This week's question actually came from... OMG Me!
What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?
Well, believe it or not, I have lost one or two followers in my 8 (Really?! Wow 8!) months of blogging. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
My first thought is usually along the lines of,
"Oh no! What did I do wrong?!"
Of course, this is mostly brought on by my self-esteem issues, and after
my confidence returns I usually experience a short stint of,
"Who was it?! I'll make them come back!"
Luckily (for me and for them), that line of thought passes quickly. Eventually, I just take a deep breath and go about my business as usual. After all, I can't control who likes what I write any more than they can control what I like to write.
As for stopping following blogs...
I posted a long time ago about my first Blog Hop experience
and the mistake I made in following EVERY SINGLE BLOG in the hop.
For me, following is an interactive experience. I follow my blogs daily through Google Reader and I feel committed to reading every blog I follow.
In following over 250 blogs, I've found there's definitely a fine line between having a large variety of blogs I enjoy and having an overwhelming wave of posts I'm obligated to.
I'm currently in the process of whittling down what blogs I follow. I wait until a blog builds up at least 15 posts, which seems to be a good sample-size, then I read through them and see if they catch my interest. Do I enjoy their writing style? Am I interested in the types of books they review? If I find it a chore to get through the 15 posts, or nothing grabs my interest, then I go ahead and unsubscribe.
It's really nothing against those blog owners, and I'm sorry if their heart falls a little when they see that lowered statistic. I just feel I'm not the right fit for that particular writer, and that I'm lying to them if I call myself a follower.
What about you?
Following Jennifer's answer, she issued this amazing challenge:
BLOG HOP CHALLENGE:
This challenge will take some dedication on your part this week. I want you to find ONE blog in the Hop list that you genuinely WANT to follow (try to find a new blog, if you can!) and make at least 5 comments on their blog this week on 5 different posts. Get to know this blogger and what they post about.
Next week, as part of your Hop post, I want you to post about your experience with this challenge. Just tell us what you thought of the challenge, who you found to follow and link to the posts that you commented on. I hope you will participate and help us all to build our community! Let's dig a little deeper and get to know each other! Remember, the point is to be genuine! Not to follow for the sake of following! Because, if you are genuine, you are much more likely to get people to follow you back. Trust me on this.
So? Are you up to it?
Feel free to post a link to your own blog in the comments,
and be sure to check out other blog-hoppers at Crazy-for-Books' blog!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteJust following through on the hop :)
I like the way you choose which blogs to keep (or not), I do something similar
I too, like the way you review your blog list. I always feel a tiny bit guilty unsubscribing...
ReplyDeleteI liked your Hop question AND your answer. I feel a little guilty unsubscribing, too, but limited time sometimes means limiting to those that spark the biggest interest!! My name is linked to my answer!
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is the same as yours, what did I do? But I remind myself that there are tons of reasons why they might leave that have nothing to do with my writing.
ReplyDeleteLinky's don't work on my computer, so I'm not on the list but my blog hop is here
I'm always a little bummed when I lose followers but make every effort to
ReplyDeleteturn every lost follower into a learning experience so I can improve my
performance.
On the flip side, I only stop following people when they give me a reason to
such as being totally off message or being too controversial in an negative,
over-the-top way.
Happy Book Blogger Hop Friday!
Howard Sherman
http://www.howardsherman.net
I need to do a little bit of "whittling" on the list of blogs I follow, too. It's getting unwieldy... but I know how much it sucks to see that follower count go down. Maybe that's why I keep putting it off.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Great question for the hop! And thoughtful answers, too. I can't help being curious how you came up with your blog name.
ReplyDeleteSusan from Reading World
http://susancoventry.blogspot.com
You asked a great, two-part question this week. I think most of us have been "unfollowed" so your question is quite pertinent. I think the anonymity of blogging makes it easy for people to do this. I do follow a lot of blogs, but I do not comment on all of them. That would take all day and night! :)
ReplyDelete