Saturday, March 14, 2009

Blogging Peeves

Thanks so much to those who sent your blogging peeves/advice! Please note that by posting these peeves, I am not necessarily endorsing them as my own opinions (I added MY TWO CENTS when I felt inspired.) Some of this might hurt; if you see yourself in any of these peeves, don't stress. (Acknowledgment of the problem is the First Step, and you are already forgiven.)

First, since Jen's (TuTu's Bliss) peeve relates to this: "...people who are stingy with their linky love and don't provide links or credit to the bloggers who inspire them, show them kindness and share their tips," I want you to know that she inspired this post! :) We were talking about how annoying it is when people add their blogs to Mr.Linky when the post has nothing to do with the original post's subject (one of my peeves.)

MY TWO CENTS: When you see Mr.Linky, it means that you are welcome to attach a relevant post. It's that simple. If you add your link without reading the post, that's rude. It's also nice to check out at least a few other people's links, not just add your own and leave.

Danielle, of An Eagle's View, said, "My biggest pet-peeve is the ranters and the ravers when it comes to numbers. Specifically, the number of followers or the number of comments. I know we all want to be loved, we all want to be heard. But I think one meaningful comment is worth so much more than 10 that were left because the reader felt "obligated" to say something. Worse yet is when the blogger rants and raves in an open post, upset over "not getting enough comments" or "losing a follower."

MY TWO CENTS: Losing followers is not tragic, unless they are leaving in droves, I suppose. I do not Follow just because someone follows me (sorry). I only follow blogs that I find appealing or that I think deserve a chance (if I don't like the first post, I might like others in the future.) I have only stopped following a few blogs, because of one or more of the following reasons: I lost interest in the content, the blogger went all political and I couldn't stand it any more, it was just too negative, or I just had too many blogs in my reader and had to let some go. I'm kind of the same way about Facebook; if you see my Facebook page, you may notice that I do not have hundreds of friends; I have 79 (and 40 of them are family.) I don't follow or read blogs just to be polite, and I do not take it personally if someone decides not to follow me anymore. (Besides, do you really think that 140 people read my blog every day/week? Come on.)

From Abby, of Me and My Boys...
I can't stand not being able to see the post when I comment. I have noticed things that bug me about certain blogs over the past few months and I have tried to make sure I don't have those annoying issues on mine!

MY TWO CENTS: I see this all the time, and there's an easy fix. To keep Abby and the rest of us happy, make sure your Comments (under "Settings" in Blogger) are set to "Open in a Pop-up Window." Otherwise, commenters can no longer see the post to which they are referring once they click on Comment. It is frustrating, especially if you have a memory like mine and can't remember what you were going to say once the comment screen opens!] BTW, LisAway also left a great idea for this in today's Comments.

Meno sent these:
I hate:

When a post starts off with “I have nothing to say.”

Sites that have music i have to turn off before i can continue reading.

“Pay for Post” posts. I don’t mind ads, as i can ignore them, but these will cause me to stop reading a blog.


MY TWO CENTS: Me, too, my friend. What you said!


Tara, of If Mom Says Okay-has this blogging peeve... "when another blogger pimps out something on their site in my comments. If I want to give someone a shout out, I'll do it and be glad to give them the space. But I don't like it when someone links to their site, giveaway, contest, whatever... from from mine without even asking. It makes me feel like I'm only being used to drive traffic to their blog."

MY TWO CENTS: I don't mind this once in a while, if it's from people who frequent my blog. Those, "I'd-like-to-pimp-my-stuff,-so-I'll-find-a-way-to-fit-it-into-this comment" comments annoy me, too.

Kazzy had this to say: "I guess I really dislike the crude humor some people feel they need to stoop to. I like a good laugh, but when it has to do with the bathroom, I am not really interested."

MY TWO CENTS: Uh...sorry about this post, Kazzy! Also, I don't mind the occasional swear word, but if the f-bomb is used in every single post, I'm less likely to read that blog. I'm just sayin'...

Kazzy also avoids these: "always-all-about-the-kids posts. Got four of my own, but when I am squeezing in time to keep up with my blog list, I want to hear about the author, thoughts, musings, experiences. I am just not that interested in diaper stories."

