Friday, June 19, 2009

Variety Friday: A Poll About the Reviews You Like

My readership has been slowly growing and I'm hoping I can get some of my readers to share their thoughts about what sort of reviews they most enjoy so I'd like to conduct a poll to ask about which reviews are of the greatest interests. A poll should be posted at the top of the sidebar on the right, but please feel free to leave a comment if there's something in particular that you're interested in which does not appear in the poll.

Also, and I hate to say this but many years of dealing with commenters and online communities forces me to do so but, I'm not interested in comments about what you don't want to read about so much as what you want to hear about more often. I'm not looking to eliminate all coverage of certain types of snacks so much as step up the frequency of those which are more popular. I want to keep variety in the blog, but I also want to give you more of what you like best.

Thanks a lot for reading!

17 comments:

Molly said...

Hi, I'm a firm believer that a blog's content should be whatever the blogger desires to blog about. Another blogger I was reading was having trouble with some critics who didn't like that he was branching out from predominately writing about casual restaurants in his home state to exotic, amazing, and pricey restaurants around the world. He ended up not blogging for a long time (he was really busy, too) and when he came back he ended up creating a separate blog for his out of town dining experiences. It was a shame because those international dining experiences were so cool. As per one of the choices on the poll, your current mix of reviews is just fine. Keep up the fine work!

Orchid64 said...

Hi, Molly, and thank you very much for your comment and for reading.

To some extent, I'm looking for direction on what to buy as much as anything. I've been doing this for about 10 months now, and have noticed that I'm starting to find it harder to find things that seem markedly different from what I've already sampled. That is, I've sampled 4 kinds of Pocky, numerous KitKats, lots of different sembei, etc. and nothing is drawing me to it in particular. It all has roughly the same pull on me so I'm looking to see what to choose when all other things are equal.

However, I really do appreciate that you're satisfied with how things have been so far!

Sherry said...

Personally, I like the reviews of things that you get at your local conbini. Although your overseas readers may or may not be able to find them, the stock at 7-11, Lawson's and so forth is about the same at all their stores so it isn't hard to find something you talked about. Some of the things you have reviewed I have never seen any where near me, although I really don't live that far from where you do, which is a shame because they looked interesting.

Just my 2 yens worth. It is your blog. Review what interests you of course.

Kelly said...

I like to hear about things that are not what I can buy from overseas, like the reviews that you have done before when you picked up cakes and frozen treats from your local supermarket. I also like the beverage reviews, because Japan makes so many different drinks, and the majority of Japanese snack reviewers seem to stick to the same old kit kat and pocky reviews.

You reviews are different from that but I would like to see you go back to some of the roots that you started out with like the cakes and various regional products from your area.

I think that would take it up a notch and be just that little more interesting than most other blogs centred around Japanese snacks.

Just my two cents. :)
I'm not saying the content is anything less than great now, so don't take me the wrong way. I will keep on reading even if you don't change, but the above was the reason why I started reading in the first place.

Anonymous said...

I'm one of those silent stalker-like readers who blog-hop a lot (think tens of clicks to websites all loading on one page) but somehow or the other I'm always irresistibly drawn to yours. An uncluttered layout, great writing, and of course an adorable rate-o-meter makes me like your blog so much more. (-;

Your blog is perfectly wonderful as it is, with only one flaw--more posts, MORE, i say!

Bryan said...

I like your current mix of reviews - to me, it's fine to keep going back to kitkat or pocky because a lot of the flavors are ones you can't find outside of Japan. I have to echo the problem with finding it harder to not do "repeat" type posts as time goes on. Because your blog is very focused (japanese food, snacks, reviews) it's probably even tougher. I think you've done a great job so far. Oh, but I'm always curious about the traditional snacks and whether I've eaten any of them. =)

Dennis N. Santana said...

I agree with Molly that the current mix is fine. But looking at the reviews I enjoy most, I like the reviews of savory snack bags. When I was a teenager I had the idea that Frito-Lay had a monopoly on the universe, and since then I've been really curious what kinds of salty and savory snacks people are picking up for a dollar at the corner grocery. Especially those that have a western analog, but are done with a japanese twist (the soy sauce flavor reviews are a good example).

Helen said...

I like the mix that you do as well (and just voted for it!) I really do enjoy the KitKat reviews as I like searching the good ones out. I rarely find the more exotic ones that you mention though.

I'm always happy to learn about yummy snacks, although my waistline doesn't need them!

Keep up the good work!

Lauren said...

I think not being from Japan and having no idea what is sold there. I enjoy the variety that you bring to the table. Some of the things you review surprise me (and repulse me). If you were reviewing American food I could suggest things, but considering im a world away, I think your judgement is truly better then anybodies; and I think the variety of foods you review is one of the charms of this site, if you did mostly kit kats or poki etc, it would become redundant. Your always showing me new products and flavors that I never knew existed anywhere. The only thing I could suggest which I find interesting is perhaps reviewing more beverages, because you don't do that many.

Sakura Dawning said...

How about some traditional snack foods from Japan? All I really know about is the little dried fish, but I am sure there are loads more!

Jean said...

I should say, whatever you're feeling at the moment will be the best topic to any blog. Because it will flow easily. I'd rather read blogs of everyday experiences than those that talk about so many techie things. Thanks for sharing.

ebidebby said...

I like your mix. Something I would like to see more of, especially with it being summer, is ice cream reviews. But I think you have good judgment and I enjoy reading what you write!

Kevin said...

Let me just say how much I enjoy your blog! It truly is a nea tfind I came across searching for japanese chocolate reviews. Well from the previou line you might tell that I think some more japanese chocolate reviews would be great! Your current mix is pretty good too, but as a chocoholic I was sad to not see chocolate as an option to vote for. Also if you could take pics from the stores you buy them in, it would be like bringing the readers one step closer to experiencing authentic japanese snack reviewing. :) Again, I'm really pleased with your blog.

Kevin said...

Wow, almost forgot to add that Sakura Moon has a good idea, some really bizarre but delicious purely japanese snacks would cool to review and read about.

Nicholas said...

Pocky, pocky, pocky! If for no other reason than for me to know what flavors to avoid in Taiwan. Japan doesn't really do the overseas thing with kitkats or other things, but they export pocky to other regions in Asia (albeit with some delay). Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

I like the drink reviews. The few that there are, I always read them first. Mostly because I've never found a blog that specifically reviews Japanese drinks, among all the candy/snack blogs.

Orchid64 said...

Hi, anonymous. Just FYI, more drink reviews are going to be included from now on. I'm hoping to do one per week!

Thanks for commenting.