Are there benefits in having an unread blog?

Most people who blog about their profession (as opposed to, say, people who are keeping a journal for their own records or for their family and friends) like the idea of lots of people reading their blogs. But are there any advantages to having a blog that nobody reads?

The Alex cartoonist seems to think so, as can be seen in this wry look at blogging as a -- well, I won't give the punchline away. Read it, and smile.

Comments

[Colin Maxwell]

Most personal diaries (back in the day when people kept diaries) were usually unread by others and had little chance of being read. At least blogs are public and have the potential to be read. I have wondered whether I should bother keeping a blog too, as I receive very few comments. It seems that I have very few readers, then suddenly I get comment at a conference or someone links to my blog on Twitter and they tell me they enjoyed a particular post or have tried something I blogged about. It makes it worthwhile, I guess. I just wish blogs were more conversational. Few people leave comments. People are more likely to leave a 140 character message on Twitter than take time to digest and constructively comment on a blogpost.

[Nic Patterson (teachesict)]

I have only recently started my own blog and whilst I agree with Colin that it would be great to have it more 'conversational' with lots of comments, this certainly shuldn't be the aim. I toyed with starting a blog for a couple of years and finally decided to create one as a way of 'thinking out aloud' and getting my thoughts on paper. If someone happens to stumble across my posts or they are mentioned on twitter, then it is great to think that someone else has found my thoughts interesting. I shall continue to post (maybe unread) and will look forward to seeing the odd comment once in a while! http://teachesict.wordpress.com

[Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant]

Hi, both
I, too, used to find it frustrating that comments on blog posts are not all in one place, but have sort of come to live with it. In a way it's better, because (a) there are fewer of them to read, in any one place at least, and (b) it probably makes more of a buzz to have reactions in several places rather than only one.

I know what you mean, Nic, about conversation not being the main aim, but in a way it is, surely?