The little survey that you did or didn’t answer: blogging in a pandemic

Remember, two weeks ago I asked, How can my blogging in a pandemic help you? Well, 3 of my 6 friends say they want a podcast of poems for a pandemic.

Now perhaps using a survey form to ask three little questions was foolish, as only six people replied. On the other hand, those particular readers are special because they did do the survey. Thank you to the faithful few!

I’m paying pragmatic attention to the general trend of the survey responses, even though the sample is too tiny to have any statistical significance.  Here they are.

Question 1 is a broad one, not related to my work

Honestly, what do you need most at this time? Check in order of priority. Answers were in this sequence, with the most popular choice first.

1. Practical help and advice
2. Inspiration
3. Company
4. Distraction
5. Entertainment
6. Training and courses

Question 2 concerns the frivolous entertainment that I sometimes offer

What entertainment and distractions would you like me to provide? (Check as many as apply.) You answered as follows:

This was a badly thought out question: I forgot to include “More wonky drawings”!

But hey! 100 percent of 6 whole people said they want “More insights into my life as a creative person.” I only included that item because Patreon insists that this is a big attraction, and your replies made me take it seriously. My life “as a creative person”? I would never normally categorise myself that way, yet I am a writer and poet, working in various “creative” fields. So I’m happy to share more of that side of my life. After all, I also like to read about other people’s lives, if they write engagingly.

As for the cat photos, I have consulted Ursula and have hopes of her occasional compliance.

Question 3 concerns my next project: what should it be?

What major project would help you most. I can do one of these things. Which one appeals to you most? Please advise.

The results here hit home and I’m delighted to say that as 3 out of 6 people chose the podcast, that’s exactly what I intend to embark on.

“A mere 3 people chose one of 5 options? That’s like nobody at all,” I hear you say. Hey, that’s a ringing endorsement for my modest little podcast, How To Be Old. Imagine asking 6 of your friends a question like this: you would probably take notice if 3 of them chose the same thing. I choose to regard this as a sign of faith in my next podcast (or season?) which will involve lots of other poets, old and young, reading and talking about one of their poems that speaks to us in this pandemic.

Here’s a graph with these statistically meaningless but personally interesting answers. It’s perfectly obvious what I don’t have to do, thank goodness! And clear what might be  helpful if I had time. But I don’t: the podcast will consume most of my working life for the next six months at least. Yay! I can’t wait!

We’re still at Level 2 Alert for the coronavirus pandemic, so the future is uncertain. But I will start recording pandemic poems with various poets for the podcast within a few weeks. Deal? Deal.

Meantime I had better send you another photo of my cat Ursula.