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3 Quarks Daily Reader PreferencesType: Executive Summary Report
Date: 4/27/2005
Total number of responses collected: 139
How many posts would you like to see on 3 Quarks Daily every day?
Value / Label / Count / Frequency
1 / 1-5 / 38 / 27.34%
2 / 6-10 / 25 / 17.99%
3 / 10-15 / 1 / 0.72%
4 / As many interesting items as we can find that day / 75 / 53.96%
Total / 139 / 100.00%
We mostly just link to articles elsewhere. How long should each post be, at most?
Value / Label / Count / Frequency
1 / Just a sentence or two / 9 / 6.47%
2 / More substantive, but less than a screenful / 113 / 81.29%
3 / Longer, so that it gives a very comprehensive sense of the article being linked to / 17 / 12.23%
Total / 139 / 100.00%
Do you like the pictures accompanying the text on some of the posts?
Value / Label / Count / Frequency
1 / They are always nice / 89 / 64.03%
2 / They are sometimes nice / 46 / 33.09%
3 / Get rid of the pictures altogether / 3 / 2.16%
Total / 138 / 99.28%
Would you like to see more original writing and commentary on the blog, or do you prefer just links to other sources?
Value / Label / Count / Frequency
1 / More commentary / 28 / 20.14%
2 / Just links (with very brief introductions, like now) / 37 / 26.62%
3 / More of a mixture / 74 / 53.24%
Total / 139 / 100.00%
We have recently started a column each Monday. Do you like that?
Value / Label / Count / Frequency
1 / Yes / 106 / 76.26%
2 / No / 8 / 5.76%
3 / Would like to see even more such features / 18 / 12.95%
Total / 132 / 94.96%
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3 Quarks Daily Reader PreferencesType: Verbatim Report
Date: 4/27/2005
Total number of responses collected: 139
Do you have any other suggestions or criticisms?
· Personally I love the site. It is one of the first I check every morning along with BoingBoing. Keep up the great work.
· I do not want to read the details of every article, but if there are 2-3 paragraphs on your post, I get the sense of it. This is especially true for posts by Abbas Raza, who chose the most informative passages for posting, and often it conveyed so much that I did not have to go to the original source. This also distinguishes 3qd from A&L. As for color pictures, the NY Times some years ago decided to add color (you guys may not remember, but it was only black and white until maybe 10 years ago), and took a similar survey. The public overwhelmingly wanted pictures and colored ones. A picture is worth..... Besides, a dramatic picture intrigues one to read more, say about a Museum building, than one would otherwise.
· I would link more to other bloggers, comment on other blogs and participate in the discussion more. I realize that your target is a bit more "high brow" than the typical blog, but there are some interesting discussions going on on the blogs. I think it would make it easier to link to your blog and you may find some interesting readers among the people who will travel to your blog through those links. It would be also be nice to have more opinion and point of view without getting too verbose. Easy to read, but giving 3QD a bit more personality... In my humble opinion. - Joi Ito http://joi.ito.com/
· Somehow get it known better. Connect it in people's minds with A&L Daily.
· Absolutely love the blog
· The writing and link selection are excellent. Kudos.
· I would like to see more posts that combine several articles on a certain topic. For example, you could link to an article and a response to that article or you could link to reviews of a book in several magazines. More original writing can be then be introduced by comparing the different articles.
· Just to expand on item #4. What makes a blog most interesting, and more interactive (if that's anything you're looking for), is to inculcate more author opinion into the posts. Some of the articles you share are really quite fascinating, and adding an author's take on the information he or she is sharing could help to create perspective. Be it an academic opinion, personal or otherwise. Still, thanks for sharing all the same.
· I wouldn't be too rigorous about applying a "number of posts per day" rule. You probably need a minimum (e.g. 3) and a max (e.g. 15), but within that range, go with the day's flow of interesting items. For example, James Joyner has a pretty flexible production schedule that doesn't seem to interfere with his site's "identity" or readers' expectations. The growth of RSS as the way folks stay updated gives you a lot more room for maneuver on amount and timing of posting. I like especially the posts that indicate why the poster finds the link of interest. I'm not looking for an essay -- that's a different format -- but it's more valuable when it has a sentence or two of POV.
