As you maybe saw, I have yet to comment on last Friday's comic. Partly that's because I have little to say besides "eh" but that's never stopped me before. I've been very busy and will be for the next two weeks. It's possible I will have time to write some quick posts and it's possible I will do some kind of end of the week summary of the week's comics. I'm not sure yet.
Anyway I figured this is as good a time as any to reflect on the monster I have created here and what its future is.
It's been about 4 months since I started this blog. That means it's been around, oh, approximately 3 months and 28 days longer than I was expecting. I have come to love it in a strange way, and this is emphatically not an announcement about ending the blog. I have no plans at all to end it.
However - I am wondering if there are any changes you would like to see. On my end, it's basically been the same deal - each time there's a new xkcd up, I read it, think about why it's bad, tell myself I should give it another chance, check the forums to make sure I'm not missing something important, and then, usually just before the next one goes up, I write the post. Occasionally some other topic comes up and I write about that.
So there are a few ideas I've had and I am curious which ones you guys think you'd like. For example -
---Branch out - talk about other webcomics more (sort of like the PBF post)
---Mock the forum-dwellers with more regularity - perhaps a weekly post making fun of one commenter in particular
---Go back and analyze some of the older comics, both good and bad
--a variant of that: Intersperse my generally negative comments about the newest comics with analysis of good older ones and why I think they work well
---Tone - meaner? Nicer?
--- More posts from other people
Should I write more? Less? Should I skip the occasional comic that doesn't interest me?
Anything sound good? Or do you have your own brilliant idea?
Basically I am looking for any and all feedback. As usual, put it in the comments or e-mail czwheeler@gmail.com .
Monday, August 25, 2008
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Use more limericks, haiku, and sonnets. And villanelles.
ReplyDeleteSeriously.
I wouldn't mind seeing your take on the forums. I think the sycophants there are part of what's allowed Randall to get so lazy.
ReplyDeletePlease ignore comics that you don't care about. There's nothing more boring than "meh. whatever."
ReplyDeleteI don't really like the idea of pointedly making fun of specific people (rather than making fun of the whole forum, or a specific thread or trend), but that's because I'm a softie who doesn't like inter-site flame wars. The denizens of the xkcd forum seem like the type of Goons who'd flame out quite a bit over any slight.
What Sarah said, plus they'd start examining our snarkiness and I'm only comfortable with feeling better than others, not equal to them. However, judging a mass reaction to a comic is always a good time.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite posts of yours often bring up older xkcd's (especially ones showing how Randall breaks his own rule-punchlines). If you feel truly indifferent about a certain comic, I would advise that you outsource the rant to a willing guest or attach it to a different comic's post with "About Friday's comic: not bad. On with the show!"
Your mean/nice scale has been pretty well-tuned so far. Just be outright in calling the shitty comics shitty and being a kind analyst when you think a comic is onto something.
I suggest making fun of the forums when there is nothing really interesting to say about a particular comic (or it happens not to suck).
ReplyDeleteI actually like all of the ideas presented on the blog and in these comments, except for the ones for restraint.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else think Randall may be reading this site and has given Carl a breather for now by posting a meme-related chart?
ReplyDeleteC'mon Carl, make up your mind before the dick jokes start back up!
Compare new comics to comics that may have the same general punchline, or even old XKCD comics. I don't think it's enough to tell what's bad about a comic, tell what should replace the material.
ReplyDelete