I managed to finish those photo frames for both K & C. Pics on Facebook and Instagram. And then I was done - I haven't worked on the rest of the 50 pics.
However, I've found a really cool way to keep me doing this baby book project. I'm not allowing myself to start planning the 4th year party til it's done.
Are you twitching?
Yes, me too - which is exactly the motivation I need because I usually start in May.
Two months left!
I have a number of very random questions/ things on my mind about blogging so I thought I'd write one post and put them all down.
Commenting
So if you leave a comment, do you go back and check if the blogger replied?
If a topic is seriously interesting (like SERIOUSLY!) then if the blogger uses blogger, I'll leave a comment and tick the block like this, and I can keep track of what's been said or if my question's been answered.
However, for the Wordpress users, I usually have to be bossy and tell the blogger to please email me because I don't check back! (it sounds very bolshie writing it here)
But seriously, if you want to follow the comment trail in WP, you can subscribe and then you have to click a link - it's a whole process which makes no sense to me and that's why I don't bother.
So please friends, tell me what you do to follow the comment trail... if you do...
And what do you do with those darn wordpress blogs :)
Feeds
There's been a lot of talk (obviously) about Google Reader shutting down and which feed reader is the best.
I don't know!
In the old days when I first started blogging, there were Bloglines and Google Reader. I signed up for both and eventually settled on GR because it looked prettier. Honestly, that's it. I'm superficial with reading on the internet. There are some really nice blogs out there but if I have to strain my eyes to read it with weird fonts and so on, it's not worth it. I think I once even told Mandy to please change her font because it was hurting my eyes :) :)
For now I've signed up with Bloglovin and Feedly. I really like Feedly but that could be because I've played around there the most.
I need to play some more with Bloglovin and then make my choice.
However, someone will have to physically take me off Google Reader because I'm using it til I can't anymore :)
The main thing to consider is what is most important to you... and then see if these services work for your style.
But the most important thing I want to discuss is this - is blogging dead?
Just this weekend Tertia said on her blog that the reason she doesn't blog very much these days is Facebook...
And I know a lot of you have Facebook pages for your blogs (I was very tempted to write "Facebook pages" :)) and you link to them here, there and everywhere.
I'm obviously slow (and cautious) because I don't do all that linking business, well not to this blog.
Have you seen a decline in your comments and page views over the last two months?
Mine have gone down drastically. I'm only getting about half the page views these days. What about you?
(you can see this easily if you're a Blogger blogger)
And are people rather writing on your FB pages?
Tell me all!
I will still be blogging even if just my friends read so blogging is not dead for me :)
PS pics all taken in Wicklow, near Dublin, Ireland - April 2009
2009 huh? What a great year for traveling!!! LOL Is it just me or was it a lot easier a few years back when it came to comments and the responses??? I don't remember all this going back and checking business. I just remembering getting the reply back comments in my email.
ReplyDeleteI will also admit that while I do read blogs still, I don't "interact" or "comment" as much as I used to. Probably due to the fact that I never know when a comment reply was done and going back and checking, is a pain and my mind is gone so I don't remember where I have commented.
But that's just me!!! =)
Yes! We flew to Dublin after Scotland, on the Friday of that week when you and I met up, if memory serves me correctly.
DeleteIt was definitely a lot easier back in the day :)
No wait, i just remembered. You and I met in 2008 (huge UK trip) and these pics were from the pre-babies Ireland trip of 2009.
DeleteI don't check if the blogger replied back unless I am really interested in the subject. With WP you just tick the box as well and then I think you click the link? I only follow if I am really interested in the subject/comments.
ReplyDeleteI am on Bloglovin, Feedly and I also downloaded something called Feed Demon. They all have their pros and cons. The only thing that puts me off Bloglovin is the fact that I can't read a full post - I have to click into the blog. For various reasons that doesn't work for me. I like Feedly a lot. Still trying to figure it out. Also like Feed Demon. I tried to sign up with something called The Old Reader but it seems to not work with Chrome so I gave up.
