As promised, here are the results of my meme survey from earlier in the week.
The results:
After the meme-haters took an early lead, the meme-lovers mounted a comeback and it was almost an even split on whether people liked memes, hated them, or were indifferent. Click on the image for a full-size version.
It was also pretty evenly split on whether you all would rather I post a meme if I have nothing original that day or rather I just not post with the majority preferring a meme over nothing. Again, click on the image for full-size version.
In a more decisive category, it seems that you all expect 3-4 new posts each week regardless of content.
Analysis: So what do these results tell me? That’s a good question. Since it turned out to be a pretty even split among meme-lovers and meme-haters, pleasing everyone is going to be a bit more challenging. Based on comments, however the memes that people dislike the most (and even the meme-lovers mentioned they could skip) were the ones that required no original voice – like Teaser Tuesday. Some memes, like Sunday Salon (which I don’t really think of as a meme because everyone makes it their own) seem perfectly agreeable to everyone.
My plan: When the meme-haters were winning, I considered going meme-free for a trial period. But now that I see the real results, I don’t think that extreme is necessary. Instead, I’m going to pick and choose the memes I participate in more carefully and try to add some of my own personality to any of the ones that I do choose. I’m also going to be more aware of my meme:original post ratio and make sure memes don’t try to take over my blog.
I had fun doing this little experiment even if it didn’t give me clear answers. It was interesting reading all of your thoughts on memes and I thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. I’m glad a discussion on the unoriginality of memes prompted some original discussion.
my books. my life. 
Thanks for sharing all the results; interesting, and you are right you can’t please everyone!
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How many posts do people EXPECT a week?! Wow. And the answers really surprised me. Well, I must say, I am not changing anything. I feel happy I can do one post a week. For me, that’s a LOT!
I’m reading about France. I welcome any thoughts you might have about good books to read about France!
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That’s an interesting little survey you did, and even more interesting that meme lovers and haters were pretty much equal. I tend to stay away from memes, but I think they can be fun once in a while and I enjoy reading other peoples.
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Oooh, I love graphs so this post is A+ to me. 🙂
I’m surprised that people expect 3-4 posts, but I also blog for work so I will never have that many or I would burn out on blogging.
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I don’t know if the 3-4 new posts is what people expect from everyone or the precedent I have set here that people are used to now.
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I love the graphs, and the results are indeed interesting! For me, it’s not the memes or the absence thereof that matter, but what each blogger does with them. Like you said, it’s important to have an original voice. As long as a post feels personal, I don’t mind if it’s meme-based at all.
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Thanks for sharing the results with us. I’m with Nymeth – it depends on how the memes are done.
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Three to four posts per week?! I’m lucky if I do one! 🙂
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Thanks for the data! It is interesting to see how divided people are on these issues. I guess the lesson is to do what makes you happy as a blogger because you will never make EVERYONE happy!
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Yep – impossible to please everyone but still glad I did the survey.
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