Ever since I started blogging a jillion years ago, I’ve noticed that there are times when it seems like everyone whose blog I read is writing about the same thing. I don’t mean like when we all get home from BlogHer and post our photos and tell our stories, I mean, times when we all seem to be thinking along the same lines regarding our blogging. I’ll explain what I mean in a minute, first let me backtrack a bit.
Last month, I was chatting with Amy on Facebook and somehow we got on the topic of blog comments. I told her I missed the days when I had 13 readers, and how exciting it was every time any one of them left me a comment on a post. We talked about Twitter, and Facebook updates, and how it’s so much easier to just post there than come up with a whole blog post. We talked about how there are so many blogs to read that it’s hard to stop and leave a comment when there are 100 more posts in the reader to get through.
Today, Mr. Lady posted about Community on her blog Whiskey in My Sippy Cup (don’t read it? you should). This is the part that jumped off the page for me:
This month, I am reinventing my own wheel. I’m changing my outlook on blogging, on my blog, on my role as a blogger and my attitude towards it. There are changes a’coming in my little corner of the internet, starting today. Today, I re-instate the blogroll (that I don’t have to code myself anymore, thank you sweet, pink baby Jesus.) You read my blog? You’re on the blogroll. Leave your url in the comments and I’ll take it from there. (Please be patient) Today, I also start clicking through that blogroll. Fuck the reader, screw Twitter…it’s time to visit blogs. It’s time to delurk, for good. It’s time to help the people who take the time to read this blog earn that extra dollar with their ads. It’s time to remind myself why the hell I do this on the internet and not on a cocktail napkin in the first place, which is honestly way more tactile-y satisfying and significantly easier to roll my chewed gum up in.
Well said. I don’t know about the rest of you, but 2009 left me feeling wrung out to dry. I finished 2009 absolutely and completely exhausted. I realize that it’s mostly my fault, I said yes to way too many things, and didn’t schedule my time well, and that’s something I’ll probably have to continue to work on forever. But there was also this pressure that I felt, whether I was putting it on myself or not, to TWEET MORE and UPDATE FACEBOOK MORE and keep running more giveaways so I didn’t lose my feed subscribers and keep reviewing more products so companies would stay interested in me and GO GO GO GO GO GO GO.
And the fact is, I have stopped reading blogs for the most part. There are a handful of blogs that I check every day, but there are so many more that I haven’t read in months. And then I wonder why those people never comment on my blog posts any more! Well, DUH. The truth is that blogging is very much a reciprocal thing. You read them, they read you. You leave comments, they leave comments.
So, like Mr. Lady, I’m putting back the blogroll. I used to have one that linked to everyone who linked to me, I deleted it when an “SEO Expert” told me I had “too many links” on my blog. Well, too bad. Too many for whom? I’m going to try to recreate it, if you leave a comment on this post telling me you link to me, I’ll start making the list. And then I am going to click through that list as often as I can, read, and comment. I’m going to try to find my Community again, and I hope those of you who want to be part of it with me will let me know.
Let’s make 2010 the year we bring back the importance of using our blogs to make connections with each other. Let’s not let “Social Media” (ugh) ruin what made us all start blogging in the first place. We can do it. We can get our blogs back. Who’s with me?
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It’s a good idea to visit more blogs.
Twitter: blm03
says:
I’m with ya on this! As of Jan. 1st, I’ve got my fav blogs bookmarked and now I make it a point to read them every day.
Twitter: bcmom
says:
You’re so right! I feel like I’ll never get caught up with everything – and I don’t agree to nearly as many things as you. I have Google/Blogger’s blog list on my sidebar, and I find myself clicking posts from there a lot more often than I remember to open my reader any more.
I haven’t done a really good job of answering all my comments – frankly, because I still use Blogger, and it isn’t really conducive to having a conversation – but I’m going to make a greater effort to answer anyway this year.
Anyway – I link to you (you’re in my blog list) and I still come back – even though I don’t always comment.
Twitter: debmomof3
says:
Amen!!
A couple of weeks ago I actually managed to clear out my feed reader and since then I’ve actually made an effort to read through the posts a few times a day. It’s so much easier to deal with 12 or 18 unread posts than hundreds… And I’m also clicking through and commenting on the posts in there much more often too. One of my goals for the year is to keep doing this – I’ve missed the ‘community’ of the blogosphere too.
I’d be honored to be on your blogroll! You’re still on mine.
Twitter: kikarose
says:
I’m with you! Long live the blogs.
I am there with you. I rarely go to Twitter but I have become addicted to Facebook. I link to all your blogs on The Pond.
Collective consciousness is an amazing thing. Viva la blogroll!
Enjoy Blogging!
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It’s so much easier to deal with 12 or 18 unread posts than hundreds. And I’m also clicking through and commenting on the posts in there much more often too.
I’ve been scanning blogs lately and all I see are family albums. Babies and children. There doesn’t seem to be any serious stuff. Said “no” to everyone for a month. Found out who my friends were. Not a lot of them but they loved me for who I was not what I did.
There are times where blogging does seem to be a drag, but every once in a while, I’ll get a comment that keeps me going. Keep your chin up. Your blog is great!
Twitter: girlymamamel
says:
just last week, i sorted my google reader blogs into days of the week folders. that way, at least once a week, i can get to everyone’s blog and comment. its too daunting to go through the whole thing every day!
i always read my favourit blogs, i take an hour or 2 a week just to read the new entries (if there are any) and i really liking it again