MY TWO CENTS: This is a personal preference. I truly enjoy reading about funny things your kids say, their disabilities/abilities, and your journey as a parent. However, I'm not that into daily photos/updates on kids...kind of boring (except to Grandparents or far-away family members, I suppose.) If you want more people to read your blog, strike a balance.

Here's something else that I don't like in a blog: blow-by-blow accounts of your day. Sorry, but unless it is humorous, I'm not interested in reading a daily record/account of your diet and activities. The essence of blogging is the interaction with readers. What makes a blog a blog (and not just a diary) is links and content that engage the reader. So, keep your diary if you like to do that kind of thing, but please do not feel hurt if I don't read your blog regularly. If I can choose between reading about what you had for lunch and reading about how someone wet her pants at the grocery store, I will choose the latter. (I can hear the Followers leaving now....SORRY! I'm just trying to keep it real here.)

DaPoppins said, "Well, it is really peeving when bloggers spl bad. And when they don't want me to comment on what Must be commented on."

Gladys, of Gladys Speaks said, "I hate it when you email a blogger with a question and they do not respond- ever. Not in their comment section. I mean I totally understand if you just leave a comment. I don't expect an answer but if I email you with a specific question, the least you can do is send me an email back that says Mind Your Own Damn Business."

Cindy loves her doxies, but she doesn't love this: "...when people do those "review" posts to make money. Boring!"

MY TWO CENTS: I don't mind review posts if they are only every couple of weeks or less. I appreciate bloggers like Jen, who have created off-shoot blogs for the sole purpose of reviews.

Jenni Jiggety-I really don't enjoy the letter identification things...AT ALL. I am not even sure I understand what they are supposed to prevent? I don't have them, and I've never had a problem with spam comments, but I guess some people have.

Heidi of Dunhaven Place-I hate to say anything b/c there is nothing that peeves me that I have not been guilty of at one time or another. I guess I would have to say: the unrealistic expectation that many bloggers have that they don't have to read and comment on the blogs of others in order to have people read and comment on theirs. I realize this is a common misperception for new bloggists (me included) but now that I know better, it bugs me when others don't get that. Aw, heck, now I'm on my soapbox, determined to inform blogdania of the truth of it all. (You have created a monster.)

MY TWO CENTS: It boils down to this--If you want people to read your blog, you have to get it out there, not expect people to come looking for it. A great way to do this is to devote time to reading and commenting (sincerely) on other blogs. Another way to increase readership is joining blogging networks (there are TONS of them out there, and I'm not even going to start listing them; just look in sidebars to find them.) Once you get readers to your blog, though, it's your job to keep their interest. Just because you read someone's blog does not make them obligated to read yours indefinitely. There are thousands of blogs out there, and most people have a limited amount of time to read their favorites. Take a look at your blog from an objective point of view; if you only had a limited amount of time to read blogs, would yours be one of them? If not, what would make you do so? A cleaner look? More photos? Shorter posts? If, like me, you have a full-time job and want to keep your sanity, don't worry about how many people are reading; just write for yourself and enjoy the wonderful folks you are fortunate enough to have on any given day :)

Bee Repartee vented on this subject: I was minding my own blog the other day and ran across a woman posting an email. It was one of those viral emails she had copied to her blog and proceeded to take credit for writing. Sure it's funny but does this not make you nuts, people?

MY TWO CENTS: Bee, what planet did that blogger live on?! That's ridiculous!

Charlie on the Turnpike offered up a very funny comment, which was more of a post, so I asked him to let me link to it. Take it away, Charlie! (As soon as he sends the link to me, I'll set it up.)

And finally, some thoughts from Charrette: I've probably offended everyone in the entire blogosphere by disappearing and reappearing.[Hardly.] And stuff I don't even know I'm doing wrong besides. So I have no advice. Oh, except I just thought of one. We had dinner with a manners expert the other night, and I told her I was embarrassed to be sitting across from her because i was afraid she'd be scrutinizing my bad manners all night. And she said, "But that wouldn't be good manners for me to notice your bad manners" and she put me right at ease. So i guess I would say don't offend...and don't take offense. A live and let live motto would probably put everyone at ease.

The beauty of blogging is the freedom, after all, to blog and let blog, I guess.
It's your blog; manage it the way you want to manage it. But if you're interested in what others think, I hope you found this post helpful :)

1 comment:

  1. I know this was posted sometime ago but I an new to blogging and just came across your blog (love it) and have learned some great do's and dont's. :) Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete

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