Blogging Insights #3–What is your opinion of “question posts”?

Thought provokers OR Time pass?

Question posts, where a blogger posts one or more questions for readers to answer, are quite popular on the web. You can answer them in the comments section or write a separate post in reply.

It is the norm to link back to the “questioner” in your answering post.

But what is the place of such posts in the blogosphere and on social media in general?

I have listed a few questions below to gather what people think about these question posts. You can answer them by leaving a reply in my comments section or create an independent post. If you are making a reply as a separate post please tag it:

#question posts

My Questions

1. Do you respond to question posts?

2. What kind do you prefer, the single “long form” question or the “questionnaire ” type with several questions?

3. Do you feel such posts add value to your blog?

4. When faced with insightful questions how much of your personality are you willing to reveal?

5. Do you think people answer question posts truthfully?

My Answers

1. Do you respond to question posts?

Oh yes! I enjoy answering question posts. I find them thought provoking and stimulating.

2. What kind do you prefer, the single “long form” question or the “questionnaire ” type with several questions?

I guess it is difficult to generalise here. This varies both with my frame of mind and with the particular question. Some of my posts which I like best have resulted from the single or long form type of question. Examples of this would be my responses to :

FPQ#41: “The past is always tense, the future perfect.”

What is it that you feel you never have enough time for?

3. Do you feel such posts add value to your blog?

Definitely , the single question format often sets me thinking and writing. A whole new original post can emerge this way, something that I would not have thought of writing had it not been for this question.

The short quiz type questions are much more fun to do. Their biggest advantage is that they can be done while you are on the go.I usually make a draft of them and fill in the answers sometimes while travelling, in queues, even during short snippets of time at home (e.g. waiting for the kettle to boil).

Once I finish, I can edit and hit the Publish or Schedule button. This way my blog can keep going even when I can’t sit down and pay attention to it. Some purist bloggers might disagree, but I think this adds value to my blog.

4. When faced with insightful questions how much of your personality are you willing to reveal?

I am at heart quite a private person and don’t feel comfortable sharing my personal life on the web. Surprisingly, I don’t mind revealing my personal likes and dislikes in answer to the short questions.

My writing/blogging personality is a different cup of tea altogether : I love to share it at length. I love holding forth for paragraphs on end in answer to the longer single questions.

5. Do you think people answer question posts truthfully?

Yes and No.

It depends on the question.

If it is something simple like “Tea or coffee, which do you prefer?” I think everyone is candid. When the question is more personal or controversial, I don’t think anyone will lie outright, but they can be economical with the truth. In some situations, discretion IS the better part of valour.

Some of my favourite “question posts”

Here I am going to list some of the question posts that I regularly enjoy doing and link back to them. Do try them out if you are not a fan already.

Single questions

Fandango’s Provocative Question #FPQ

Question of the Day

Several short questions

Share Your World #SYW

The Daily Four

Image Credits : Pixabay