Sunday, December 29, 2013

Blog Disaffection and those Writers I Met on the Road in 2013

I have noticed an interesting trend recently in which many bloggers I have followed for many years are seldom blogging anymore or are just disappearing off the face of the earth. This is disturbing on a number of levels because it raises nagging questions such as:

1 Have they found a life?
2 Have they found a new technology which makes blogging oh sooo 2011?


The blogging road is long with many a winding turn

Its also make you think of those fabulous new friends you found in the first week of college who you hung around with day and night. Then suddenly, two years later they have found more fabulous new friends and when you say hi on the campus you can tell they are trying really hard not to roll their eyes.

I've hit a fair degree of blog ennui as well. I don't have a lot of time to blog anymore and when I do it's fast and on the fly. I have less time to comment on other people's blogs which is meant to be the golden rule of interaction. A blogger with zillions of followers told me a while back she spent three hours a day responding to comments and commenting on other people's blogs. That's like 21 hours a week, more than 80 hours a month. I'm lucky to have three minutes a day to comment sometimes these days. Is there a comment app that will automatically say how great a blog post is? Then again that may look like spam and I don't want to really be saying 'what a wonderful post' on the blog of that creepy guy who is recommending the best way to stone cats.

Sometimes I look at blog stats but they don't make a lot of sense. On some months when I have neglected my blog, I'm getting 400 visits a day. I even wrote a post about the death of my blog, only to see the number of hits rally the next month. Right now it's free falling to 150 but it's not a numbers game. The interactions are more important.

I have to bear that in mind on the days when I feel my blog is like a Gremlin. It seemed a cute idea at the time but now it's after midnight and it's growling in the corner, demanding to be fed. It's not always easy to feed it. I know there are some bloggers out there who feel they have just run out of things to write.

On the positive side I met some great new bloggers along the road in 2013 who have struck with me notwithstanding my periods of blog and commenting neglect. Dee at Deecoded's post 7 Lessons I Learned about Blogging is drop dead useful and great to read if, like me, you have wondered of late where your blog is going.

Thanks too to 2013 followers Patricia Lynne and Jean at Discarded Darlings, as well as Yolanda Renee and Jules Smith who is always good for a chuckle, if not a fully fledged belly laugh on occasions.

It has occurred to me to refocus my blog in 2014. Make it more focused - oh that word again. Follow some edgy writers. Make it more useful for foreigners who are cast adrift in this large place called America bereft of decent tea. Maybe I'll give it more thought - happy 2014.

20 comments:

  1. Thanks for noticing - you're too sweet! To be honest I was attracted to the accent!
    You're right, the writing is on the wall - and it should be on the blog! LOL But it is the reason that a few of us at the behest of Arlee Bird are doing the What Works marketing symposium (big words make it sound important - right?) bloghop! It seems the blogging trends have changed and we're trying to find the secret to the success. Why someone gets thousands (okay I exaggerate) of comments and views and someone else only a few. It's not just content - I've read some great posts that get no comments and some really useless posts that generate, well, you get the picture. Maybe, in the end there is no reasoning - I mean have you seen reality TV lately!!!
    Wishing you a wonderful New Year - may the muse of blogs inspire you with the subjects that can't be ignored!

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    1. aw thanks Yolanda - I agree - well at least the response to this post is evidence my blog isn't totally dead yet lol. Oh groan reality TV :)

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  2. I still follow and read your blog and yes I am one of those that are currently sucking at keeping up my blog. If you saw all my blog posts I haven't posted... the intention is there then I get distracted. Too many squirrels.

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    1. well I have seem the ones you do post Lydia - great to know you are hanging on in in the blogisphere :)

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  3. not sure if you area talking to me, but I posted today for the first time in forever. I have found other hobbies but still want to blog, just lost some motivation when the work pc stopped supporting google.. right?
    anyway I'll try to be a better friend.
    Laura

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    1. Fab Laura - think you were just about the first person to follow my blog so glad you are stil blogging now and then :)

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  4. I still blog but only b/c I have the time to. If I were to return to work full time, the blogging would be greatly reduced. I lost 2 followers in the last week and that bummed me out too. I don't know who they were but wondered if they have bailed on the blogging world too. I still like to do it; I don't think it's a dead art yet.

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    1. well you know JoJo - blog followers come and go - always appreciate your input :)

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  5. I'm glad I found your blog. It's always a good read. (I don't think I could spend 3 hours each day responding to comments and visiting blogs. That's like a part time job. Plus, I'm too introverted for that much interaction - even online.)

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    1. Glad I found yours too Patricia - and thanks for hanging on in and commenting. Oh for real? Well tis often easier to interact on line than the old phone and person stuff I find. Can be dangerous tho - have to remind myself to talk to people sometimes :)

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  6. I think statuses and other easier forms of social media has made people lazy to blog. I have friends who stopped blogging too and I think it's because of this. Why spend hours churning out a blog post when you can post an instagram in 2 seconds?

    Thanks for sharing my blog post! I'm glad I "met" you this year, I love your humorous writing voice! Happy new year and may our blogs not die anytime soon.

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    1. Spot on re the one line statuses Dee - thanks so much, glad I met you too. You must spend ages on your blog, honestly - always well researched :)

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  7. I've noticed the trend, too. I think part of it is that people who were blogging to build search engine optimization have stopped commenting because they don't score as many points on Google for it. And if people have stopped blogging because they realized they were boring, that might not be such a bad thing. I've dropped the intensity, too, because life is more important... but I'm still here because I like the freedom and the creative outlet.

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    1. Thank for stopping by JoLynne - yes life is more important and my comments are always so rushed - but you are right in that it's a more creative outlet than a one line status update..

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  8. I must confess that I don't blog as much as I used to - where does all the time go.....?

    Sometimes I don't have anything much to say - other times I log on and end up spending hours reading OTHER people's blogs, instead of adding to my own!

    Maybe in 2014 I will be more 'focused' (sorry) and do some regular posting - stranger things have happened!


    In the meantime, you keep chugging away, entertaining us all (even us lot back across the 'pond') - I'll toast you with a mug of good strong Yorkshire tea! Cheers!

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    1. Ha - I don't read other people's blogs enough Sue - honestly could use some Yorkshire tea - thx for stopping by again :) cheers..

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  9. I do enjoy your blog. It's always good for a laugh. Admittedly, I've been more of a blog stalker than commenter lately. I haven't had time to keep up with every post on all the blogs I follow, let alone stick around long enough to chat about it. It's a sad state of affairs, because there are so many good blogs out there.

    That three hours a day is a scary number. I'm lucky to have ten minutes a day, and that includes time to write my own posts. That's one thing that scares me about self publishing: the time needed for marketing. Someday I'll get a clone and then I'll be all set. :)

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    1. aw thanks so much Jean - it's true there are a proliferation of good bloggers. I know I have thought about self publishing given that my book is languishing but always too busy marketing other people to market myself..

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  10. Six years ago I sometimes blogged 3 times a day - 500 words mostly. After about 3 years, I think I had said all the stuff I needed to and I don't like to post rubbish. Love your blog - always entertaining. Keep it up.

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  11. thanks so much - it is an effort sometimes and I do run short of topics too

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On Blog PTSD

Now then. What the heck. It seems I had forgotten about my blog completely rather than just neglecting it this time. To return after so long...