You subscribers to the Cranach blog constitute a “fit audience.” You want to be here, we have common interests, and you are committed to what we are doing with this blog. Notice the high quality of the discussions since Patheos switched us to the subscription model. No more trolls or drive-by commenters who don’t understand what we are talking about. Just readers who are trying to think through issues, not always agreeing with each other, but joining together in a friendly conversation.
Right now, we are somewhere south of 100 subscribers. The fit audience is “few.” That’s OK. I’m not going to get wealthy with a mass audience, though I’m already making three times as much with the subscription model as I was with advertising. But I’m dropping down from around 2,000 readers per day to 100. That is hard to take, I admit. I know it would be better for the cause to continue t0 reach a big audience, but, at this stage of my life, I am more likely to retire from blogging, as I have from my day job, than to go back to what I was doing. So I am kind of excited to write for a limited, defined, and receptive audience. That is a different kind of writing, to be sure, but I am looking forward to it, and, since you are paying for this, I will do my very best.
One thing I have always wanted to do is form an online community around this blog, similar to what we had in its earliest days, only more so. I know that only a fraction of readers make comments, and that’s fine. (I have been told by several readers that they would like to comment, but have been scared to do so, due to the toxic nature of so many open-ended comment threads, something I hope to eliminate.) But I need to know about my readers. Plus, I think it will enhance your experience if you know at least a little about each other.
So today, to the extent you feel comfortable, please introduce yourselves. Long-time commenters kind of know each other, from years of online interaction, but other readers don’t know you. And in order to know my new audience, I would like to get a sense of where you are coming from and what topics you are most interested in.
Vocation is an important theme of this blog, so I’d like to hear about, but I’m less interested in what you do for a living–th0ugh mention that if you want to–as your callings in the estates of the family (married? single? a parent? a child?), the state (where are you from and where abouts do you live? how do you line up politically?), and the church (what is your church affiliation? how would you describe your theology?).
I’d also like to know what you are interested in. What causes do you feel strongly about? What blog topics most intrigue you? And anything else you’d like to say.
Even if you don’t normally comment, I’d like to hear from you. For one thing, I am giving my subscribers a pre-approved status so that the “nanny-bot” on the Disqus comment software won’t censor your comment for “restricted words,” such as “bag,” “beer,” and similar non-obscenities. I need for you to comment in order to give you this pre-approval. I suppose if you aren’t signed up with Disqus, this is not an issue, but if you someday do want to comment, I want you to be able to.
I plan to keep up with the comments and sometimes to join in the discussions myself. I will delete actual obscenities, as well as personal insults and other kinds of bad online behavior, even from those who pay for the privilege, though I don’t expect that to be much of a problem. If we sort of know each other, social restraints can kick in, as opposed to the uninhibited viciousness that so easily emerges on the anonymous internet.
Another thing I want to do is occasionally host forums for prayer requests, issues that beg for discussion, and topics you want to raise. Those will generally be in addition to the regular posts that I put up for every day.
Their sign will be Cranach’s seal–the dragon, winged and crowned–that Lucas Cranach, drawing on his coat of arms, used to sign his paintings. That was a logo of this blog from its earliest days, whose spirit I hope to continue.
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