I don't think blogging is dead at all. No idea what my page views are but I seem to be getting the same amount of comments. I think it goes through phases and that perhaps people are just busy. I definitely comment on fewer blogs because of time limitations. My FB friends are grouped so I share certain things with certain groups - I couldn't possibly link my blog up there. I actually don't want to do that.
yes, with WP, it's two extra steps to blogger AND (a big one for me) I'm forced to go back to my email plus extra windows loading..... With blogger it's all in one place with one extra tick.
DeleteIf a topic is of particular interest to me, I just check back with the post, often the next time I read that blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't do GR, or any other service...I just read from my blog roll. I don't read all that many blogs, so that works for me.
And yes, blog views / comments seem to be really down, but I wondered if that was just a function of my little group of friends. Some don't blog much / at all any more, and I haven't been "marketing" myself to new groups.
I haven't blogged as much over the past 4 or 5 months, just because I haven't made it a priority. I plan to continue...I love the interaction and the friends I've made...but it is a little sad not to have as much dialogue going on.
I do have a FB page for my blog, and I post links to my blog there, but I don't otherwise interact much through that page. I just know a few of my friends (IRL) aren't blog readers, per se, but they will click through when I post something there. I rarely get comments on FB, though.
Interesting notes! :)
wow, Mandy, really? I only read from my blogroll in early 2006 before I discovered the beauty that is Google Reader :)
DeleteI check the boxes if I'm interested, but like you, WP just escapes me. I rely mainly on email follow-up.
ReplyDeleteLike Mandy, I also just read from blogger. It's one stop reading and writing over here! As for my blog, I've had a big drop. It's a big saddening, but I also know that things fade in popularity. It doesn't bother me all that much because this is just my little space. I'm not necessarily doing it for a following, not that I wouldn't miss you all! It's because my blog is personal that I don't feel the need to promote it on FB. Too much schlep. I've tried to do more than one blog and failed so I'm sure keeping a FB page for my blog would just fall by the wayside too. Simply put, I'm too lazy!
I half heartedly worry that the world will downgrade to completely communicating through short messages/updates/pictures. I have a small attention span but COME ON PEOPLE!
TEEHEE - one stop reading and writing :)
DeleteI'm also not doing this one for a following but it would be nice to know that my now-better blog posts were gaining some popularity.
I suppose that's my concern too - that the world will become more twitterised (I can't think of anything worse!!!)
I don't think blogging is dead, but I am battling to write at the moment - so mine is dead.....
ReplyDeleteI do go back and check for replies if it is something I think "deserved" a reply. Otherwise I will just leave it. Sometimes I get an email with the reply - others not.
I post less and less on FB, and seem to get more interaction on Twitter, I post my blogs there and some people will comment on that. They say my blog is too difficult to comment on and you need to log in? I have tried to set it up so anyone can comment but don't know.
I also go back and check for replies and the "nice bloggers" like you e-mail me replies...which I love.
ReplyDeleteI don't think blogging is dead. I didn't really use the reader as I usually just click through from my dashboard. I like to leave comments to let the people who I follow know that I was there so it just doesn't make sense for me to just read in reader. I don't think blogging is dead...we all just get times where we have bloggers block.
It's really sad to see how blogging have become more quiet. That less people are reading blogs. I wonder if it is that they want immediate interaction rather than leaving a comment? Or is it that they don't want to read lengthy posts anymore? I wonder whether blogging will die one day? If that happens then I will just have to result in a diary then, I assume.
ReplyDeleteI don't really want to use Facebook solely for updates in my life because some things I don't want some audiences to know about me on Facebook.
I don't check back whether the blogger have replied. A bit bad from my side, I know.
I do occasionally remember to go back, but on MY blog I have a plugin that is supposed to mail people if you reply (Hopefully it works) and I assume everyone has that so I'll get an email if they answer me.
ReplyDeleteI'm in denial about google reader as well. I'll be lost when it's gone.
I have a FB page for my blog- it's required with some of the brands I work with to link to things on FB and I wanted to keep it off my personal page- but I don't get many comments on it about my posts. I do get conversations going about other random crap though. I do notice in my stats that people will click over from my FB page to read the blog posts, so it generates a bit of traffic even if they don't comment anywhere. My page views have remained consistent for quite some time, despite trying to increase them to work with specific companies.
