20 May 2009 The Nature Of Audiences

A few months back I drove home to see thick black smoke billowing out of my neighbour's car parked on the street. I quickly jumped out of my car to investigate the burning vehicle. By this stage a small crowd had appeared that was slowly creeping forward to get a better look. After a minute the car actually exploded. No one was hurt but what interested me was the curiosity of the viewers, myself included. Instead of running away from the fire, people were running towards it. And thus is the nature of audiences. In a recent conversation between myself and Oscar Nicholson, I realised this is the nature of how I blog. I cause controversy. I write about not only provocative issues but in a provocative manner too. I stir the pot and I start fires. But I do this to start conversations. Unfortunately people aren't attracted to a car that isn't on fire. A blog post that isn't controversial gets less readers and far less comments. People rarely comment on something if they simply agree. I do realise the shortfall of this; that once the fire's out, the people leave. I suppose I hope I've got enough good content to keep them around after everything's been extinguished. But I'm not going to kid myself, I can't consistently and regularly produce good, thought provoking content. So from time to time I'll start a fire. I make no apologies for the burns or damage caused. This is the nature of a Joker....