being sick and homebound since wednesday evening has left me a lot of time to do nothing. i’ve actually been able to read most of the things that come up on my google reader, add a few feeds, as well as remove a few feeds. i’m not one to talk about the “dos and don’ts” of blogging, but since i have some free time, i thought i’d give you three reasons why i’d ditch your feed.
3. posting a lot of content frequently. posting frequently is one thing. posting a lengthy but well thought out blog is another. posting six novels a day is absurd. i wish i had time to read it, but i don’t. when i have 12 new feeds and 10 are yours and they’re 1000 words a piece, i can promise you i won’t read them.
2. the polar opposite of number 3. not posting. ten of my feeds haven’t posted content since may. three of those ten haven’t posted since january. sionara.
1. don’t interact. this is my biggest blogging pet peeve. to me, blogging is interactive. personally, i do my best to send a thank you email to new people who comment on my blog, to interact in the comments, or to write back to comments that are especially witty or interesting and thoughtful.
i’m not sure what it is, but some people give their blogs the appearance of a discussion format, and then don’t acknowledge or interact with any of the people who comment. if you don’t want to interact, turn off your comments. at least that way it’s somewhat apparent that discussion is not on the forefront of your mind when it comes to blogging.
not even acknowledging people who comment, or not answering people who ask specific questions is like walking by and ignoring someone who says hi to you on the street. it’s just rude.
what are reasons you say farewell to feeds? anything i could do better?
Comments
33 responses to “three reasons i’ll ditch your feed”
anne… i totally agree with you. i just removed a bunch of feeds of people who weren’t blogging. i’ve been an infrequent blogger but when someone hasn’t posted in a year, or longer, i think they’ve given up on the thing so… c ya.
#1 on your list really gets me. from time to time i miss answering someone who comments on my post, but when people i know never comment on my posts and never acknowledge my comments on their posts, i can only think that they don’t want a relationship with me, so i move on.
sorry for the long comment :| hope you’re feeling better.
i think i need to go through my feeds too…i have too many that don’t update. i also need to make the sure feeds are current. i noticed on voxtopolis…most of the feeds weren’t working and i had to change to another one.
I definitely agree with your choices. To me, blogging is all about interacting! I love the connections I’ve made and love the discussions–sometimes serious, sometimes fun, getting to know people…keeping it real. Some of the best interactions occur after the blog posts…through the follow up emails!
I enjoy getting to know people but if you keep telling me everything you ate every day, every ache and pain you have, and every thing that doesn’t really relate to anyone else…sorry–you might have a great thought and post once in a while, but I can’t focus that long to wait for it! ;)
But that could just…um…what was I typing?…oh right–just be my attention…what was I saying? oh ya–just be my attention deficit. Why was I talking about that…oh ya…things that don’t engage my thinking…forget it–I can’t follow it! ;)
All of that makes me just want to say, “Yeah. So there.” =)
By the way, those 1000 words posts six times a day are what my friends and I so affectionately call Blovels.
I am however, not a super huge commenter unless I feel like I really know someone and I would be missed. Which is of course why I am commenting now. You would miss me, right? (I am just kidding; mostly.)
Glad you are starting to feel better.
Amen and amen to #3.
hmmmmmmmmmmm…….very good………I do try to thank folks for checking in.
I try to post regularly
I even try to do new things……….but still….no one comments…..all is well, however, I do it ’cause I like it.
Thanks Anne…I appreciate that you live up to your list, I think I will keep you on my feed for sure!;-)
good suggestions. the one the bugs me most is when peeps post a wicked long dissertation (i think thats right). anyway. i try to keep my posts pithy (except when im documenting a trip, which isnt often).
i love how you ask questions, asking for feeback. i want to get better at this.
I completely agree with these. I think blog interaction is especially important. Sometimes I’ll get 100 hits a day, but only 1 or 2 comments. I can tell people are reading, but interaction is what makes it fun! So when the blog author doesn’t encourage/respond to comments (not just personally, but in general), it does make it less of a motivation to read and comment.
As someone “relatively new” to the world of blogging, thanks for clueing me in on some of the social expectations and annoyances one must know if they are going to be a success at it. Thanks.
Great thoughts…I wish more people would comment. You don’t have to make it long…it just helps to know if you are on a right train of thought sometime or helps to get ideas from others.
It is about developing community. Don’t just be a reader.
agreed…i think the percentage of readers-to-comments on my blog has been about 10% (unless it’s something really juicy, or really stupid…how come the dumbest posts get the most comments?) :)
i am working on trying to comment more on OTHERS’ blogs…all you guys are so interesting I try and make it around, but if I don’t comment…I am reading, and I am working on commenting!
i like robin’s word: blovels.
and i also like that you’re so interactive with your audience. you’re not “up there” and we’re “down here”.
Three cheers for the word “blovels”!
I like the feeling of this post today…kind of “saucy”. Hope you are feeling better, but I’m also enjoying your wit when you are under the weather. ;) But seriously, I hope you are getting rested and better soon. Miso soup. That’s the key to health. Miso.
