Wait, that didn’t come out quite right.

If you’re like many people, Facebook plays some part in your daily engagement with friends, family, coworkers and/or your surrounding community.

That’s a little better.

Well, this website now has a public Facebook presence that you can add to that engagement.

If you tend to get your news or look for interesting articles, photos and comments on the Big Blue Isolator – er, Facebook – then “liking” the ChrisHardie.com page will make sure you see posts and updates from here when they come out.    You don’t need to be my “friend” on Facebook to follow this page.

And what’s more fun, through the magic of the Add Link to Facebook plugin for WordPress, post comments left by readers of this site will be mirrored to Facebook, and comments left by Facebook users on the FB page will be mirrored back to posts on this site.

Yes, I’m still a bit of a curmudgeon about Facebook, but there’s no denying its pervasive and growing role in how many people get information and start conversations.  I appreciate that many of my readers/fans/friends (current and potential) spend a lot of time there, so it seems worthwhile to make content here more easily available there.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks to those of you who took the time to complete my blog feedback survey at the end of 2009 – it was really helpful in understanding how my regular readers see the blog.  From the responses I received, here are the highlights:

• 60% of you read most of the posts here, and 40% always read the full posts.
• Most of you find out about blog updates from Twitter or Facebook, and the rest use RSS feeds or just visit my website directly.
• Most of you think the blog is either very (or at least more than moderately) interesting and useful.
• You seem to like the variety of my blog topic areas, but “technology and internet stuff” came out on top while humor, sustainability issues, and posts about Richmond, IN all came in a close second.
• You think the design and layout of the blog is generally adequate; only 1 person said it was distracting.
• The single thing you think I should do to improve my blog is to post more frequently.  After that, you either want me to expand to more topics, or to focus to fewer topics.
• At least half of you would like to comment more on what I write, but don’t feel like you have time to formulate a response.
• For most of you, adding sponsorship ads to my site is either not a problem at all, or might be annoying but wouldn’t change how you read the blog.
• Other comments included:
  • “More naughty bits!”
  • “I like your courage in saying what you want to say.”
  • “Thanks for keeping it interesting.”
  • “I think you should go retro and get a weekly column in the PI.”  (I’m open to this.)
  • “It’s one of the few blogs I genuinely try to read on a regular basis.”
  • “I appreciate that you take a public stance on several important community issues.”
  • “Even if I don’t agree with the viewpoint of your commentary, I usually come away with the feeling that you have approached the subject from a thoughtful perspective.”
  • “I read new entries just about immediately.”
  • “I think you have a unique perspective on small business, technology, and alternative means of building community…You have a lot of knowledge AND a vision, which is a great combination.”
  • “Keep up the good work.”

Thanks again so much for your honesty, and thanks for reading!  (And of course, I welcome feedback any time.)

Now I can announce the winner of the random drawing to win a $25 gift certificate for either any business in the Center City business district in Richmond, Indiana or for Amazon.com.

The winner is Aaron Hill! I’d like to post the entirety of Aaron’s response upon being notified of his win, since I think it really captures a lot:

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

Thanks again, Aaron.

Looking forward, I’d like to honor the recurring theme in the feedback I got in that survey and from others: that posting more often about the issues of the day in our community is a good thing.  One of my own personal goals for this year is to do more creative writing, and while my blog can’t be my only outlet for that, I hope it’s a significant one.

My current target is to post at least three times per week, and at least one substantial entry within those three.  The other entries may be more like a couple of paragraphs and a little less refined, but hopefully still useful and/or interesting enough to keep you tuned in.   I will appreciate any encouragement, reminders or coffee that you want to offer if you see me slipping from that a bit.

Happy 2010.  Here’s to a new year of blogging.

I’m removing Google ads from my blog.  I’m tired of them, and they’re not earning their keep.

You can now subscribe to the comments of a specific post such that you receive an e-mail message when new comments are posted.  Look for the checkbox right where you submit your comment.

As always, feedback is welcome, drop me a line.