Readers Don’t Know What You Want Unless You Tell Them
Earlier this year I had written a post advising readers to tell bloggers what they want. Along the same lines, I would like to draw your attention to another important factor in the world of reader appreciation: bloggers expressing what they want from readers.
As in any relationship, ask others what they prefer, and tell them what you prefer
Many bloggers start writing about topics in different ways, hoping to catch the attention of as many people as possible. In my view, while you can focus on writing about topics that you like, you can also focus on letting your readers know what you expect from their visits to your site. It may be rude to tell someone you expect them to do something, though it can be completely fine to let someone know that you are hoping they will act in a certain manner because of some reason and some logic behind that reason. You can periodically setup some rules or suggestions on your site that guide your users through some things that are important to you.
For example, I know a few bloggers who are victims of sexual and hate crimes, and they prefer that their commentors never talk about such crimes on their blog. According to them, it brings back bad memories. I really like the fact that they are requesting someone else to not do things that may hurt them more. You can apply the same principle to different areas of your site. If you want people to write comments that are at least a few lines long, let them know. If you want people to address you with your full name instead of your nickname, let them know. If you even want people to comment on every post of yours instead of only the personal posts, talk to them and express to them that you would love to hear their opinion on posts other than those that are general.
Tell readers what you want, and ask readers what they want
Go ahead, tell your readers what you expect from them. The next time your readers do something that you do not like, ask yourself one question before anything else: did the reader know in advance that their action was not something you would like? If the answer is no, then it is your responsibility to make sure your reader knows that you expect a certain kind of behavior from them, the same way they should expect some certain things from you when they visit your site. As with all expectations, be prepared to accept the fact that your wishes will not always be complied with, as sometimes the things you prefer may not be what others prefer. That topic deserves its own post, so I will leave it at that. 
What do you think about this? Do you tell your readers what you want? Do your readers know what you want?
inspirationbit says...
I think it’s a reasonable request - helps to set the records straight with our readers. I didn’t really request any particular behaviour from my readers directly, but I did express my wishes like, please ask me questions, or suggest other sites/links for the discussed topic, or I’m asking some questions at the end of my posts to let them know that I expect some answers from my readers.
It’s always nice to get long meaningful comments from readers, but I can’t really restrict them to never posting one line comments, because sometimes even that one line, few words can express the reader’s thought/opinion better than a 100 lines comment.
I didn’t ask my readers not to be rude in their comments, but I didn’t have to. Knock on wood, so far I didn’t have rude commentors on my blog. I’m hoping it’s because I am not rude to them.