Just discovered your blog a few days ago. Couldn’t agree more with your reasons and others that have commented above. But for the record… I’m a reformed ‘lurker’. I read many blogs in the past without commenting. I apologize. Just didn’t think that what I had to say was beneficial. Still don’t think it is, but I’m committed to commenting. Thanks Anne.
i am still pretty new at this blogging thing- so i’m going to ask a question (which may have an obvious answer), how do i respond to commenteors? i see that you respond on your own blog. is that the correct way, or do i hop over to their blog and respond? what if they do not have a blog to respond to? is there a Blogging For Dummies book i can buy?
I totally agree with you about comments. In fact right now at this moment I am surfing various blogs with the express purpose of commenting on and subscribing to new blogs that I find interesting. So here’s my comment for you.
Good morning! I discovered your blog from a link on a blog of a friend of a friend of mine…hmm!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Lewis, and I am from the UK. I love reading people’s blogs, and have enjoyed reading your blog, especially the post of being a witness. That really spoker to me, as I have struggled with the same things as you!
I hope you don’t mind me reading, and commenting!
Feel free to drop me a line at socks1988_8@hotmail.com if you want, and feel free to browse my little blog!
Lewis.
Denise –
Here’s a perfect example! I’ll email you back…but I’ll also put the comment on my blog. Usually if it’s a question that has general merit like someone else could learn, I’ll write the commenter person back and post a comment with the same answer. Double the work, double the fun!!
Such good stuff Anne Jackson.
You know I’ve been doing this blogging bit for about a year and a half. Sometimes I get real close to “blovels” but other days I get real short. I prefer funny, short posts but sometimes I pour it out.
I don’t comment very well – except on your site – and I am still using Xanga which is good but also has it’s limitations. I am seriously thinking about taking “the plunge” into a separate site of my own design but am not anywhere to your level. I guess I have flirted with blogging but not really took it very seriously.
What thoughts do you have on that?
And I hope you are feeling better.
~ The Mattchews
Mattchews –
If it weren’t for xanga, neither of us would be here, huh? :) I think you should definitely try WordPress. You can sign up for a domain and have it all managed through their dashboard, applying custom templates, easy to switch headers and the such. It’s really easy…promise!
If you do take the plunge, let me know! And if there’s anything I can do to help, just shoot me an email.
“personally, i do my best to send a thank you email to new people who comment on my blog, to interact in the comments…”
Wow, never even thought of that. Great advice.
I like your layout, btw. Simple, clean and easy to follow.
Cheers
Bill :-)
Great criteria Anne. Thanks for the great post.
Ouch, I’ve been called out. You make me want to be a better man….
Walking by and not saying hi…
;)
you might as well have entitled this post “3 reasons why i’ll kick you in the crotch”.
Thanks for the thoughts. I’m pretty new to blogging, and can use all the help I can get. I love it, and want to be the best I can at it.
Well, I don’t really know you, but have come across your blog several times from Terry Storch. So…in lieu of your post…I’m adding you to my reader… I’m holding high hopes and expectations of wittiness. Great content and I really appreciate the insight.
Absolutely, positively, definitely agree with number one…..want to write longer, but It’s 1:23AM now, must..sleep…turn..off…PC….
OK, back after a nice eight hour sleep and a cup of coffee (thoughts still not coherent, coffee not kickin’ in yet):
I basically agree wholeheartedly about people not interacting with others on their blogsite. I’m going to be harsh about this, it’s like their main reason to blog is pretty much just telling the world about themselves and everytime somebody posted a comment, they’re satisfied that people are paying attention to them. Like Anne said, blogging is a two way street…if you don’t want or can’t even handle the ‘pressure’ of having to respond to people, yes by all means turn the comments off.
I actually used the same analogy as Anne’s about being ignored. The thing that bugs me the most is when people don’t return emails. Some people may say stuff like “I didn’t know you were hoping for a reply” even though they were the only intended recipient, or my pet peeve…”Oh I didn’t see your email and I’m so busy” saying this after you see they post a gigantic new post, new pictures, etc on their blog or you know that they posted on others blogs.
Phew where did that come from? I guess my coffee is working after all :)
Merry Christmas! :)
I post everyday – my blog is attached to our Church website so I focus mostly on ministry stuff and they like me to post often.
I get ‘live’ comments as opposed to written comments. It is weird to have people walk up to me and start to talk about what I’ve been doing!
I follow VERY few blogs. Love yours – because I learn from you, you make me laugh and I feel like you are a girlfriend I would love to hang with! Feel better!
.-= Lori Biddle?s last blog ..my day off =-.
Can’t say I agree with you here. My particular blog was “called” to be more of a devotional blog. As such, it doesn’t see short stuff posted often, which covers #2 and #3. Instead it’s longer items posted less frequently. I can understand turning off the longer items, but I don’t understand turning off feeds that aren’t updated as quickly as you personally want them. What difference does it make?
As for comments, I’ve only recently started getting comments at all. I do respond to them when they warrant a response, but if I can’t think of anything to say, I won’t. Sorry.
.-= Joe Sewell?s last blog ..Scared for Nothing! =-.
Fun. This blog post is 18 months old. A lot has changed…an updated version is actually going up in a few days. Stay tuned…