UUA Blog Survey - my answers

on Rev Dan Harper's blog, I read about the UUA blog survey
http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/blogging/118457.shtml

so let me offer mine on this, a history blog!


1. Why do you blog? What goals do you have for your blog?
I blog because I have to - the world of the old Universalist Church in the south is full of wonderful people and wonderful stories - my goal is to bring those people and those stories back to today's world -

2. Who is your intended audience?
those few folks who want to know about Universalism in the south prior to the merger.

3. Who owns your blog? Does it belong to you as individual or to your congregation
or other organization?
By US copyright law, I own it.

4. How frequently do you post?
Not that frequently, I have to find something worth noting. Plus I work for a living, have a family, have other responsibilities - there are people who want to know why I dont write more about comic art of the 1940s- those people dont read this blog! I wonder why I dont canoe more.... I do tell my wife to kick me in the shins when I'm in public and start talking about Universalist history.....
5. What is the tone of your blog?
Well I do have hearing loss..... and am partialy tone deaf.... :-)

6. What steps do you take to make sure that your blog is a safe space, both for you
and for other participants? Do you have a code of conduct?
I have a general "g" rating for this blog (the last time I ran one of those blog rating devices) -
ususally folks reading history blogs arent the dangerous type, so I dont have too much problems with that.... I moderate comments, and I toss out abusive, semi-abusive, and spam comments.
If you want to abuse someone or something, start your own blog.


7. What kinds of boundaries do you observe around confidentiality?
Well most of the folks I talk about have been dead 100 years....
I did find an interesting story about a member of a pronimant southern Universalist family that I was tickled by and wanted to run. However I figured that there are living folks who knew the person, and that's where I draw the line at that kind of story. So I say 75 +years. If it happened in 1933, then it's might be ok - otherwise I think, would i want that told about my grandparents?

8. How do you respond to comments and e-mail from readers?
I try to answer all email - I have been just posting comments, I now try to say something - even if just "thanks". Posting a comment is putting forth an effort to communicate, so I should do the same.

9. What are the most challenging aspects of blogging in your experience?
Living a life and blogging at the same time.

10. What are the most rewarding aspects of blogging in your experience?
being quoted in a book about bbq and being quoted in UU World --- Well seriously, its having folks say "I never knew my great grandfather was an Universalist" - -- evangelizing Universalism (even if it's 150 year old Universalism).

11. What advice would you give to Unitarian Universalists who are new to blogging
and want to get started?

first, be an UU for at least a couple of years - dont blog to re-kindle your UU spirit - and most importantly, to quote one of my favorite UU ministers, "Find a need and fill it".


12. How do you evaluate the success of your blog? What have been your most
successful blog posts or series?

I blog to share, not for fame or fortune. This blog IS successful because it shows people that Universalists (and Unitarians) were here in the south for the past 200+ years. It's roots go deep, and it's no longer hidden.


13. What do you wish you had done differently in your blogging?
Use spell check more often. Had somebody else do these blogs on a weekly basis.

14. What other online tools do you use to promote your blog? (i.e. social networking
sites, Twitter, social bookmarking tools, etc.)

hmm, isn't that cheating? ;-) I feel bad enough that my google count is so high on certain topics.

15. Do you use a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed? How many subscribers do
you have?
yes, the built in RSS feed. I have no idea - not many subscribers, most of my readers don't know you can subscribe.

16. Do you track site traffic? How many unique visitors do you have per day (on
average)?
I do - average of 11. (not bad for obscure history)

17. Do you find Unitarian Universalist Association resources helpful to you as a
blogger? What additional resources could we provide to Unitarian Universalist
bloggers?
? there are UUA resources for bloggers?

18. Please write any additional comments or suggestions.
we need more history blogs! I want to read about NY Univeralists (did you know at one time NY had more Universalist Churches than Mass?) - I want someone to do Unitarians in the south - I want someone to take over the history of Kentucky and West Virginia Universalists!

sr <-- the blogmeister