Change Conversations

Jan 19, 2012

When my friend Launie first started writing her blog Teeny Tiny Kitchen two years ago, she picked a subject she cares about and a skill that she rocks; cooking food. She had been reading blogs for years on various subjects, but food was always in the mix. As the blogosphere started taking shape and the cream rose to the top, she began to see what separated a decent blog from a great one. She noticed that some of the more popular food blogs, and some of the more obscure ones she liked had great photography.

Writing great text is hard enough, but doing it consistently and on a regular basis is even more difficult (as evidence, I submit my string of posts on this site). Being a writer, Launie had this part nailed as well. She had been in and around photography for years, but it had always been a passive hobby. She had a natural eye for photography, but an occasonial experiment or a carefully framed shot was pretty much the extent to which she flexed her shutterbug muscles. When she started writing the blog she totally threw herself into food photography by studying the professionals and experimenting with lighting, misting and other techniques while using her high end digital SLR camera.

Food Blogging on the Cheap - Teeny Tiny Kitchen

The blog has been rolling along and steadily picking up steam since she began. Her articles have been published on Conde Naste, CNN and she’s part of the BlogHer Network among others. I guess she knew the day was coming when she would be popular enough to attract Comment Trolls, but was she prepared with a plan to deal with them?

Wikipedia defines a Troll as: In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response.

I asked Launie a few questions about her new problem.

Me: So what kind of Comment Troll posting was it?
Launie: Well, for my first time it was pretty gentle. He/she was the “questioning” type of troll. “Why would you make something from scratch when you can buy that in the store or on Amazon?” With the implied “Wow are you dumb,” tone.

Me: Were you able to find anything out about the Troll?
Launie: He/she is a restaurant reviewer in California.

Me: Did you leave the comment up?
Launie: It was benign, so I let it slide.
Me: Did anybody else comment on the post, or on the Troll?
Launie: It was the first time I’ve ever had readers use the “down fonze” on a comment. (“Down Fonz” =thumbs down.) And I had a couple of sweet comments. The strange thing is, you would think that food would be the most gentle of things to write about – and it’s not. In fact, last week I had a really bizarre experience. I do food writing for a cool community on line, and over the holidays I put up a recipe for a roasted fruit salad. Most people really liked it, but one person called me a “bitch” (jokingly at the time) because I had posted a “healthy” recipe. But for some reason, this person wouldn’t let it go, and then they suggested that they should write my next column because I hadn’t written an appropriate holiday post. Readers and the editors explained that I had been writing the column for close to a year and that – no, someone couldn’t just take over my food column. I apologized to the person, if only to keep the drama at bay because it was escalating quickly. And then the proverbial you-know-what hit the fan. The person who had taken umbrage with my holiday post quit the website with a dramatic (and profanity filled) exit. Other commenters kept the fight going for two days. I stayed out of the fray except for the initial apology and just watched this whole bizarre thing unfold. Two people stopped speaking to each other, and others came close to that. All because of a fruit salad.

It could have been worse though, I’ve read about food writers having their children threatened. And one woman food writer posted about  the frightening hate mail she receives. (Scroll halfway down the page.)
So, the first “troll” on our blog was harmless in comparison. And I know that it’s the Internet – and more importantly – I know everyone isn’t going to like what I write, but it’s amazing how worked up people can get over a recipe.

So the moral of the story is, if you write a blog and you let your readers submit comments, prepare to deal with the trolls when your blog starts getting to be popular. I included two good resources to help you below.

Related articles

How to Deal With Comment Trolls Both On and Away From Your Blog: Danny Brown

How To Deal With Comment Trolls: Amy Schmittauer

Nov 24, 2011

If you were still wondering whether or not you needed a mobile website after we last discussed the subject earlier this year, we have some new information for you. Although we have to assume the mobile share of overall web consumption is still quite small until the stats come out early next year, its incredible growth rate and consumer behavior changes mean you need to revisit your mobile website needs regularly.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

New Stats

• One new nugget of information that may help tip the scales comes from Efficient Frontier. They claim that by the end of 2012, 22% of of all search advertising spending will be for mobile devices, including tablets. That’s up from 8% projected at the end of 2011, and roughly 4% at the close of 2010.

Here are a few more stats from Mobi Thinking:

• Many mobile Web users are mobile-only, i.e., they do not use, or very rarely use a desktop, laptop or tablet to access the Web. Even in the U.S., 25 percent of mobile Web users are mobile-only.
• Over half of U.S. mobile ad spending is local.
• Mobile searches have quadrupled in the last year, for many items one in seven searches are now mobile.

Local business?

So now that you have a few more facts to consider, let’s put them into context. Chances are, your business is one that is locally oriented. Whether you have a brick and mortar store front, or you provide services either on-site or on location, you need to target your local audience. You can see from the facts above that your competition is aware of this and they are targeting their search advertising locally. A good mix of SEO and SEM will make sure your customers see you in the mobile SERPs, but if they click on your link and your website comes up as a microscopic version of what they would see on a desktop monitor, they will be checking out your competition before you can say “lost opportunity.”

Consumer products?

Your strategy for targeting mobile users may vary if you’re in the business of selling physical products, as opposed to services. Users are now able to compare products while in the act of shopping, so having your information available in a mobile friendly format and available across different product directory websites is key to getting or staying ahead of your competition. This kind of optimization can be very extensive and needs to be carefully considered to ensure a decent return on the investment of time and money.

Service business?

If you’re in the service business, you should still have a mobile-formatted presence —— one where a user can learn what you do for any given aspect of your offerings without having to zoom in or pan over your site to navigate or read the content. Mobile users want their information quick and clean, more so than somebody who is sitting in front of a laptop and way more than somebody sitting at desktop computer.

When is the right time?

The number and percentage of mobile users keeps going up, and will for quite a few years before it levels off. You might need to jump in to reach your customers before the pool is too crowded and all the good spots are taken.