I never subscribe to comments, and I usually only check back for a reply if the conversation is particularly interesting to me or if I ask a question. I'd MUCH rather see a reply through email.
ReplyDeleteI don't think blogging is dead at all, but I do think it has/is changing drastically. I don't see myself keeping up with the changes, so if the traditional style of blogging goes away, I guess I will just be writing for myself. I haven't created and FB page for my blog and don't really intend to (although I guess it COULD happen). Mostly because my FB is personal, limited to people I know IRL (except a select few that I FEEL like I know IRL-- : ) ). I don't have a whole lot of IRL people reading my blog, and I rather like it that way. I edit myself a lot less. If I do associate it with FB, I feel like that slight anonymity is out the window.
I am bad with comments - both on my blog and following the trail. I am never sure if anyone actually goes back to read if I replied? So I email rather most of the time. If it is an interesting comment thread then I may go back but honestly it's all just a mission.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea about my page views but my FB page has almost doubled :) Stats just do not bug me a whole lot so I generally only check when a PR company asks me for stats.
To answer the heading question - is blogging dead - NO I don't think so. With the amount of PR events I am getting invited to it most certainly doesn't feel dead (or even dying)
"So if you leave a comment, do you go back and check if the blogger replied?" - not in general, unless it's something that I really really want to follow up on.
ReplyDelete"So please friends, tell me what you do to follow the comment trail... if you do..." - sometimes I'll subscribe to the comment feed if I really want to know, or when i'm lucky you'll mail me with answers or feedback on blogger blogs.
"And what do you do with those darn wordpress blogs :)" - easy when you're on Wordpress yourself because all you have to do is go into the dashboard and look up "comments I made" and you'll see all feedback on all wordpress posts across all the various blogs.
"Bloglovin and Feedly" - I too have signed up for both. I like the look of feedly more, but I also like the list bit on Bloglovin more. At the moment I'm just using both. My thinking is that possiby one of them will not have a seamless transition to life after there is no GR anymore and a clear winner who still has all my feeds will emerge?
"Is blogging dead?" - she asks, using a blog? ;-) I don't think it's dead...but it's always changing, as are the people who read it.
"Have you seen a decline in your comments and page views over the last two months?" - not really in comments but yes, in pageviews. I hardly look though. Once I decided I don't give a damn about that yonks ago, I stopped checking it daily.
"And are people rather writing on your FB pages?" - my dad says that he has trouble commenting on Wordpress and it asks him to log in for some reason, so I suggested he comment on the fb link. He has never commented though. ;-)
"So if you leave a comment, do you go back and check if the blogger replied?" Not at all. I assume that if they wanted to reply to me they would via email.
ReplyDelete"And what do you do with those darn wordpress blogs :)" I blog with Wordpress so any replies etc to me come up there - but only from wordpress blogs i think...
"Bloglovin and Feedly" - I signed up for Bloglovin but I'm hatin' it. Will use GR until it dies it's death on 1 July.
"Is blogging dead?" I don't think so. I do think that time pressures cut into blogging time tho. Also sometimes people feel uninspired to write (me at the moment). It seems to me that PR companies are sitting up and taking more heed of blogging at the moment. But they seem to all be honing in on the same blogs/bloggers and it's boring me to read the same stuff on practically every blog I read lately.
"Have you seen a decline in your comments and page views over the last two months?" - yes but cos I'm bloggin less. Also I find when shit happens my comments and views are up but ppl aren't nearly as interested when my life is going well.
"And are people rather writing on your FB pages?" FB is for FB for me - not for my blog.
Time is always the issue for me. I would love to sit and read blogs all day long, but alas. Like today is the first time I've come into my reader in about a week! I don't come back and check for replies unless it was a topic that really interested me. And YES I got your comment about responding to your comment via email and you STILL haven't replied to my email!!! lol!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about blogging being dead or alive... I will continue to blog regardless because it is my sweet release. :)
Interesting you don't like WP, I battle with blogger! I comment more on WP blogs just because it's easier to do from my phone. I don't have the same luck with blogger. If a topic is interesting more often than not I'll go back to read the comments . Though I read a lot of blogs I'm commenting less these days because of the love/hate relationship my phone has with blogger :(
ReplyDelete