same, for fear of fixing what's not broken, but it would be nice to hear reader opinion. Do you like the fact 1 and 5 star reviews are relatively rare? Does that make them "special", for opposing reasons?

Also, a few little reminders about ways to follow the blog and leave comments:

Twitter. If you don't want to find out my address and follow me around with a pair of binoculars, then good. It's much easier to "follow me" on Twitter, anyway. I'm not overly keen on the latest time-waster social networking tool, but it's another way to be notified of blog updates and I sometimes drop in some comments, web-links and oh-so-funny 140-character quips. You may even learn when I'm drinking tea, about to go out for a walk, or on the toilet. Modern technology, eh. Marvelous.

Followers. Another way to follow along is to use Google's new Friends Connect system most blogs have adopted. I currently have 24 followers, so feel free to boost that number.

Comments. Remember, you don't have to sign-up with Disqus to post a comment in my blog. You can comment anonymously; quickly and easily. But, regular talkbackers: why not add an icon to replace those anonymous grey-box faces? It's always nice to see some pictures! It brightens the place up. As Rob, Dom, Camille, Stephen and others will attest.

Finally, TV is beginning to slow down for the summer break, as I mentioned recently. But, if summer '09 is anything like last year, there'll still be plenty to review and be getting on with. I already know that True Blood S2, Chuck S2 and Torchwood S3 will be fixtures of DMD over the next few months.