· appreciate the effort you put into this as well as the interesting commentary and links. look at your site several times a day. Thank you.
· you guys rock!
· More links ot other blogs and what the blogs are about. www.laurengunderson.blogspot.com
· 3 Quarks has become a daily ritual here ( my only criticism is the quite frequent links to the Guardian which I read daily ). I find the particular take towards a given link as expressed by yourselves really helpfull in orienting myself as to wether to read it or not. A great site --- many thanks. dimitri
· you guys are doing a great job and make me really happy! thanks a lot for this service.
· 3quarksdaily is great because of its choice links. The original writing on the site is good, and I dont know about other people, but I read this blog because it always has the choicest links to the choices intelligent discourse on the net. Cheers.
· Yeah, but I forgot them. Oh wait. Maybe shrink the sidebar in Mozilla.
· Ok. Keep it up. More on History and Society.
· Keep it up.
· how about reader opinion page
· Perhaps more links to the arts? I like the site, and as an English professor it's interesting to be taken to so many scientific stories, which I wouldn't otherwise see. Keep it up!
· I basically think you folks are great - one of my favorite spots on the web. Keep it up.
· Great as it is! When I say "As many interesting items as we can find that day", that doesn't mean 15+, but rather, some mondays might give 10, while a slow friday might give 1 or 2. Don't feel pressured to meet a quota. ...Though an interesting idea would be to stick to a number such as 5. Pick out the 5 best every day, leave the others for the next day, keep picking the best 5 articles, throwing articles out as they get old, making 3qd a source of 5 solid science peices per day. 5 quarks daily?
· Only recently discovered the site. Like it a great deal; it's perfect for RSS--informative enough on its own, but with links if I want to pursue the topics covered. Great stuff!
· brand new reader
· Your site is definitely a daily read for me. If anything, I might suggest a list of relevent links on the side of your main page. And if contibutors do have weblogs, maybe a link to them as well. As it is now, two other pages have to be accessed for additional links and the author's sites. Just a thought. Keep posting and I'll keep reading. Thanks
· Keep doing what you have been doing--it is quite good. Sincerely, Rochelle Gurstein
· How about a RSS feed? I enjoy the many items posted, but rarely have time to explore more than 10.
· 3QD is really, really good. It's one of the first sites I look at when I fire up my aggregator. Just keep doing what you're doing.
· You guys are doing a great job - thanks!
· good job, bravo!
· Haven't seen the column on Monday
· I love you and would like your hand(s) in marriage.
· I'm ever so grateful to my 19-year-old son who told me about the site. It's relevant, and elegant. I like the minimalist look.
· Any criticism I have is about the public rather than your blog. I have been blogging since last August, faithfully making it a point to put something on the blog every day. I am coming to several conclusions: ***Posts longer than one monitor screen are not apt to be read in full. Similarly, if I put too much information in my teaser lines the links may not be used. This is not scientific, just visceral from talking with a couple of friends. ***In my own habits I have been using the Bloglines aggregator, tracking about ninety sites. The more I track, the less likely I am to read as deeply - I figure that scanning is better than ignoring the sites that have been updated since my last visit. ***If my time is limited I will skip some places altogether, but save time to pay attention to a couple in more detail. (3QD, incidintally, is one of those.) ***I like the notion of editorial spin. Clearly if the link is being cited it must have merit, so anything negative is okay because the ultimate negative comment is that it is never linked. ***Too many posts at once takes more time than readers are apt to budget. Two or three "good ones" is in some ways better than a whole string for that reason.
· when linking stories, perhaps make a note for those which require subscriptions in order to read
· Haven't viewed the column so have no comment now. Love 3QD very much, yes very much - thanks a lot.
· Is it times very dense and inaccessible for the once every couple of days surfer like myself.
· I appreciate original columns and additional commentary, but not at the expense of the wonderful links you make available. By far I find 3QD and Arts & Letters Daily to be the best things on the web.
· very fond of the blog! have it bookmarked. - scienec journalist
· Nope I'm just happy I found the site.
· So long as the articles are interesting, you could get away with writing them in crap on toilet paper.
· Just the comment that yours is the blog I go to everyday
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