If you’ve followed whatifitdid.com for long, you pretty much know what to expect. You expect to see my hounds, Libby and Gracie. You expect posts that are rich in photos, talk about taking them, polishing them and what/who is depicted in those I choose to share. You expect to hear about the burg, relive memories I have from growing up in my small town, and hear about current happenings that revolve around my family and friends. You expect posts about things I find amusing and a link or two provided to crazy finds. You know that I will talk about current events (primarily crime/justice/Nancy Grace) from time to time. You expect posts about customer service, marketing, advertising and the Internet — because you know a big part of my life is my work. You expect Perry to post an occasional sports commentary.
I’m surprised (and flattered) that I have visitors — I don’t know why, but yet the number of you increase month after month — and I’m not talking about HITS, I’m talking unique visits. So what would happen if when you visited here tomorrow, you found that this had transformed into….say a political blog? Would you keep coming back?
On blogs that I follow, I feel like I get to know the writer. And, occasional posts that don’t fit the norm are expected (sort of like this one) — I’ll skim over the topic and go on. But when a blog you follow changes dramatically, and you’re no longer getting what you expect — you want to stop following, but you’re loyal to the point you don’t really want to. Like… what’s up with the dude I’ve followed for over 2 years who now posts nothing but plugs about a new book, lizard brain this and lizard brain that, and long-winded blah blah blah stuff that I simply don’t care enough about to get to the end. What’s he thinking? I feel like the little girl that opened up her happy meal and got a toy for a boy! Woah – that’s not what I expected, and it’s not what I like.
Sometimes we get what we expect (like snow in the burg in February), and we don’t like that either.