I am a huge fan of talk radio.

I live in Abbotsford, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. One of the drawbacks to living here is having to deal with the lack of “traffic flow” on our highways. Rather than reducing my otherwise perfect character to the level of those going 80 km/h in the 100km/h zone by engaging in road rage related activity, I take the opportunity to listen to the airwaves, specifically talk radio. It’s probably why I enjoy blogs.

I feel that blogging is simply taking talk radio onto the medium of the internet.

Topic

Normally, I flip between two stations, CKNW 980 and The Team 1040. CKNW is the station with everything including the kitchen sink. It has blocks of time in its schedule to deal with news, politics, sports, health, and even home maintenance. It requires it’s hosts to keep the audience engaged if the topic is not relevant. The Team 1040 is the 24 hours a day sports station. It isn’t the host that people turn into, as much as the topic.

Blogs fall into either camp as well. I will read Rob’s personal blog because I know Rob. I may not comment on every post, but I will pay attention to what he says, because I like his writing. On the other hand, Effective Web Ministry Notes is about the topic of Web Ministry. I am interested in the topic, not caring who the author is.

To comment, or not to comment

If you have listened to talk radio, you would have heard the words, “Long time listener, first time caller.” What makes the person dial the number they have heard so many times before for the first time? They may have thought about phoning in previously but something prevented them.

Blogs are the same way. I may not comment if someone has already said what I would say, I don’t think my comment will be read, or I’m afraid that if I send in my comment, I will get jumped on for having a view that doesn’t fit what everyone else is saying.

Passion

Whether it is talk radio or blogging, you want to bring out the passion in your readership to encourage them to engage. If your readers all agree with you, your passion for the subject has to create the desire in your audience that they want to let everyone know that they do agree with you. If your readership is split, capitalize on the controversy and encourage those that disagree to give their opinions.

On TruthMedia’s blog where we talk about The Da Vinci Code, we average over 10 comments per blog entry. One entry is at 245 comments and is still engaging readers and commenters. From what I’ve seen, our commenting audience is split into four groups.

1. Christian Apologists
2. The DaVinci Code Supporters
3. Unsure [Not sure what the controversy is about]
4. Trolls

The first two groups generate the majority of useful comments. Useful comments are those that offer value to the conversation. The third group offer their opinions, usually with spelling mistakes, or ask a question which the other groups jump on. The fourth group should stay under their bridge.

It’s a lot like talk radio. Think of Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern. Their ratings are high because they have learned how to generate passion in their audience and callers regardless of the topic.

How do YOU generate passion in your audience?